James Carvel says let the GOP kill health care reform with a filibuster. Then defeat the GOP at the ballot box.
Reid should have done that months ago. It would have given weak-in-the-knees Dems a little more backbone but that ship has sailed. Reid is a pathetic GOP suck-up plus we're too close the the mid-terms now.
The President can still fix this. He needs to fire Rahm immediately. He needs to hire Howard Dean as his new Chief of Staff straight away. Then he needs to stop legislating from the center where the GOP keeps dropping things in the Washington pool and go all-out hard left for single payer and lastly, stop kissing big pharma's chemical backside.
It would be a new start.
NotTimothyGeithner
· 4 months ago
Yes, but what would you expect from a guy who thinks Tim Kaine is awesome. When Kaine was Governor (I guess he still is), he called a transportation special session, and he put up an awful bill. Literally awful. The two Democratic caucuses in the legislature were split over alternative plans because the respective leaders were running against each other, and the GOP just pushed a message that the Dems weren't united and poked wholes in the obvious flaws of Kaine's plan. Kaine's plan was to build more highways and raise taxes to pay for those highways on rapidly declining tax bases. Long story short a major special session amounted to nothing happening on transportation which was the number 1 issue in every region of Virginia.
Long story short:
-Kaine supported a shitty bill -Kaine didn't provide direction to his own party -Kaine pushed for widespread bi-partisan support despite the GOP admitting any one of his proposals was DOA and having screwed him in the ass the year before. (Kaine repealed the estate tax and then asked everyone else to pay higher taxes, which would be fine if the estate tax was still being collected) -In the end, Kaine accomplished nothing except a $22,000 electric bill from turning on the lights in Richmond.
From what I've seen, Obama is basically Tim Kaine in the Whitehouse with a more attractive wife.
Õ¿Õ
· 4 months ago
I'll never forget how the hetero "progressives" flamed me when Obama threw us under the bus and I complained. Well, I told them then and there, that you just wait. Eventually, he'll do the same to you and now he has.
Eat it.
JeepTreats
· 4 months ago
Yup. I was told to shut up and wait my turn and some said I didn't deserve a turn, my feelings were unnatural!
FunMe
· 4 months ago
Maybe finally those "progressives" that didn't get it, finally will.
Obama is off to a really bad start and it's not even one year! His MO is to kick off anyone who doesn't help him.
The irony, all the people who he is kicking and throwing under the bus, are the VOTES he will be losing that will cost him a 2nd term presidency.
What a freaking DISAPPOINTMENT.
jonwalker
· 4 months ago
public plan is just step one. They are coming after Medicare advantage, they are coming after community rates, they are coming after the whole bill peice by peice.
Jophus
· 4 months ago
They're coming after Grandma! (I couldn't resist)
tlsintx
· 4 months ago
so it was all just pretty talk to get elected?
so Rahm is really president, like Cheney really was?
Dizzyliz
· 4 months ago
The left blogs need to get together and trumpet the slogan, MEDICARE FOR ALL.
condew
· 4 months ago
I like the idea of using Medicare as a basis. We could start by pushing that those 62-64 who qualify for Social Security should be able to "buy in" to Medicare because for that age range health insurance is unaffordable for most, and people who have serious medical conditions should be able to retire early. Once there is a mechanism to "buy in" to Medicare, we can make the argument that COBRA is unaffordable, and the unemployed should be allowed to "buy in". Then argue that the working poor should not go without insurance since they could afford to "buy in" to Medicare with a small subsidy. With each step, Medicare becomes more indispensable and more like a pure single-payer plan. When Medicare's economic reckoning comes up in about 10 years, nobody will dare to speak of eliminating it, or gutting it as simply unaffordable, because it would be the health insurance of most Americans.
Dizzyliz
· 4 months ago
Your suggestion is the way to go but at greater increments - the initial inclusion should be to 55 years and so on dropping every year or two by ten years until everyone is covered. Consider the fact the program is in place with doctors familiar with the paper work and billing, an enormous savings compared to setting up some new department to handle some half-baked program.
condew
· 4 months ago
Since we can argue whether the first age drop is 55 or 62, that provides a nice range of compromise; the age to accept is the one that can get enough votes to pass. If 55 will pass, I'm all for it. The strategy is to have a strong argument for each step to curb the rabble rousing about insurance for the so-called "undeserving".
Dizzyliz
· 4 months ago
Then can we agree to add to the slogan: MEDICARE FOR ALL: HEALTH CARE IS A NATURAL RIGHT ALONGSIDE LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
condew
· 4 months ago
If the under-65 people who buy in to Medicare pay a bit more than they are expected to cost, this could also be presented as a way to rescue Medicare.
mwfolsom
· 4 months ago
Looks true to me -
They have abandoned this like repeal of DADT, repeal of DOMA and everything and anything else they promised that matters. The only thing that will save the Dems in the midterms is the fact that the Republicans are bat shit crazy.
Certainly anybody that now hopes for much out of the Oama Presidency is nuts. Its over because Obama is a coward and doesn't believe in anything and the Dems in the House and Senate or owned by whichever Corporate interests show up that have the most cash.
tyree
· 4 months ago
Its not that obamas stupid, or inexperinced ,its that hes just what he actually is, hes the guy the republicans wanted you to have, a corporatist republican lite politician, had clinton won the election, youd have seen the same things being done, more war , more selling out of the voters, four years of the democrats doing the same things that the republicans would do, perhaps they want to finally get ol jeb bush in the white house !and the beat goes on.
Butch1
· 4 months ago
"Its not that obama's . . ." ==================================== He doesn't seem to stand for anything...long.
caphillprof
· 4 months ago
More like surrender.
Am I the only one ticked that the man has the audacity to take a week off in the Vineyard while the entire raison d'etre of his campaign goes down the tubes?
Tyke
· 4 months ago
You do realize that Ted Kennedy lives a short boat ride from where Obama is vacationing I hope?
From the first time I heard about it, this vacation has looked to me like a chance (maybe even a last chance) for Obama to visit a very sick friend without a lot of fanfare.
If Obama just wanted to get away this would not be the most likely location.
blackcat
· 4 months ago
He has worked early mornings, late evenings and weekends for months. He has co-opted his family time, too. As our president's employer, do you feel it is your right (or a good practice) to deny this human being a couple of days away from the workplace to renew himself? Just like other working people he is trying to use the time before his short vacation to address as much as he can. He has 3 1/2 years of opposition to go.
dula
· 4 months ago
As his employer, his ass should be fired for padding his resume, lying about his intentions, and giving away our business plan to the competition.
Diogenes
· 4 months ago
I second that motion.
JeepTreats
· 4 months ago
3rd it!
Dateline_Molly
· 4 months ago
Obama must be one cynical asshole, that's all I can say. How he can show his face in public after this FUBAR mess is mind-boggling.
I suspect "our first black president" as his legacy is going to be about it. Unfortunately, given the huge amount of racism in this country, that legacy will probably change to "our only black president." I honestly don't think he's thinking about anything long-term. He just ran for president because it was a cool thing to do and he got egged on by those Chicago bankster people like Pritzker et. al. Now that he's in there, he just can't be bothered with policy or understanding the political ins and outs of the game. He either doesn't have a clue what he's doing and just stepped aside as soon as he got in there, or he's one of the most cynical, immoral, unprincipled and uncourageous politicians ever.
The man is worse than Bush. Bush had principles and stuck to them, even if they were horrible immoral principles. He sent bills back that he didn't like and refused to sign them. Obclown just lets the discredited bankrupt minority party do all the leading.
He's just the placeholder until they can get another Republican in there.
Glad I didn't vote for the guy.
Butch1
· 4 months ago
That didn't take long.
Here's my headline: "David slays Goliath and Goliath didn't even fight back."
KarenMrsLloydRichards
· 4 months ago
2008: Public option "central" to reform.
2009: Public option just a "sliver" in overall reform.
2010: Insurance companies bribed, er, paid, like Afghan warlords and Sunni tribal chiefs, to insure a few million more Americans previously dropped for "pre-existing conditions." Team Obama crows over this "victory."
Nov 2010: Democrats lose 30+ House seats.
mikeyDe
· 4 months ago
2010-2012: Obama spends more time abroad than at home, looking for durable solutions to conflicts in Northern Ireland and Israel.
mikeyDe
· 4 months ago
2010: Cabinet or WH scandal erupts 2011: West Wing insiders resign to get their kiss-and-tell books out before the 2012 primaries.
JeepTreats
· 4 months ago
Maybe co-ops will pave the way to single-payer one day, but I don't want to be forced to pay for junk insurance. I live in a state with outrageously high car insurance. We're not allowed to buy car insurance from other states. I'm not looking forward to buying mandated junk co-op insurance.
Lots of time to see how all of this plays out.
This back and forth is nauseating.
KarenMrsLloydRichards
· 4 months ago
Politico.com reporting that the GOP has a "new spring in its step" today thanks to Team Obama's maladroit capitulation.
HereinDC
· 4 months ago
Sad...very sad.... more like pathetic.
mwdavis
· 4 months ago
Same way it got spun on NPR this morning. Change you can completely ignore.
RainbowPhoenix
· 4 months ago
Stick a fork in the man.
Tyke
· 4 months ago
Wow, since Drudge never makes shit up or outright lies, it is sure a good thing you've given him some play!!
Gridlock
· 4 months ago
Try yahoo news, it's saying the exact same thing.
usafvet65
· 4 months ago
As a loyal reader.......please do not ever again post a Sludge Report anything.
Given him no space.
Dr. Howard Dean was on MSNBC this morning and he was optimistic about us still getting a public plan. I have far more faith in his optimism than in Sludge Report lies.
Dr. Dean's (the 50 state strategy) laid out a scenario for it to happen with only Dems. I have faith in his evaluation of the status of the health care bill.
sisterfaith
· 4 months ago
We ....I repeat we.....elected this man. I've been trying to understand this.....but I find I just get angrier and angrier. The American people voted for change....In my opinion they voted for a public option.....why are we letting the birthers and deathers define the agenda....
Butch1
· 4 months ago
"we.....elected this man..." ===================================== We can "un-elect" him as well. Third party progressives, anyone?!
JustAnOldLady
· 4 months ago
The GOP has figured out you can scare the American people with the most outrageous ridiculous lies..... this is really depressing....
KarenMrsLloydRichards
· 4 months ago
It always works:
Saddam has weapons of mass destruction which he will "give" to terrorists.
Gay teachers will indoctrinate your children to become gay.
Flouride in drinking water is a Russian plot to sap your bodily fluids.
On and on and on . . .
[Richard Hofstadter said that the paranoid style in American politics was enduring . . . ]
Yankee
· 4 months ago
The corporations have figured out that if they throw enough money around they can get both parties to swing around like monkeys and stage town hall farces with screams of the red scare to pound down any opposition to their monopoly. When exactly are people going to accept they've been had with the democratic party? Our political and economic situation screams "third party" like nothing else. For all those who worked so hard and paid so much money last election need to funnel that effort for yourself and find someone else to run.
tlsintx
· 4 months ago
are any reputable polls asking anyone their opinion on a public option? i've seen nothing on that.
drudge and the 20% fringe-right will scream all day they're winning this, but are they?
mikeyDe
· 4 months ago
Yes, the 20% fringe-right, as you call it, are getting exactly what they want. The more they repeat their lies, the more the people get on board the Anger Train, even when they'd really rather have a public option. So far they've only capitalized on fear of socialism and latent racism. The powder they're keeping dry is immigration: it's bad enough blacks, whose families have been here for centuries, might benefit from a public health plan. But illegals or transients or people who look like them? That would blow the whole lid off.
The public option is dead for another 40 years. By the time the bulk of the boomer generation (those born in 1951) are eligible, Medicare will be severely cut back as well. Even a huge economic or environmental crisis will not reopen the window of opportunity that is slamming shut now.
Nebris
· 4 months ago
More proof that Mass Democracy has failed.
barts
· 4 months ago
Repbublicans just killed grandma!
Dateline_Molly
· 4 months ago
More like the Democrats just killed her.
obamacrat
· 4 months ago
I thought this guy had a little of the "Chicago way" in him. Apparently not. I keep waiting for him to throw a few elbows at these guys and we keep getting nothing. I voted for him over Hilary Clinton because I thought he would be truer to democratic values and would stand firm for real change. Please tell me I was not mistaken.
JeepTreats
· 4 months ago
The Canadians are considering overhauling their health care system. They say the current system is unsustainable. They want competition from private health insurance companies.
I wonder how much that has to do with with the so-called retreat from the white house.
All Comments
Reid should have done that months ago. It would have given weak-in-the-knees Dems a little more backbone but that ship has sailed. Reid is a pathetic GOP suck-up plus we're too close the the mid-terms now.
The President can still fix this. He needs to fire Rahm immediately. He needs to hire Howard Dean as his new Chief of Staff straight away. Then he needs to stop legislating from the center where the GOP keeps dropping things in the Washington pool and go all-out hard left for single payer and lastly, stop kissing big pharma's chemical backside.
It would be a new start.
Long story short:
-Kaine supported a shitty bill
-Kaine didn't provide direction to his own party
-Kaine pushed for widespread bi-partisan support despite the GOP admitting any one of his proposals was DOA and having screwed him in the ass the year before. (Kaine repealed the estate tax and then asked everyone else to pay higher taxes, which would be fine if the estate tax was still being collected)
-In the end, Kaine accomplished nothing except a $22,000 electric bill from turning on the lights in Richmond.
From what I've seen, Obama is basically Tim Kaine in the Whitehouse with a more attractive wife.
Eat it.
Obama is off to a really bad start and it's not even one year! His MO is to kick off anyone who doesn't help him.
The irony, all the people who he is kicking and throwing under the bus, are the VOTES he will be losing that will cost him a 2nd term presidency.
What a freaking DISAPPOINTMENT.
so Rahm is really president, like Cheney really was?
They have abandoned this like repeal of DADT, repeal of DOMA and everything and anything else they promised that matters. The only thing that will save the Dems in the midterms is the fact that the Republicans are bat shit crazy.
Certainly anybody that now hopes for much out of the Oama Presidency is nuts. Its over because Obama is a coward and doesn't believe in anything and the Dems in the House and Senate or owned by whichever Corporate interests show up that have the most cash.
====================================
He doesn't seem to stand for anything...long.
Am I the only one ticked that the man has the audacity to take a week off in the Vineyard while the entire raison d'etre of his campaign goes down the tubes?
From the first time I heard about it, this vacation has looked to me like a chance (maybe even a last chance) for Obama to visit a very sick friend without a lot of fanfare.
If Obama just wanted to get away this would not be the most likely location.
I suspect "our first black president" as his legacy is going to be about it. Unfortunately, given the huge amount of racism in this country, that legacy will probably change to "our only black president." I honestly don't think he's thinking about anything long-term. He just ran for president because it was a cool thing to do and he got egged on by those Chicago bankster people like Pritzker et. al. Now that he's in there, he just can't be bothered with policy or understanding the political ins and outs of the game. He either doesn't have a clue what he's doing and just stepped aside as soon as he got in there, or he's one of the most cynical, immoral, unprincipled and uncourageous politicians ever.
The man is worse than Bush. Bush had principles and stuck to them, even if they were horrible immoral principles. He sent bills back that he didn't like and refused to sign them. Obclown just lets the discredited bankrupt minority party do all the leading.
He's just the placeholder until they can get another Republican in there.
Glad I didn't vote for the guy.
Here's my headline: "David slays Goliath and Goliath didn't even fight back."
2009: Public option just a "sliver" in overall reform.
2010: Insurance companies bribed, er, paid, like Afghan warlords and Sunni tribal chiefs, to insure a few million more Americans previously dropped for "pre-existing conditions." Team Obama crows over this "victory."
Nov 2010: Democrats lose 30+ House seats.
2011: West Wing insiders resign to get their kiss-and-tell books out before the 2012 primaries.
Lots of time to see how all of this plays out.
This back and forth is nauseating.
more like pathetic.
Given him no space.
Dr. Howard Dean was on MSNBC this morning and he was optimistic about us still getting a public plan. I have far more faith in his optimism than in Sludge Report lies.
Dr. Dean's (the 50 state strategy) laid out a scenario for it to happen with only Dems. I have faith in his evaluation of the status of the health care bill.
The American people voted for change....In my opinion they voted for a public option.....why are we letting the birthers and deathers define the agenda....
=====================================
We can "un-elect" him as well. Third party progressives, anyone?!
Saddam has weapons of mass destruction which he will "give" to terrorists.
Gay teachers will indoctrinate your children to become gay.
Flouride in drinking water is a Russian plot to sap your bodily fluids.
On and on and on . . .
[Richard Hofstadter said that the paranoid style in American politics was enduring . . . ]
drudge and the 20% fringe-right will scream all day they're winning this, but are they?
The public option is dead for another 40 years. By the time the bulk of the boomer generation (those born in 1951) are eligible, Medicare will be severely cut back as well. Even a huge economic or environmental crisis will not reopen the window of opportunity that is slamming shut now.
I wonder how much that has to do with with the so-called retreat from the white house.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/...
Geez!
Are Dems really that STUPID to not know how this will cause them seats.