1561

No, it’s really not. I take the long view that this massive giveaway to insurance companies will do exactly the opposite of whatever was originally intended. Ten years from now the talk will be about repealing all of this shit because it’s done nothing it was meant to accomplish. There will be no talk of ‘improving’ it because no one will trust Democrats, and a fair number will have been voted out of office anyway.

To draw a proper analogy, look at the Iraq War. Cheney and his cronies undoubtedly wanted to push it into Syria and Iran, but they screwed the pooch so badly in Iraq - not to mention Afghanistan - that there was no way in hell Americans were going to tolerate their sabre-rattling even as early as a few months after the 2004 elections. Likewise, we have screwed up health care reform so horribly that who’s going to accept another health care proposal from Democrats? I can hardly wait to hear what the Republican talking points will be.

So hurray, enjoy your six years of health reform before Republicans come in and kill it by relaxing regulations so that it really is just a mandate and little else.

And a good post (linked from Kos) from Drew Weston that illustrates perfectly what infuriates us about Obama:

What’s costing the president are three things: a laissez faire style of leadership that appears weak and removed to everyday Americans, a failure to articulate and defend any coherent ideological position on virtually anything, and a widespread perception that he cares more about special interests like bank, credit card, oil and coal, and health and pharmaceutical companies than he does about the people they are shafting…

Consider the president’s leadership style, which has now become clear: deliver a moving speech, move on, and when push comes to shove, leave it to others to decide what to do if there’s a conflict, because if there’s a conflict, he doesn’t want to be anywhere near it.

Health care is a paradigm case. When the president went to speak to the Democrats last week on Capitol Hill, he exhorted them to pass the bill. According to reports, though, he didn’t mention the two issues in the way of doing that, the efforts of Senators like Ben Nelson to use this as an opportunity to turn back the clock on abortion by 25 years, and the efforts of conservative and industry-owned Democrats to eliminate any competition for the insurance companies that pay their campaign bills. He simply ignored both controversies and exhorted.

Leadership means heading into the eye of the storm and bringing the vessel of state home safely, not going as far inland as you can because it’s uncomfortable on the high seas. This president has a particular aversion to battling back gusting winds from his starboard side (the right, for the nautically challenged) and tends to give in to them. He just can’t tolerate conflict, and the result is that he refuses to lead…

The time for exhortation is over. FDR didn’t exhort robber barons to stem the redistribution of wealth from working Americans to the upper 1 percent, and neither did his fifth cousin Teddy. Both men told the most powerful men in the United States that they weren’t going to rip off the American people any more, and they backed up their words with actions. Teddy Roosevelt was clear that capital gains taxes should be high relative to income taxes because we should reward work, not “gambling in stocks.” This President just doesn’t have the stomach to make anyone do anything they don’t want to do (except women to have unwanted babies because they can’t afford an abortion or live in a red state and don’t have an employer who offers insurance), and his advisors are enabling his most troubling character flaw, his conflict-avoidance.

We should have gotten better from these weak-kneed milquetoasts considering the millions and millions that were poured into their war chests for the last election cycle. I’m more convinced than ever it’s completely fucking pointless.

1562

What does he want Obama to do? Start throwing punches? Have a screaming match on the senate floor? What exactly would constitute leadership here that would make Mr. Weston happy? Obama is a President, not a dictator. He can’t force things to happen.

1563

Lyndon Baines Johnson was renowned for his domineering personality and the “Johnson treatment,” his arm twisting of powerful politicians in order to advance legislation.

Obama is no LBJ, though he could learn a thing or two from that flop-eared bastard.

Barry is just too nice to be President.

1564

I wonder why some of these idiots in Washington keep trying to say the american people want this bill, when polling shows thats an outright lie. The latest numbers are showing 55% opposed and only 41% in favor. 57% say passing nothing would be better then passing the current legislation. Finally a majority, 54% believe they will personally be worse off if this bill passes. None of this supports the american people wanting this bill to pass.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform

If this passes I see some politicians not having their jobs come November because of their voting for it.

1565

You don’t think he’s been surprisingly absent from this entire process? Health care was one of his main campaign issues and his involvement in the getting the bill passed has been what, one speech?

1566

You don’t think he’s been surprisingly absent from this entire process? Health care was one of his main campaign issues and his involvement in the getting the bill passed has been what, one speech?

It’s not like he’s been on vacation. Heh. I mean, he told the Senate and House what he wanted and then asked them to do their jobs. I imagine that’s how it’s supposed to work although he may have been too optimistic to think it would actually work out the way he wanted.

1567

57% say passing nothing would be better then passing the current legislation.

The trouble is that 95% of those 57% have no idea what is actually in the bill and are simply following orders from Glenn Beck.

1568

In fact, his mouthpiece has been berating progressives and liberals instead of working for better legislation. That is the sum total we’ve gotten from the WH. (I’m guessing Warren didn’t hear about Rahm threatening to withdraw any re-election support from progressives who fought him on this legislation, or Rahm’s guaranteeing Blue Dogs he wouldn’t pressure them to vote for anything)

And because it just has to be linked: http://www.dailykos.com/tv/w/002442/ oh my, teabaggers are hilarious.

1569

Actually, you’re on to something (and I think I mentioned this before). Obama’s background is as a Constitutional law professor. He’s discussed numerous times about the separation of the branches of government. Simply put, a President isn’t supposed to get involved in writing legislation. He may provide the ideas and even some basic framework, but it’s the job of the Congress to write it. We’re so accustomed to the President crossing that line that perhaps now it appears that Obama didn’t get involved in the health care bill to the extent we would expect him to, but perhaps he just believes that he’s not supposed to do so.

1570

Conclusion: Gleen Beck 2012?

1571

The President, nowadays, is also part of the leadership of his party. He should have been throwing his weight around getting the Blue Dogs to toe the line, or maneuvering to shift all the blame on them if the bill fails. Instead, he’s managed to set himself and the Democratic Party up as the fall guys if the corporate interests and Republicans manage to either sink the bill entirely or, as seems more likely, get it transformed into a steaming pile of shit.

1572

Yes. This is what “community rating” is all about.

1573

I think having the senate and house seemingly behind him and united is important to Obama, however unlikely that is to happen. He doesn’t want to be seen as a bully. That’s my impression anyway…

1574

If you think you know more about health insurance policy than the liberal wonks who’ve spent their careers on it and more about politics than the liberals/socialists who actually get elected, alright, I guess.

1575

Apparently the crazies are now referring to the Medicare Advisory Board as a death panel. I’m pretty sure eventually the definition of “death panel” will become “things we don’t like”

lutefisk… death panel!
Uncomfortable chairs… death panel!
roommates playing music too loud while I’m trying to sleep… death panel!

1576

I don’t think so. Obama did not hesitate to start twisting the arms of liberal Democrats in the House who were thinking about voting against the war spending bill in June.

I am inclined to agree with those who think that despite his rhetoric, this is the bill Obama wanted all along.

1577

Worse still, I’m beginning to think he doesn’t particularly care what’s in the bill, he just wants something passed since it was a big campaign promise.

1578

A majority of the American people wanted Al Gore to be President in 2000. I assume you agreed with them then as well?

1579

I actually agree with scrapping the electoral college as it is now and at the very least awarding a proportional amount of a states electoral votes based on how many votes each candidate gets.

As for Gore he lost by the system we have in place, so until that system is changed how many votes he got in 2000 sadly doesnt mean anything.

1580

Fuck.

Coburn was wearing blue jeans, an argyle sweater and a tweed jacket with elbow patches when he walked back into the chamber a few minutes before 1 a.m. He watched without expression when Byrd was wheeled in, dabbing his eyes and nose with tissues, his complexion pale. When his name was called, Byrd shot his right index finger into the air as he shouted “aye,” then pumped his left fist in defiance.

Yeah.

A tired Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) set the tone for the event, which vacillated between solemn and lighthearted. When the clerk called out his name, Byrd broke with protocol. Instead of calling out his vote, Byrd shouted “Mr. President, this is for my friend, Ted Kennedy. Aye.”