You All Must Be So Proud
by matt at 1:01 pm on October 23rd, 2009 in Health Care, Obama Uber AllesSources: White House Pushing Back Against Senate Public Option Opt Out Compromise – TPMDC (10/23/09):
Multiple sources tell TPMDC that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is very close to rounding up 60 members in support of a public option with an opt out clause, and are continuing to push skeptical members. But they also say that the White House is pushing back against the idea, in a bid to retain the support of Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME).
“They’re skeptical of opt out and are generally deferential to the Snowe strategy that involves the trigger,” said one source close to negotiations between the Senate and the White House. “they’re certainly not calming moderate’s concerns on opt out.”
This new development, which casts the White House as an opponent of all but the most watered down form of public option, is likely to yield backlash from progressives, especially those in the House who have been pushing for a more maximal version of reform.
We’re now running up against the outside limit of how huge a douche I figured Obama could be.
Update 2:00pm PDT: Sirota:
…unlike many other complex political issues that can be fudged and finagled because they are either small or separated by many bureaucratic layers from voters, health care is not bullshit-able. That is, whereas politicians can spin a small bore tax credit or, say, a big jobs program that is hard to quantify, health care reform is an issue every average voter will very quickly know either worked or did not work, regardless of what politicians say. Screw it up, and no Democratic political rhetoric – and certainly not “bipartisanship” – will fool voters into thinking it “worked.” Enact something genuinely positive, and no Republican political attack will fool voters into thinking it’s a failure (for reference on that latter point, see Republicans repeated failed attempts to berate Medicare and Social Security).
So again, I’ll make it plain: The worse the bill is on the substance, the worse Democrats will fare in elections, the better the bill is on substance, the better Democrats will fare in elections.
sarabeth wrote:
Obama made it clear a long time ago that his objective was not to pass the best bill possible, but to bend over backwards to get Republican support.
Apparently, he meant he would cheerfully compromise our future healthcare system to get any Republican support at all, even one lousy vote.
Posted 23 Oct 2009 at 1:54 pm ¶
matt wrote:
pretty big difference between 1 republican vote and 10 republican votes, some would call it an order of magnitude.
also if 100% of the bill is to 52 votes, as 85% is to 70 votes, wouldn’t 61 votes demand something like 93% of what Obama wanted? is a weak-ass public option with an impossible-to-pull trigger really 93% of what obama wanted?
Posted 23 Oct 2009 at 2:05 pm ¶
Sandra wrote:
Living in South Carolina is difficult enough without a reasonable governor. Can one imagine how many of this states uninsured will get any possibility of having a public option with an “OPT OUT” plan? Our state will OPT out immediately. Joe Wilson and Jim De Mint will be thrilled. They do not represent the will of their constituents.
Currently, the medical care that the state administers is bare minimal with no dental care, even for those at risk for death from infection, in such people with weakened immune systems, diabetics, and those who are able to buy dental insurance and not able to pay the co-payments on dental insurance.
Fat chance of us having any meaningful chance of bettering health care for our citizens Mr. Reid.
Posted 23 Oct 2009 at 7:14 pm ¶