Comments on: OFA Waves “Bye Bye” to Public Plan

By: GDC707

GDC707 — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:14:18 +0000

Oprah’s sitting this out? Well . . . . that’s unacceptable. Hey Jane. You’re a big shot movie producer. Can’t your people call Oprah’s people (or however you Hollywood folks do things) and get her to mention FDL on the show? Or have Jane on as a cancer survivor. Or have Oprah on FDL for a live chat. Believe me, what this movement needs is housewives. Networking housewives and angry librarians. With those two you can’t lose. kgb999 – you write well.
Good night and good luck

By: OldFatGuy

OldFatGuy — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:13:47 +0000

YES!

Kill it, and start over.

And make it a public statement. “We tried to work with the Republicans. We tried everything we knew to try in terms of compromise and still they just said ‘NO’. Therefore, we’re going to start over and work towards what Democrats want, and that’s Single Payer.”

Start there, work toward there, get some damned ad money from somewhere and advertise for it, and if the momentum starts to turn, the Blue Dogs (and probably a few Republicans) will come running BEGGING for a compromise, such as a strong, strong Public Option.

By: freeman

freeman — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:16:34 +0000

Kill this bill and start over !!!
The best thing that can now come out of this vote would be for the progressive caucus to offer a wake up call to the democratic party and flex some political muscle !
In other countries with more than 2 parties there emerges the idea of power sharing . It’s how the Greens became a force for instance in German politics .
The progressives could easily carve out a place within the democratic party on this bill and begin a similar arrangement with the centrist democrats . It would also go a long way toward increasing the threat to entrenched corporate interests of a viable third party in the future .

By: leftdcin72

leftdcin72 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:33:27 +0000

If you do not know what is “currently on the table” so be it but the Clintons never gave a damn about healthcare reform despite all the posturing, present and past. As far as Clintons second term, gimme a break. All that really happened of any substance was that our dependence on foreign fossil fuels grew by 40%, no development of electric batteries, banks were deregulated to act as investment banks (circa 1999) and the age qualification for social security benefits was reconfigured. So the Clintons are not progressives and never acted to seriously advance any cause, except that of Wall Street.

By: stevebyan

stevebyan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:06:54 +0000

So how does one remove their name from the OFA roles? I checked my account on the OFA website and couldn’t find a “delete this account” button. I looked for a way to communicate with OFA, but the only half-way sensible option takes me to the whitehouse comment form.

I posted this rant there:

I note that OFA does not have a way to cancel my account. Since the administration currently supports installing a corrupt regime in Afghanistan with the support of increased numbers of US troops, supports illegal wiretapping, supports rendition to and imprisonment at Bagram without due process, supports military tribunal show trials, supports trillions in handouts to Wall St, refuses to hold members of the previous administration accountable for their war-crimes, and, as a last straw, OFA no longer supports the mandatory inclusion of a public option in the health care reform bill, I no longer support OFA and request that my account be cancelled immediately.

By: kgb999

kgb999 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:52:11 +0000

Oprah specifically said she’s sitting this out.

But I think you are right. August is done, the teabag brigade peaked and I suspect they have little left - the shock value of their visage is played out and now people are left to ponder the silliness of their assertions. This is the home stretch and the democrats kept their powder dry. Let’s see if they can seize this cycle and pull it out.

Keep pushing - but don’t yet despair.

By: kgb999

kgb999 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:32:18 +0000

Harry Reid is also the guy who designed the strategy to end Bush’s game of recess appointments and managed to kill Yucca Mountain (a GOP baby) almost single handed. He also managed to get what was missing from the house version of the stimulus package in the senate bill (while leaving out some stuff the house already had covered) and delivered almost exactly what Obama asked for when the bills were reconciled (although Obama did ask for less than Krugman et. al. lobbied for).

IMO, he’s an impressive parliamentarian in an age where the art is disparaged by people who want to see nothing but fists and elbows. He uses arcane rules, not brickbats. Our biggest problem is that he’s beholden to Obama now because of the aforementioned Yucca Mountain win (one of Obama’s first moves was to put the nails in that coffin). Every possible tool is at the democrats’ disposal. This would not be the case if Reid were not good at his position. The big question here is if Obama will pull the trigger. Reid isn’t going to buck Obama.

And also, a poll showing Danny Tarkanian ahead of Reid *should* speak for itself to anyone who ever lived in Southern Nevada. He’s kind of a joke with zero experience who can’t even win statewide office, and he’s polling better than the legitimate GOP candidate. I am very skeptical that Reid is in serious trouble here (betting a dollar he’ll attack some long-standing water dispute issues next session). Could be wrong, but I just don’t see it.

By: solerso

solerso — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:21:36 +0000

Frankly it is long past time for the left to say Bye-Bye to OFA. Once they got to DC, they sold out.

they never had to sell out, they were a DNC contrivance, ripping off the enormously succesful DFA organization of howard dean. I can trace the bad intent back to the point Dean was told to leave his chairmanship of the DNC, and the hiring of a corporate toady like rahm as cos.

By: Phoenix Woman

Phoenix Woman — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:12:10 +0000

Jell-O Jay grows a spine, says he won’t vote for MaxTax Bill:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..aucus-Bill

By the way, the MaxTax Beta, aka RomneyCare, is falling apart in Massachusetts even as we speak: http://www.boston.com/business….._in_rates/

By: bobash

bobash — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:40:05 +0000

Obama continues to operate as a centrist, evidently under the assumption that he can maintain some voters from the center right who like his constant compromising. This will never result in a similar flexibility amongst Republicans to compromise–they don’t care about truth or policy or the nation or even ideology when their backs are to the wall–they live to regain power.

He clearly is counting on retaining the Independents in the middle who voted for him, while also assuming (taking for granted) the left will vote for him again (because who else are they going to vote for?). The only way this dynamic will ever change is if there is a real mass of voters supporting candidates to the left of Obama (including a 2012 presidential challenger) that credibly threatens to not only steal leftist voters, but Independents in the middle as well.

This is going to be tough–the independents in the middle do not read blogs all day, or even follow the news hardly at all except when it hits them hard enough to threaten their daily work routine and livelihood. Because the left has respect for the truth and does not create infotainment events similar to those on the right, and because the MSM in their economic death spiral will hold on to their one claim to fame–incestuous influence in Washington–until their ultimate demise, I see the odds for our cause as very long. Obama could have been the one–the fact that he’s betrayed his base and his principles in his pragmatism is causing me grief and disappointment beyond my words to express.