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The President did a great job last night on selling the country on the need for health care reform. He made the moral case, and every metric indicates that people were overwhelmingly moved to support his plan. That’s the good news for the White House.
The not so good news: the White House has been trying to get out from under the burden of supporting the public option for weeks. The trouble is, every time they try to do it, the President’s numbers take a huge hit. And so last night he came out and indicated that a public plan would be a part of his reform package. Today on the White House website, under "The Obama Plan," it says:
If You Don’t Have Insurance
Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice.
The website is not so quick to commemorate the qualifiers regarding this public plan from last night’s speech:
- "The public option is only a means to that end – and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal."
- "For example, some have suggested that that the public option go into effect only in those markets where insurance companies are not providing affordable policies." (triggers)
- "Others propose a co-op or another non-profit entity to administer the plan. These are all constructive ideas worth exploring." (co-ops)
The administration’s inability to close the gap between expectations and reality is a boon for progressives members of Congress. Earlier this week, the co-chairs of the Progressive Caucus — Raul Grijalva and Lynn Woolsey — wrote a letter urging the President to mention it in his speech. I spoke with Rep. Grijalva yesterday, and he reiterated the need for the President to mention it in his speech. As long as the President keeps expressing his support for a public option, they — and we — can quite rightly say that we’re only insisting on something Obama himself endorses, something he campaigned on.
Of course, the actions of the White House betray quite a different intent. The deals they have negotiated with health care industry stakeholders do not include a public plan, they don’t believe they can back out of them without triggering a rush of lobbyist money to GOP coffers. At some point there will be a day of reckoning when the public understands that the public option is gone. The White House wants to stop their opponents — and let’s face it, progressives who are insisting on the inclusion of a public plan are at this point their opponents — from being able to exploit that gap. Because every day that goes by the base gets more and more wedded to the promise of a public plan, encouraged by the positive rhetoric of the President himself. And it becomes that much harder for the White House to extract itself from the double bind they have created without paying a huge political price.
One day the 11 dimensional chess set is going to have to come to terms with the fact that Rahm Emanuel worked with Max Baucus to cut deals that they force into the House through the Blue Dogs, and that the goals of the White House are not at odds with those of the Blue Dogs. Which is why Rahm protects them. And why we keep hearing things like this:
Remember back on Friday, President Obama discussed the public option on a conference call with House liberals?… Well that meeting never happened. [I]t doesn’t seem to suggest that House liberals are being roped in to the health care negotiations between the House and the Senate.
Meanwhile, the President meets with the Blue Dogs this morning.
And the football keeps inching down the field.
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About FDL Action
After the drugs wore off this morning, I figured it out. Obama exudes some mysterious perfume that somehow transmits over the television, that makes most people ecstatic. Obecstacy. The problem is of course, that when it wears off, nothing has really changed, except you say, man, that was great! But fact is, to get this reform done right, we, we still have to do the political work. He’s not LBJ.
At least he didn’t throw us under the bus.
We are blessed to have Jane’s work!
Most galling, even from House Progressives is that in their OWN BILL they EXPLICITLY OUTSOURCE RUNNING THE PUBLIC PLAN TO PRIVATE HEALTH INSURERS:
HR3200 Page 117:
So- they can outsource it to the private insurers AND guarantee that the private companies get profits risk free.
Even from the progressives… Hope and Change… not so much.
I wonder if Steve Jobs lent him his reality distortion field generator.
Keep it up, Jane. This is more than just about health care.
But the public option is only a means to an end, my progressive friends! [Did Obama have to pay McCain a royalty for using that “my friends” bullshit?]
I am not your progressive friend, Mr. President. I am your progressive enemy.
“And the football keeps inching down the field.”
Good analogy. Though, I do find myself wondering in which direction it is inching or, for that matter, who has possession and what they’ll do with it. And then there’s Wrong Way Max, who seems to be trying diligently to score a touchdown – at the wrong end zone.
If the President only foresees a limited role for a public option, how is that going to keep the private insurance companies honest or provide competition to those with employer-provided or individual-policy insurance?
Where’s my Medicare Part E ? (E for Everybody, thank you Thom Hartmann.)
Here’s a comment from the last thread worth noting.
It notes the outsourcing of a public plan to private insurance is in the House language. As noted above @3. Thanks!
The speech laid down a necessary foundation of enthusiasm and duty. It puts significant pressure on members of Congress, especially the Senate, to stop obstructing and get on with it.
On the public option, Obama made a strong public commitment to affordable health care for all, with specific yardsticks that in practice could only be met with a strong public option. So it seems to me that he committed in his own indirect way. He’s clearly scared of coming out and saying it clearly and wishes the problem would just go away.
Of course, if Congress leaves out a strong public option, he’ll be able to say “I tried, it’s not my fault”. That’s why it remains as important as ever to continuing pressuring Congress and especially the Progressive block, who is the only group with leverage on this issue.
I sure hope the blue dogs come out of the meeting with Obama with their tails between their legs, but I doubt that will happen…
RE “…a co-op or another non-profit entity to administer the plan”
One of the top generic complaints about government, is that it’s full of beauraucrats. So instead of putting all that beauraucratic expertise to productive good use, we’re now supposed to contract it from outside of government?
I’m a non-profit entity, maybe I could administer the plan.
Seriously though, does Obama know that under his own Treasury, we have the Financial Management Service (FMS), which receives and disburses all public monies, maintains government accounts, and prepares daily and monthly reports on the status of government finances?
I deliberately did NOT watch the speech; instead followed it on liveblogs (here on the Lake and elsewhere). Obama’s actions, not his rhetoric, are what counts, and I don’t think the progressive task regarding real healthcare reform is any easier now than before. All Rahm’s “done deals” either get undone, due to public demand, or the White House exerts horrible pressure on House Progressives to get them to go squishy. At least some of this will depend on the MSM’s take on the speech, and I must admit I haven’t looked into THAT particular cesspool yet this morning.
But a lot of it also depends on how hard we all keep up the pressure (and the support for right actions from our congresscritters). I thank you for your strategizing and clear vision so far, Jane. We’re still in the war, though, and I’ve got my figurative rifle oiled and my ammo piled neatly, ready to dispatch as needed. I have a feeling it’s gonna get ugly.
Rather see them with their tails cropped.
Joe Biden said he thinks a bill will be ready by Thanksgiving. That’s appropriate since it is sure to be a real turkey.
I think last night will empower the Blue Dogs to support such nonsense as a trigger or co op.
Jane, what I would like put to them, somehow, is what is exactly wrong with a Public Option (”Public Plan”, “Public Choice”) if only 5% of Americans are expected to sign up for it?
If employer insurance is so great, there should be no fear of anyone coming in with competition to beat it. The employers aren’t going to want to offer the inferior product. The employees will say, “no! no!” to any move to drop that great private insurance company coverage.
This may all sound like a fantasy world about how great private insurance is. But that is the fantasy world that the Status Quo People have been pushing.
In their fantasy world everything works fine. So the public option is just a little bit more of coverage for the people who from time to time fall through the cracks. Many of them get hodge-podge coverage already through emergency rooms and charity care, so the added costs should be minimal.
Are we to conclude that the fantasy world really is a fantasy? Is that it?
one way to do this might be to begin by giving all Americans deemed catastrophic coverage through a Medicare-like Federal program – in other words exclude that type of coverage from the private insurance risk pools altogether, possiblty combined public, means-qualified subsidies for hospitalization, then, on the back of that program, gradually offer a series of optional extensions (amounting to full coverage alterantives), which will eventually comprise a full competitive public option. This approach might do the most to contain overall costs. No triggers, though, just incremental implementation.
Dear President Obama: You can keep the eloquence.
How about: “Any healthcare bill that comes to my desk without a strong, effective, public option, I will veto.”
There; fixed it for you.
to the best of my awareness, nobody on either side is taking the idea of co-ops seriously. It’s viewed as a “process compromise” to lubricate the legislative process. At least I hope.
seems he is ready to throw malpractice vitims under the bus.
When you call your Senators and congressmen, make sure that you tell them that if there’s no public option, we simply won’t vote for any of them in 2010 and we can also get an early start on replacing Obama! Just remind them of the $100,000 dollars raised in less than 24 hours for Rob Miller after Joe Wilson’s outburst. Ask them just how motivated will the bloggers be in ousting them? Then, before you hang up, make sure you tell them that until this bill is passed with a strong public option, we won’t be donating anymore money!
Seems to me that we will get a health care bill- cause it adds billions to the P and L s of the industry- and they took the precaution of buying all the swing votes early on. For the same reason, there won’t be a triggerless public auction. The industry wants to give up as little as possible to get the incremental revenues…
The last month has been an entertaining interlude- but the guys with the real money in the game are now being dealt in and the result is pretty predictable.
You are really good, Jane. Just amazing reporting…day after day…
Beese@6:
“I am not your progressive friend, Mr. President; I am your progressive ENEMY.”
I am sho-nuff getting that way. And what’s aggravating is that he won’t threaten a veto for the watered-down healthcare-lite shit that the repubs keep pimping.
And what’s scary, is that we’re hitting the “do the right thing” wall BEFORE the Iraq and Afghanistan chickens really start coming home to their political roost.
Your headline is perfect. It’s what I’ve been telling myself all morning. What a shame to waste such excellent sentiments on such poor policy. I just can’t grasp why the common sense doesn’t prevail- other than the “sense” of lobbyist money. Hello, a public option available only to those who have no other choice is not an option. Duh!
Didn’t BCBS used to be a coop? ‘nuf said.
So what’s the over/under on how many PO Pledgers cave this week?
Miller’s at $188,000 and still rising very rapidly.
Jane, I thank you for being on the ground in DC for this battle.
Is there anyone who is doing good polling on the public option NOW in Maine and Blue Dog turfs–house and senate? We could really use some good data to whack these slackers with, especially after the speech last night, which seems to have been useful in this battle.
There is NO WAY that without a public option people can be fined for not purchasing insurance.
Mr. Moderator, I’m very appreciative that you haven’t just thrown me off this site altogether, and I am grateful for your forbearance. But this prior-approval process is just killing the spontaneity of my wit. And the good folks who read these comments shouldn’t have to wait so long to gain the benefits of my insight. So if you could take me off of probation, I think we’d all be better off.
Thank you for your consideration.
Oh, yes he did.
I do agree with Jane, but I also disagree. It’s been obvious there are influential forces (Rahm) within the White House who are against the public option. I don’t know if Obama is explicitly against it himself, or if he’s just going along with what causes the least amount of ruckus (it’s his natural instinct to avoid conflict, after all).
But what I disagree about is Obama said enough last night to really bolster the drive for the public option. I thought the way he drew the comparison between private insurance/public option and public/private universities was brilliant. Now we just need to see some more selling of that notion. And for Obama to claim to be open to better ideas is good politicking. Nobody will be able to deliver on that.
Obama may not be fighting for the public option, but I think his speech last night went a long way to making the public option the ruler by which anything else is measured. He might not want to ride that tiger, but he’s at least holding on to it by the tail.
What I don’t get is, why Rahm and the Dems fear the health insurance industry going back and funding Republicans. Looking over that party of asshats, I don’t see how anyone could vote for them if we get healthcare passed with a strong public option. And even if we don’t. Have you seen anything this summber that makes you want to join and fund tht party? No matter how much money they give to the Republicans, if they get their asses kicked again by the Dems, it would be a total waste of their cash and they’d likely go running back to the Dems because they’ll still have all the legislative power. The Dems shouldn’t be afraid to test this. Seriously! $100,000 dollars raised in less than 24 hours! That’s amazing and these donors can actually vote enmasse! The insurance industry…not so much!
yup. Did that. it makes them sit up and pay attention pretty fast.
and not-so-Old Yeller’s website is still down – teehee
Excuse me…$188,000 and counting! Thanks JimWhite!
I am still of the opinion that, from the get-go, Obama has been more Blue Dog than true liberal. No one can tell me that Rahm Emanuel is going around without Obama’s knowledge or permission and making deals with PhRMA and the Blue Dogs (while excluding the progressives from all these closed door meetings).
The man is a great orator, but a faithless leader. From my perspective, with the bill proposed last night, the insurance companies will make out like bandits over the next few years. It is common beltway knowledge that even if a bill passes with a triggered public option, the day after the bill passes, the insurance industry, PhRMA, the Blue Dogs and the Republicans will begin to work at having the public option killed. AND, they will succeed. So, guys, we are being snookered by lofty rhetoric and Wall Street and K Street will party just as they did following the stimulus and all the negatives associated with that. Lofty rhetoric has a mega-downside: after being lifted so high, the fall is far worse than it would have been with a dud as the speaker.
Sorry to burst any balloons, but reality often bites and draws blood.
Michele Bachman’s opponent received a potful of money right after her fopahs – didn’t work but maybe this will.
Yesterday I said that poker-player Obama would either fold, bluff, or call.
He bluffed.
He recovers from August and undercuts most of the Republican talking points – even the tort reform bullshit. (What he will do is authorize grants to states to test alternative forms of malpractice damages resolution: “early disclosure and compensation model,” the “administrative determination of compensation model,” or the “special health care court model.” The issue unaddressed is malpractice insurance reform; the insurance industry problems in healthcare are duplicated in malpractice insurance.
How fast can the House get a strong HR 3200 passed to put a stake in the ground for the legislative outlines of the final bill? I think that it would help to have that out there before Baucus gets done with the never-ending Gang of Six.
I suspect that given Olympia Snowe’s rejection in no uncertain terms of a public option (what does the trigger trigger, Rahm), that the strategy now is waiting for Massachusetts to decide what to do to get a second Senator.
Let’s not let down. The longer it runs, the stronger we must get.
$198,000 now.
Well Obama the appeaser didn’t strongly support our side, but he left the door open for us to keep up our work. He left the door open for both sides, but at least the door isn’t closed.
Our job now, as I see it, is to stick our foot in the door to keep if from closing and then see if we can’t pry it open a little more.
Let’s piggy back on some of Obama’s own words to push for stronger legislation. He mentioned something about a program to help the uninsured in the 4 years until this “exchange” is ready to be up and running.
I’m sure what he has in mind sucks, but since he was vague, let’s take the opportunity to put our own vision into that little placeholder.
How about trying to get something like a good public option to fill in that gap and when 4 years is up and the exchange is ready, just try to get people to willingly give up their good public coverage.
This could be the proverbial camel’s nose under the tent for a full single-payer system.
It looks to me like Obama’s strategy is now to go on a “do it NOW” drive, and not to worry so much about the the quality, as long as it looks like SOMETHING is really happening. I think it’s a red herring, to complain about foot-dragging when he’s not demanding a public option, under threat of a veto.
I thought it would Vadem! I hope they’re crapping their pants after each person hangs up! They need to be afraid of us right now!
Miller came much closer than he should have against Wilson last year and he has a lot of time to put this money to good use. Yes, SC is a crazy place, but at least he has a university town, Columbia, in his district.
I guess you’re not a politician. Or a close observer of the trend in U.S. national politics over the past several years. Doing obeisance to corp campaign contributors is all the rage. Don’t observe that the pols think about it very much. It’s become a conditioned reflex.
Besides, the political tenor of the country can change on a dime, so even though the Ds seem to be riding high now, and the Rs are asshats, there’s no guarantee that will still be the case next year.
straight outta the DLC Playbook – punch a hippie, get some Village/Major Donor love
unfortunately, the universal mandate with penalties is made necessary, economically speaking, not by the PO but by the no-denial-for-preexisting conditions (or any other reason) requirement, which we all believe strongly in. It’s required to prevent the moral hazard of people who might choose to defer paying premiums (whether to a public or private plan) knowing that they can simply buy in at anytime, when they actually need health services (either when illness becomes imminent in their minds or when they actually walk into an emergency room). The only way to prevent individual moral hazard is through the sanctioning of this type of human-nature-based behavior with fines and other penalties. I see no easy way around this, regardless of the underlying reform solution (assuming that one wants that solution to stable and sustainable, economically speaking), so long as no-denial is required. Moral hazard management is always the biggest problem with any universal coverage system.
Of course, to Ecahn’s point, if they won’t give us a real public alternative, I personally voting in an unstable and unstable system with a no-denial requirement AND no individual mandate (which will force moral hazard risk back on to the private insurers), but that’s just pure vindictiveness on my part and because such a scorched earth policy might just force us into a viable single-payer/nationalization model when they all go bankrupt within 6 months. But that’s not exactly prudent public policy and I doubt it’ll make it through Congress.. I’m just saying it just ’cause I hate ‘em. I’d much rather combine a universal mandate WITH a strong PO.
That may well be true, but the problem with having a tiger by the tail has always been what do you with it once you get it and how do you stay alive in such close proximity to one of the world’s greatest predators?
I still think we deserve to be told the details of every deal that was made with the insurance companies, PhRMA, hospitals, doctors and all other stakeholders. Another thing Obama campaigned on was transparency.
Perhaps when these deals are acknowledged, the starry-eyed speech lovers will come back to their senses?
I don’t like being lied to or spun, and that’s what I felt was happening during the middle part of that speech last night.
I’d also like to know what Pres. Obama considers to be “affordable”.
Who is Miller receiving the money from? Are we witnessing a buyout in progress?
One of the problems with a veto threat is that you are then showing your hand. When it gets torn down, they could blame the President for drawing that line in the sand. Just like Olympia Snowe has done. Since it’s a deal breaker for her, she should be told by the President that 60% of the people in her state support a public option and that she’ll likely be called out by groups like moveon.org with ads pitting her against her constituents and that there won’t be anything the President can do to help her. Kind of political blackmail. She can simply say that after talking with her constituents, she’s deceided to vote for the public option….without triggers, since it’s such a small percentage of us who will be using it. This is what I would do. I’d hit them all with their states numbers and also remind them that moveon.org will also be pointing out just how much money they’ve taken from the insurance industry, painting them as the cash whoring cretins they are! Yes, let’s play hardball!
A good speech was given last night.
Words are easy. Deeds are what count.
Still looming out in front of the American people is this proven dysfunctional,costly and for too many Americans inoperative ( pun unintended ) and still doomed current American healthcare regime of for profit,corporate gamed and run healthcare insurance and coverage.
American employer based health insurance is not competitive global format.
Any real cost controls run into for profit premises of making and taking money out of current healthcare regime for profits/bonus/stock dividends.
Ultimately Single Payer Plan/Medicare For All is still truly only real way to proceed forward into this 21st century.
Medicare. Medicaid. The VA System. All three proved to be effective and capable of displacing/replacing the for profit insurers.
Too bad President Obama can not/will not go where United States must/will end up at some point.
Defending/preserving/protecting the American for profit health insurance industry is not President Obamas job. He should strive to better understand this.
Single Payer/Medicare For All is and remains only real answer to ever increasing costs the for profit insurers must have to sustain year to year growth of profits and Wall Street expectations. That is Capitalism 101.
A good speech. But trying to avoid or sideline American Single Payer Plan is and was last night mistaken. Clearly contamination from entrenched vested interests and deplorable money politics are charting how Obama WH is moving this so called “reform”.
Trying to bury American Single Payer or preserve the for profit insurers somehow is not sustainable.
Where United States needs to be by 2030 on healthcare access,delivery and competitive basis with rest of the planet is not where President Obama took us last night.
For me it’s that personal mandate part that makes national single-payer more necessary.
Nobody likes the government (or anyone) telling them what to do. But if the government is forcing you to cough up some money – to me it’s much more abhorrent to tell me I have to give it to some greedy corporation than it is to tell me I have to give it to the government (which is supposed to be the pot of money for the common good).
How much further away is that from mandating that every American has to buy a new car every 3 years? Even if the government gives us a subsidy to help pay for it, it really burns me up.
That being said, I understand the necessity of it because of the economics of eliminating pre-existing conditions BS, but it just sticks in my craw to reward the people who have f’ed things up so royally.
For me, just adding a little more to my tax bill (but saving me a fortune on premiums, co-pays, deductibles, etc.) is a lot easier to swallow.
Actually, the Dems will lose by default. The wont get enough votes from the pissed off…that’s us so the Republicans will win by turning out their tiny party!
agreed. Which is yet one more reason why we need the strong public option.
I understand the issue. Regardless, unless there is a strong public option, I just don’t see how there is going to be affordability for the least of us.
To fine people who truly can’t afford a payment is wrong.
The only reason I bought health insurance, as a self-employed person, was to protect my home from seizure if I would encounter a health issue.
I used my insurance to my benefit only one year out of maybe 20? Ultimately, if I had put that money in the bank instead of buying insurance, I would likely have come out ahead.
What I can’t “bet the farm on” is the possibility of some catastrophic health problem, so I keep paying them.
I did get kicked out of my insurance this year for “mild seasonal allergies and mild osteopenia.”
Now I am in a pool of “uninsurables” which my state provides, on a sliding scale. It is the lowest I have ever paid. I don’t really know how good the coverage is, but since I am in a “denial of coverage” category, it has been a huge relief to actually get coverage. One never knows what one is covered for until one is actually sick.
Nancy Pelosi did not have the look of a person who is going to stand up to the president on anything, and frankly, Maxine Waters in her interview on MSNBC last night didn’t either.
We need more definition of the public option, and soon.
I think we also need to push for it being tied to Medicare and being implemented *much sooner*. There is just no excuse for making people wait four years or more for all of this. The insurance companies are going to gouge us in anticipation of the reform, just like the credit card companies have been doing all year.
I just don’t understand why, when we control the WH, Senate and House, why we can’t get a better deal, or what we do to push for a better deal.
Hoping for incremental improvements just seems like a pipe dream. For God’s sake we’re still stuck with the PATRIOT Act eight years later, FISA with no improvement, and two wars. Why does anyone think that we’ll be able to improve this bogus HC reform?
I can only hope that the poll numbers continue to go down and that they indicate a loss of more Democrats. The only thing that motivates these guys is the threat of not being reelected.
1. I loved the president’s (genuinely) humble bow to Speaker Pelosi as he handed her his speech.
2. There never would have been this kind of address to Congress were it not for FDL’s brilliant writers and their tireless efforts.
Testing one two three
DOH!
Brian Madigan this morning was saying that even though he could afford a gold-plated plan, he still didn’t know what he was getting nor whether he’d be covered when he needed it. Now complaints from that kind of person might make an impresserion on the PTB. Or not.
Can someone tell me what the public option would cover?
Would it be 80% like medicare? What would the deductible be
and would there be office co-pays? Rx coverage?
I am so with you on this. Kick their sorry asses, twist their arms. Olympia looks like she won’t be able to take it. On with the ads.
Slightly O/T:
I just stumbled across this quote (about Rep. Dumbass) from the illustrious Eric Cantor:
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., told ABC on Wednesday: “Obviously, the President of the United States is always welcome on Capitol Hill. He deserves respect and decorum.
“I know that Congressman Wilson has issued an apology and made his thoughts known to the White House, which was the appropriate thing to do,” Cantor said.
Oh really? That must explain why you were sitting there diddling your new-fangled Blackberry while the President was speaking… Dipshit.
RoxStead@52: “They could blame the president for drawing that line in the sand.”
If it’s defeated, he should just send it right back up, and KEEP sending it up until the mid-terms. As we know, 3/4’s of the voters support a strong public option. If Obama were going to bat for that, and no bullshit about it, and the republicans are obstructing it, then he can beat them like a rented mule, in the mid-terms.
“Losing” while he’s trying hard to do the right thing is something most americans, and certainly, the people who voted for him, would support right down the line. But he and the dems aren’t losing support because of that; they’re losing it because every time he “reaches out” to the conservatives, they fart in his face, and he keeps coming back for more.
I personally think it should be just like Medicare but with a premium instead of a Federal trust fund payroll deduction. That premium should be designed to decrease over time or at least grow annually at far less than the inflation rate, thereby encouraging cost efficiencies on the part of healthcare providers and pharmacorps (one thing Medicare has never bothered to do). This premium level will effectively set the price for private insurers who compete with the PO, forcing them to push for still more cost savings and efficiency gains from healthcare service providers and pharmacorps. The one thing from Obama’s speech that I felt was very disingenuous was when he said that if the reform package decreased underlying cost-growth rates by only a fraction of a percentage it’ll somehow asve the healthcare system from future collapse. Costs need to come down by a lot more than that.
Even Bubba got it right, when, yesterday, he said that Obama should just ignore the republicans and go for it.
How many “no” votes can the GOP stand? With their track record for the past 8 years, I think, not many.
ABC News has learned that President Obama will be meeting with 16 Democratic senators (and one “Independent Democrat”) this afternoon at the White House….
Many of these senators have expressed concern about if not downright opposition to key elements of President Obama’s health care proposals, particularly his push for a government-run public health care option to compete with private insurers to drive down costs.
Wonder if these are the Dogs.
I measure pols by what they do, NOT what they say. First he criticizes
people who mislead (Grasley on death panels)saying that he will call them out, then he praises them (Grasley by name). I know that there is more at work here – but what the sheeple hear is praise for Grasley. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
Obama is to the right of Richard M. Nixon – in actions and his voting record. He only talks like a progressive. But action is what I measure.
And why has no person commented that Obama has built his foundation on Profit-centered corporations with NO PRICE CONTROLS? Yes, we’ll have access to insurance (we have that now) and there may be pre-existing rules; however, there is nothing to stop the Insurance Cartels from just raising rates to reap a double-windfall? They’ll soon have 30,000,000 new “forced” customers and the Cartels can charge ANYTHING they wish!
Dumb, Ignorant and Republican! God help us!
Holding a tiger by the tail sounds very heroic, but as a practical matter doesn’t really work very well – too many bites and scratches, and it might just eat you, or at least eat your dog.
Better advice from the department of animal control – just quit feeding the damn thing, so it’ll go away and find food somewhere else. Otherwise it will have to be tragically killed, to prevent it from killing other people who never fed it in the first place.
You’d think the White House viewed grassroots support as an extra bonus rather than the main source of funding.
It has been claimed repeatedly that the success of Obama’s presidential bid was rooted in the millions in contributions from individuals. The White House’s alleged obsession with lobbyist monies for same belies the claim.
Why should it matter to Obama how much the GOP gets through the corporate world backdoor? He should be more concerned about what individual donors – his main benefactors – think of his policies, shouldn’t he?
lemme guess.. the indie is the one from Connecticut, not the one from Vermont.
The article should have said, 16 Democrats and one droopy dog.
I agree tanbark! I’d rather he go down swinging. The Blue Dogs will also be blamed and hopefully we can find replacements for them. If not, we may end up picking up new seats which would have the same affect. Real Dems would render the Blue Dogs even more useless than they are now. I said yesteday that the Democratic Party didn’t join the Blue Dogs, the Blue Dogs joined the Democratic Party so they should vote like a Dem. If these idiots are from so called Red States, then why didn’t those yokels vote for a Republican?
Rob Miller has raised about $235K now, just at Act Blue. Nearly $100K has come through DKos.
If independents are required to purchase health insurance at unregulated prices from an insurance oligopoly, won’t those prices rise to sop up all the money those independents would otherwise have saved? I’m not sure I quite believe that market analysis, but it looks plausible, and I’d like to hear some thoughts from a real economist on it.
Spot on! Lieberman looks like Deputy Droop Along! I hope the people of Connecticut get rid of this troll!
you know them as the Dogs, Obama knows them as the core, the essence of his Party. Which is why he chose Lieberman to be his mentor in the Senate, and it has worked out great for both of them.
Like blaming Rahm, blaming Blue Dogs deliberately misses the point. Your Party is doing exactly what it wants to do, florid campaign speechifying notwithstanding. Scrape in corporate cash, and deliver them the legislation they paid for.
your only role is to validate the charade in even numbered years, by voting for Democrats, no matter what.
Wrong post
yes. A medicare type plan would be good.
I wonder how the cost would be controlled as the payout
to physicians with medicare was supposed to be according
to CPI. Last year when the index went down, the physicians
fought and congress eliminated the decrease.
And yes the cost reductions have to be way more than
fractional
The speech was vintage Obama. Well delivered and seemingly well intentioned. But for those of us who have gotten used to these performances, we were on the look out for the qualifiers, the details, and the things left unsaid. Unfortunately, this too was vintage Obama because here were found all of his standard walk backs. Yes, there will be a public option, for now, but it will be small, limited, delayed, and largely strangled. And Obama remains open to any number of further ways of weakening it. Beyond a promise, there were also no real or effective mechanisms for cost containment. I do not think the word universal was even used and it is clear that many Americans will remain uncovered. Many others look to be stuck with junk insurance. Most importantly, it is deeply unclear how any of this will work or rather it all looks like a continuation of the current system, and as we all know that system does not work.
Obama said he would be the last President who would have to look at healthcare. Given his speech last night, I do not think “last” means what he thinks it means.
Just remember to mention the latest total that Miller has raised when you contact these idiots. I’d suggest taunting them with the phrase “Wouldn’t you like to have that kind of grassroots support? Twist the knife!
Sadly, insurance is not the solution to anything – only care is.
Like many others, I pay through the nose to insure myself against catastrophic injury or cancer diagnosis – with a deductible so high that it means I NEVER actually gain a penny’s worth of benefit over the past eight-plus years while fueling the Blue Cross corporate jet.
A buddy of mine has a hernia and needs an operation, likely to cost about the same amount as the deductible on his personal insurance program. In essence, despite having health insurance, he has none. His surgery will either be put off – or paid from his own pocket.
THIS is the reality for too many citizens who are allegedly in the “insured” category, but for all practical purposes, have no ability to have their insurer cover their ACTUAL CARE – unless of course something awful happens in their lives.
The word “insurance” needs to be removed from the debate over ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE. They are not the same thing.
This is what I keep bringing up to my friends. Where are the price controls? The Insurance Companies’ premiums will take off like a runaway train – price gouging the sick out of “coverage”. No denied claims? Perhaps. No pre-existing condition scheme? Maybe. They won’t need those tricks as much when they get 50 million new customers forced to buy their crap “policies”. They can price gouge out the undesirable unprofitable customers. I see “insurance” and I see “policies” but I see no “care”.
And the Insurance Co’s will ream the rest of us as close to the breaking point as possible.
I am in total agreement with you and couldn’t have said it better myself.
yeah, I know they succeeded in lobbying against changes in the adjustments, which is exactly why I don’t support Medicare-for-all – it gives healthcare providers too much lobbying power to stop cost containment measures. It’s a great tragedy that we’re caught between two packs of mendacious and rabid dogs: insurers and healthcare providers/pharmacorps. Heads, one side wins. Tails, the other side wins. Heads or tails, we lose.
Emptywheel has a cross-post already in progress: “Letting Insurance Write the Bill: How Bad Is That?”
I thought we got a little farther down the road, and intellectual purity won’t effect my status as uninsured. My COBRA expired, and even as a willing paying customer,even at 1,189.00 per month, which we would have coughed up somehow, we’ve been turned down for coverage. So SOMETHING is better than nothing in my view. And probably another 25 million of us. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still fighting for a public option, but I’m cool with the way the President described it last night.
Too bad we can’t actually socialize this system; and maybe Dennis the K can get something going.
This is what drives me insane about O. The words are so seductive and persuasive, but the underlying intention is subversive to his stated goals.
I’m left wondering if he wants actual healthcare reform or if he wants credit for healthcare reform. I think it’s the latter.
I want transparancy.
unfortunately, the something-is-better-than-nothing position only buys you maybe a few years, and then the cost issue will crop right back up and the system will be that much harder to fix.. and while it may solve your problem, it’ll create a worse problem for people who are uninsured or unemployed at that point in time. I’m sorry but I just don’t think we can make this change incremental and piecemeal it. It needs to be done now and done right.
The one piece of incrementalism I would support though is immediate stopgap protection for unemployed and uninsured Americans. That part of the president’s suggestions I liked, and it should be made effective immediately.. even as we’re debating this thing, IMO.
OBama wants credit for reform. Reform in the form of a money grab for insurance companies. The insurance companies have promised to donate to Democrats only, insuring their victory over the Republicans. The public gets their pockets picked and then rolled under the bus.
That’s the deal Obama, his mentor Lieberman and COS Rahm have cooked up for us.
So fucking what? Let the Drug Lords give to the Republicans.
The Republicans are such a “bad brand” that it’s beginning to look like all the money in the world can’t save them, and if this You Must Pay $$$ to the Insurance Companies travesty sails through, all the money in the world won’t be able to save the Democrats.
Currently all one has to do is say “Republican” about a candidate and it scares off the voters. The Rahm+Obama plan assures that that’s soon gonna be true for Dems.
Maybe they’re looking for new things for Blackwater — er, “Xe” — to run if/when their Iraq contracts expire.
Talk about “Death Panels”!!!
He’s a poser. An Eisenhower Republican.
Clearly I did not get all the way through the comments to read roxsteady’s excellent @ 34 before posting mine @93 above. [Time to edit had expired by the time I found this.]
But I had the same astonished reaction: “let ‘em go fund the Republicans. You’re afraid of that???”
I thought it subversive to suggest that a public plan with the overhead of Medicare could hammer private payers.
The Public Option is DEAD !
Barry’s going to pretend it’s still alive as long as he can because he and everyone else knows the public wants it. THe “Mainstream” Media’s attempt to portray it as “far left” have only made it MORE popular.
Gee I guess we’re all Communists now, right? Must be Barry’s ability to Cloud Men’s Minds!
It’s a shame that such a charismatic President isn’t working toward real progressive changes. What a waste of talent!
* “T…we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal.”
It’s called single payer.
By failing to make a firm non negotiable demand for a robust public option; Obama has emboldened Baucus et al and virtually guaranteed that one will not be forthcoming.
It seems our only hope is for the progressive caucus to hold firm and be willing to derail the bill until/unless a serious PO is included…..and even then, I suspect that “moderate” Republicans in the House might be motivated (by the insurance industry) to vote for a bill that mandates that all Americans MUST buy health insurance and then provides a trillion bucks worth of subsidies so that insurers can keep on screwing everyone…and especially the poor that will have crappy low end bullshit Medicaid type “coverage” with all manner of deductibles and co-pays and struggles to even find docs that’ll take it.
If such a bill passes and Obama signs it, he will be a one term president and we will lose the House and the Senate by 2012. That is a virtual certainty. Mark my words.
A bill with mandates and NO Public Option would be an iredeemable total scam on every level.
Surely, such a smart lawyer understands that the GOP will massively benefit from those insuresters anyway. That’s a sure bet. Giving money to the Dems is not, because now and then they might do something stupid, like act in the public interest.
Of course you’re right George; but a real/robust PO will lead, inexorably, to Single Payer.
A real PO would be able to provide BETTER coverage for LESS money than the for profit insurance industry and the demand for it would drive the bastards out of business and they know it.
The PO would have to be well administered and it would have to be free from the sabotage that the bastards would surely try to apply.
If Obama had run boldly run on SP he would have won by 20 points and the bill would have been passed by now; but that’s not where we are, eh? lol
What really pissed me of was the continuing deification of “bi-partisanship” or “working together.” [”Bring me good ideas; I don’t care where they come from.” Homage to John McCain & Chuck Grassley.]
Good grief, Obama, you’re the PRESIDENT. The campaign is over. You WON. Now act like it, fight for the people who elected you, and GOVERN.
This continued “can’t we all just get along” is pure looking-towards-2010, and that’s Rahm’s doing.
He doesn’t want to upset the aristocratic master of the universe capitalists.
That clause isn’t what you think it is. It just means that, instead of hiring civil servants to administer the program, they can hire workers from a “body shop”. It’s a practice that has been going on for some time – replacing civil servants with workers provided by contract. I worked for such contractors (for DoD) for a couple of decades.
At least President Obama stopped rolling over last night for his GOP critics. Nevertheless, I was unimpressed by his highly qualified support for a public option and his total lack of support for a robust public option.
In the absence of a robust public option, there is no incentive in the President’s plan for health insurance companies to reduce cost or to compete with one another or the government. The President’s plan provides for an insurance mandate for every American citizen – a massive transfer of family wealth to the health insurance companies. It does little to restrict their ability to raise rates or to triage the ill customers by charging higher premiums.
It is certainly desirable to outlaw the most egregious of health insurance company practices such as cancellation for getting sick or trivial undisclosed “pre-existing conditions. However, in the absence of any meaningful cost control, American families will still be subjected to the slow bleeding of cash from their paychecks by health insurance companies.
FDR and LBJ were presidents whose salesmanship, leadership, and legislative skills improved the lives of the majority of Americans. So far, President Obama has only demonstrated skill in salesmanship. Indeed, last night’s speech was frequently an exercise in selling a weak health care reform program to the American people. Until President Obama is willing to undertake the responsibilities of leadership and legislating, he will be a caretaker president who once again kicked the health care can down the road – his achievements limited to being America’s first black president, an accident of his birth.
It’s called third party.
Good anaysis, especially this:
Jane,
If we are forced to accept a trigger, how about this: We agree to only let the public option be available to people without insurance initially, but the trigger is if these insurers don’t straighten up in 2 years, the public option is expanded to everyone and rates are tied to Medicare. That’s a trigger I could live with because we still get something up front and the price they pay for not changing is high.
Tom, I have to disagree that he will “pay a huge political price” by coming out 4-square for a public option. Which means threatening to veto any bill that doesn’t have it. If he loses:
He will still look like a leader and a president with principles, while the republicans will like what they ARE, which is a bunch of assholes who purely hate him and will oppose practically anything that he brings up to the hill.
And those two scenarios are a win-win situation, the last time I checked.
Also, all of the talk about delayed triggers assumes one thing: That somehow Obama in two-three years, or more, if he wins re-election, will have a better majority in congress to work with, down the road, and will be at least AS popular with voters.
With Iraq and Afghanistan bubbling away, I think we’re likely to be weaker as time passes. Who’s going to enforce the triggers?
Yep. O will be weaker as voters flee the D party when healthcare reform winds up being a mandate with no cost control.
Instead of being conspiracy theory mongering fools speculating on what cannot be known (what was said behind closed doors) why not be a fact and logic mongerer who looks at the obstacles to the public option in plain site:
* Experts on the Senate (Sen. Dick Durbin and Former Chief of Staff to the Senate Finance Committee Lawrence O’Donnell) say that reconciliation only ends debate on the final vote and does not prevent filibustering every single item in the bill before the final vote.
* There are not 60 votes to break a filibuster, and there are millions of constituents standing behind Blue Dogs who oppose the public option.
* A plurality of Nebraskans (47%) oppose the public option, along with their Democratic Senator Ben Nelson
* A majority of Arkansas citizens (60%) oppose the public option, along with their two Democratic Senators Lincoln and Pryor
* Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu opposes the public option and if there was a poll for Louisiana, it would likely show the same thing as in Arksansas as Louisiana is in the Deep South and is likely more conservative than Arkansas
Just counting the Senators from Arkansas and Nebraska, that stops you short of the 60 votes you need. So rather than acting like a bunch of Ron Paulist conspiracy theory survivalists, why not focus on the real problem in the Senate?
Uh, oh. 47 percent of Nebraskans oppose the PO. Shut it down! Hahahaha.
(So what’s that…a fraction of a percent of the total population of the United States?)
we have compromised so much already, in doing so we have gone so far from where we stood and thats a shame, we were told we needed 60 votes we got 60 now even thats not good enough, we have to be the change! this game is fixed! no matter which direction the ball is going or who’s carrying it we only get further from our goals ,the game needs to be changed!
We won’t have to wait ’til 2010 for fall out from Rahm/Obama throwing progressives under the bus.
Any legislation passed by either house without a robust public option will hold down turn out this year in NJ and VA where the D candidate for governor is in trouble and can’t afford to have any progressives stay home.
Have all the Congressman and Senators from Jersey pledged to vote against a bill that doesn’t have a robust public option? None in Va have. Mark Warner told a town hall last week that he opposes a public option.
How will that reflect on Timmy McKaine, outgoing VA gov and pathetic DNC chair and Prince Warner, Finance Committee member?
He is almost 100% faithless. And he is no leader. That is why he has Rahm, just as W had Cheney. The difference in evil is a matter of degree.
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Tell it like it is, Jane! As rhetorically eloquent in generalizations about us all being in the same boat and the imperative for caring for each other, The President failed to INSIST on the action that would manifest that: a public option.
I completely agree with your analysis.
In my mind, Obama = Emmanuel, virtually, unfortunately.
Thanks for reminding us us that it was Emmanuel, among others, who drove NAFTA, which has sucked the manufacturing base from this country, made Wall St. our economic engine (that worked out real well, didn’t it? [perhaps if you’re in the top .8%]), and left us closer to a banana republic than we’ve ever been.
BTW – the MSM is concentrating on is Joe Wilson’s outburst. Typical.
Except for the times Lucy stops to hold it for Charlie Brown (D).
That was pretty late in the game that Bachmann’s opponent got all that money. Hopefully, this money is coming in early enough to plan out and execute a great campaign. I was glad to read that Wilson’s opponent is a progressive, too, not just a Democrat. Anything would be better than rude racist guy, but still nice to get a lot better instead of just marginally better.
How about if the mandates are set up with the same trigger as the public option? Corporations get what they want immediately and the people get to wait, like we’re still waiting for foreclosure and credit help. But the corporate powers are so interested in paying us back for stepping up and helping them out first that it was all worth it, right?
And Wilson’s shithouse-rat-lunacy had a prequel. Here’s a clip from Kos, showing it:
http://www.dailykos.com/
RFKUS@114:
Too bad on the numbers. Just keep sending up a bill with the P.O. and let the repubs vote it down. After 8 years of one clusterfuckup after another one, how many obstructionist “NO” votes do you think they can stand?
I think not many, and when the mid-terms get here, we can collect on that little bill, all over again.
Speaking of Pelosi … Does anybody really believe “We Can Find $500 Billion By ‘Squeezing Excesses’ Out Of Medicare/Medicaid, Half Of 1 Trillion Dollar Price Tag Will Be Paid For By ‘Cuts’”.
Nancy is good for a laugh and that’s about all anymore.
Speaking of Pelosi … Does anybody really believe “We Can Find $500 Billion By ‘Squeezing Excesses’ Out Of Medicare/Medicaid, Half Of 1 Trillion Dollar Price Tag Will Be Paid For By ‘Cuts’”.
not sure why you’re blaming this on nancy pelosi. it’s obama and orszag and many of his economic advisors who believe this.
Jane,
I was just rereading this post, and I wanted to ask you a question in regards to your following quote. “Of course, the actions of the White House betray quite a different intent. The deals they have negotiated with health care industry stakeholders do not include a public plan, they don’t believe they can back out of them without triggering a rush of lobbyist money to GOP coffers.”
Most every post I’ve read over the past several months concerning the real roadblock to the public option keeps coming back to this point. Obama raised nearly a half billion dollars on the campaign trail last year, and it was my impression that it was mostly from the grassroots (correct me if I’m wrong).
My question is how much money do Obama and Rahm think they need for the reelections (2010/2012), above and beyond what the grassroots can give (hell, we could raise a billion dollars from the grassroots alone if that’s what it took), that they’re willing to sell out the American people for corporate dollars, when they know that we will all know about the sellout come next election time? Health care corporations aren’t going to give Republicans a billion dollars.
And, in addition to that, given that the Republican Party is imploding, most likely all they’ll have for candidates to run against Democrats next time are ignorant buffoons.
Sorry for the disorganized rambling; it’s late and I’m tired.
Study: Many Obama Small Donors Really Weren’t
Obama’s Camp Cultivates Crop in Small Donors
Thanks for the response and the info. I see they used “creative accounting techniques” to make the grassroots’ contribution appear much more historic than it actually was. Still, the President wouldn’t have to give up all corporate dollars, just the $150,000,000 (I think that’s right) that was the PhRMA deal he and Rahm made. Surely, the grassroots could have matched any dollar amount he got from that deal; that’s why I don’t understand why he and Rahm felt so strongly to have made it.
i think you’re right about the grass roots being able to make up what is really a fairly paltry sum, but big pharma apparently also agreed to not launch any harry and louise anti-reform ads too. no way could the little people come up with enough money to counter that.