Contrary to the Stones song, we don't always get what we need. So we have to make the best of what we have. And what we have is pretty darned good: a Democrat in the WH, a huge Dem majority house that doesn't need a single Republican vote to pass legislation and a filibuster proof majority Senate. If Democrats can't get our agenda through in that climate then it's the fault of Democrats.
Totally. What we have here is a failure to communicate. It is looking, more and more, as though 'We The People' have lost control and the Theocorporatocracy rules. I felt that if we didn't take the government back from the GOP/Neocons we would loose any opportunity to do so for generations. This is do or die in my view.
This will separate the wheat from the chaff as it were. Those that are bought and paid for will be outed.
Excellent! I enjoy your posts.
No, it's Obama's fault. He had big support for himself and for health care reform, a Dem majority Congress and complete control of the narrative when this health care reform legislation process began. He had as magnificent an opportunity as it's possible to have.
Before he or Congress began the national conversation about the actual legislation, he should have presented Pelosi with the broad specifics of the legislation he expected and had strong solid legislation crafted and as many advocates on board as possible, in Congress and from elsewhere. All that should have been done before one word was spoken in public about the bill. That's what he should have been doing behind the scenes. Instead what he did was tell Congress to craft the legislation even though with Kennedy too sick and Clinton at State, nobody in Congress is up to the task of leading health care reform legislation. He left it to people who couldn't do the job. Then he met in secret with Pharma and made a deal with them that screwed our chance to lower drug costs. Then he went public, supposedly to answer questions about the health care reform bill but he didn't have good answers because he isn't committed to a principled bill -- at this late stage he's still wishy washy about just about everything. He's made a mess of it and opened the flood gates that Republicans were waiting for. They were impotent before this, now they've got control of the health care reform narrative. It's a monumental failure on Obama's part. (Pelosi and Reid et al have also failed but that's another story.)
Well said, and isn't this a huge disappointment? What are we to believe except that the progressives have and are being ignored and used and abused? He needs to get his act together and LEAD, follow, or get out of the way....as is said in the Trucking industry.
It's that he's a seducer.
I don't doubt that some voted for him because they believed him but that doesn't mean he didn't seduce them into believing him when --if they'd looked objectively at what he'd done from the time he left Harvard-- there was no reason to believe he'd accomplish what he promised. He has a history making promises he doesn't keep (specifically regarding health care reform, in Illinois he promised health care reform and instead delivered legislation that directed a study be made about health care reform, and that's just one of many examples I posted about during the primaries) and of tossing supporters under the bus when it conveniences him.
I won't argue this point because this is after all politics and con men are very good at what they do.
However, given the last administration and our collective need for accountability I was in wait and see mode...and I have to say I'm not impressed. Unlike GW he will be held accountable because that's how our national politics seems to work, unless WE are able to be the change we need. We need to become a savvy, educated electorate and give notice to those who seem to have forgotten where the seat of power truly is...or should be.
We need to hold the last administration accountable and prosecute!
I liked Clinton for her maturity and experience, intelligence and gender, but I don't trust her due to the fact that she has been involved in the group that runs C street from the time she and Bill went to Washington...not something I want in my government.
Although I agree Democrats can and should write health care reform legislation by themselves, pass it and make it law, it better be good legislation or Republicans will use it against us in 2010 and 2012, and I'm not sure that Obama's sneaky gambit of writing into the legislation that none of it begins to take effect until 2013 will fully protect him from the sting of bad legislation.
Agreed, and I don't want a sham that makes it impossible to reform our system. I want the progressive wing of the Democratic Party to express itself loud and clear and NOT fold!! I'm sick to death of that shit.
Well most of them are in office because of Rahm Emanuel and rather than strong arming them ObamaCo is protecting them. Look closely at who the White House is admonishing and who they're protecting, and think objectively about what it means. When progressive House members opposed the war supplemental bill that Obama wanted passed, this is how the WH responded:
Progressives refuse to toe the White House line, they get threatened. But when Blue Dogs and "centrists" are uncooperative on health care, the WH protects them:
ObamaCo is protecting the Blue Dog Dems and threatening the liberal and progressive Dems. Think about what that means.
Oh I have and I'm not pleased. It is between the DNC and the DLC...another reason I was uncomfortable with Clinton...however, Dr Dean wasn't in the race. We need to get loud and organized in our own cause.
You are laboring under a misconception if you think that progressives supported Obama blindly...hardly....I heard his remarks about the left and the sixties and how we need to get out of the way. I wasn't under any misconception about who he was...but it was too important to waste my vote (our ballot system needs to be made secure..as we all know)
I will say that it is nice to have an intelligent, well spoken person at the helm.
He remembers who brought him to the dance. He doesn't care. He's behaved exactly the same way from the very beginning of his political career. His history is out there.
I'm not aware of this history you speak of. I wasn't part of this board at the time. I guess I'll have to do some searching to see what you wrote in this regard. Any links?
No, seniors are responding to Obama's untrustworthiness and the fact that he's hinted at cutting Medicare benefits. That's also the reason the AARP has not endorsed any of the bills and have used very careful wording to support health care reform and Obama.
I disagree. We haven't even begun to discuss health care...all there has been is FEAR Mongering from the right.
There have been several bills written. The one that's currently considered The bill is HR 3200.
There is NO BILL...that's part of the problem.
As for AARP, read their website and press releases. Read them carefully because they're written carefully. Their primary objective in this is to protect Medicare for its members. A better Medicare would be fine with them and probably they'll be okay with keeping the status quo, but Obama's suggestions that Medicare benefits might be tampered with will not be supported by AARP.
Unlike many I view AARP as something less than the Gray Panthers...they seem to be in the business of selling various forms of insurance. I do pay attention, but they are not the last word as far as I'm concerned.
What are you referring to when you say Obama has indicated he will cut Medicare benefits? The drug policy GW pushed through sucks....I will say that about the current setup.
(Sorry this response is so long.)
Well, you aren't the only one...
Now it's your turn to be sorry about the length of my response...
