Josh Marshall's question re: Unseen Consequences/Daschle
Josh has a post on the front page regarding Tom Daschle's withdrawal from consideration for HHS Secretary and wondering if Health Care Reform would be in a better place had Daschle been running point.
Seriously? How quickly we forget. D-Ass-Schill not only didn't pay his taxes, he was deeply involved with the health care lobbyists. Or as I politiely put it when he finally withdrew from contention:
I mean almost the first prominent democrat to give the shaft to the public option as non-essential was none other than Tom Daschle way back in June 2009, right after a poll that indicated 76% of Americans waned a government-run public option as part of health care reform. This is the guy who would have led us to victory? I'm just a smidge skeptical. Granted Sebelius has been ineffective and invisible in the health care reform debate, but at least she's not getting paid by the health care corporate interests like Daschle.
Of course Sebelius is insignificant by design. Daschle was chummy with the health care lobbyists by design. The Administration did not want a vigorous voice for a public option in charge, which why Obama repeatedly passed over Dr. Dean (who I'm still peeved with from the primaries, but was hoping he's be named as head of HHS). The only consistently strong voice for the progressive position on public option has come from Dr. Dean. The goal here was to give the power for the Health Care Reform process to a "bipartisan" group of Senators - bipartisan meaning Republican & Republican-er.
Obama came to change the way thing are done in Washington by... doing things exactly the way they've been done in Washington. Gone are the promises of transparency and health care negotiations taking place via C-SPAN. Instead we have behind the scenes shady deals with PhRMA that the administration will not even make public what the terms of the deal are. The Obama administration won't make a strong stand for a public option, but will defend their deal with their lobbyist friends at PhRMA. Where health care reform stands now is Obama's responsibility. He chose bipartisanship and compromise and capitulation.
At least I can't say Obama wasn't honest though. He promised change, and he gave us change alright. He's changed so much I barely recognize him. I never bought into the whole Obama-mania, but I seriously never anticipated with a massive mandate via the election, with a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, with the stars aligned to make real progress, that he would fall so short so quickly. Epic Fail.
Seriously? How quickly we forget. D-Ass-Schill not only didn't pay his taxes, he was deeply involved with the health care lobbyists. Or as I politiely put it when he finally withdrew from contention:
Toodles! Should have had some decency and left earlier rather than dragging Obama and the Democrats into defending his tax-evading, semi-lobbyist, influence peddling, funded by health care interests ass.
I mean almost the first prominent democrat to give the shaft to the public option as non-essential was none other than Tom Daschle way back in June 2009, right after a poll that indicated 76% of Americans waned a government-run public option as part of health care reform. This is the guy who would have led us to victory? I'm just a smidge skeptical. Granted Sebelius has been ineffective and invisible in the health care reform debate, but at least she's not getting paid by the health care corporate interests like Daschle.
Of course Sebelius is insignificant by design. Daschle was chummy with the health care lobbyists by design. The Administration did not want a vigorous voice for a public option in charge, which why Obama repeatedly passed over Dr. Dean (who I'm still peeved with from the primaries, but was hoping he's be named as head of HHS). The only consistently strong voice for the progressive position on public option has come from Dr. Dean. The goal here was to give the power for the Health Care Reform process to a "bipartisan" group of Senators - bipartisan meaning Republican & Republican-er.
Obama came to change the way thing are done in Washington by... doing things exactly the way they've been done in Washington. Gone are the promises of transparency and health care negotiations taking place via C-SPAN. Instead we have behind the scenes shady deals with PhRMA that the administration will not even make public what the terms of the deal are. The Obama administration won't make a strong stand for a public option, but will defend their deal with their lobbyist friends at PhRMA. Where health care reform stands now is Obama's responsibility. He chose bipartisanship and compromise and capitulation.
At least I can't say Obama wasn't honest though. He promised change, and he gave us change alright. He's changed so much I barely recognize him. I never bought into the whole Obama-mania, but I seriously never anticipated with a massive mandate via the election, with a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, with the stars aligned to make real progress, that he would fall so short so quickly. Epic Fail.
