Obama vs Party Politics
Lets hope that Obama takes this as a learning experience.
political points. They are not interested in non-partisanship at
all.
I hope you have learned this Mr. president and that it does not
turn out to be a hard lesson indeed.
C
"He's waited and waited," Daschle said yesterday afterThe lesson being that republicans are only interested in making
meeting with the president. "He has indicated, much to
the chagrin of people in his party, that virtually
everything's on the table. And he's gotten almost
nothing in return for it."
A move by Democrats to seek a partisan bill may
provoke a backlash from Republicans and weaken public
support for the health-care overhaul, Obama's top
domestic priority. It might also result in
watered-down legislation.
Former Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole told
reporters earlier this summer that while he believed
the Democrats could pass a bill on a party-line vote,
it would be a mistake.
political points. They are not interested in non-partisanship at
all.
I hope you have learned this Mr. president and that it does not
turn out to be a hard lesson indeed.
C
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When did Daschle ever pass any landmark progressive legislation? All he every wanted to do was compromise with Republicans. What did they do for him? Took his Senate seat. He's a real expert on out foxing Republicans!
August 22, 2009 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
And if the Republicans were provoked into a backlash precisely what would they be doing differently than they are doing now?
August 22, 2009 6:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
As they said of Ike...Probably Nothing ....
C
August 22, 2009 7:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the media have tended to misrepresent the decisive element in the conflict as a Republican vs Democrat issue. In fact, it is the reluctance of 6-8 senate Democrats to support some elements of reform (e.g., a public option) that creates the current tension. One or two token Republican votes would be useful in providing cover for the reluctant Democrats, but are otherwise less important than the conflict within the Democratic caucus.
At this point, what we see is considerable public maneuvering and posturing rather than the more serious negotiations ongoing in private. Although I'm not an expert on Senate rules, most experts conclude that the reconciliation process could only succeed in passing a few of the proposed reform elements, while leaving many of the more critical ones susceptible to a filibuster. It will therefore remain necessary to harness 60 votes for robust reform. Conceivably, after the Senate and House pass separate bills that must be reconciled in conference committee, the final product might pass if 60 votes can be garnered to close off debate, even if not all 60, but only as few as 50 actually vote for the bill.
For all these reasons, President Obama is not in a position to engage in public strong arm tactics, but must balance the need to appear firm with the need to avoid publicly feuding with prima donnas in his own party jealous of their prerogatives. At this point, we simply don't know what's going on in private.
I'm confident a good reform bill will eventually pass, but less confident it will include a pure "public option" as generally depicted. It may, however, include some type of compromise that involves the government in a strong regulatory role in the administration of non-profit cooperatives, as well, perhaps, as legislation designed to curtail the monopoly power of private insurers in regional markets where one or two insurance companies currently dominate, with little competition from others.
August 22, 2009 10:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/23/lieberman-using-reconcili_n_266403.html
"As an alternative, Lieberman suggested that Democrats consider those aspects of health care reform that Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee have said they agree with, and save the rest for a later date."
Democratic healthcare plan: Ask Republicans what they want and enact it into law.
This is a very useful plan. So useful, it can be replicated on all other issues.
August 23, 2009 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
There are plenty of grassroot Republicans and Independents who need health care reform and will support a good plan, but at present that simply can't trust Obama enough to get in there and support his efforts. He doesn't have a bill. So he can't really say what the bill is going to contain or not contain.
My suggestion is for Obama to slow down. Write THE bill himself. Take it to the people. Ask for suggestions. Put the discussions on CNN. Be transparent. This is the peoples' plan, so include them. Start from square one, no deals with anyone, including the pharmaceutical industry. Everything is one the table. And tell the American people he will take as long it takes to build the support for his plan.
ex animo
davidfarrar
August 22, 2009 11:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
First there are his supporters who think Obama is stupid enough to think that the GOP actually wanted to work with on this(cause Obama isn't smart enough to use bipartisanship talk simply as a strategy), and you think Obama is stupid enough to listen to your advice which basically is intended to stall and kill health care reform.
August 23, 2009 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey if the Dems make mistakes according to Dole, we will all be better off.
August 22, 2009 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
The homepage of my ISP has headlines from our local conservative paper. I was encouraged today to see this article.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/22/studies-competition-lacking-among-private-health-i/news-breaking/
It gives what seems to me to be a reasonably balanced explanation of the public option and current lack of competition in the insurance industry.
The more liberal paper in my area ran an editorial explaining the merits of health care reform earlier in the week.
There seems to be a bolder effort on the part of print media here to present the facts of the issue -- a perspective that that was sorely lacking earlier when it was really needed. Perhaps they're just now grasping the details of the issue in a way they can clearly communicate.
I think what Fred said is correct. Lawmakers' public dialog likely does not reflect dialog behind closed doors. They're trying to cover themselves in every way possible until the 11th hour.
If more articles like the AP's and the St. Pete Times editorial reach the public, I think the tide will turn very rapidly in favor of a bill that includes a public option. And, wishful thinking aside, if broadcast media similarly gets on board with informing the public, all the better. Then lawmakers can come clean.
Perhaps dollar-strapped media outlets have begun to realize they will save big bucks on health care for their employees if a robust reform package passes. In so doing, maybe they've come to realize it's in everyone's best interest.
August 23, 2009 9:25 AM | Reply | Permalink