Sep 13 2009
9/12/09 Tea Party Was Obamacare Game Changer
My previous posts on the 9/12/09 Tea Party are here and here, but I wanted to note some early indications I see that the Tea Party protests have seriously changed the dynamics in DC.
[Note, this is not a post about Glenn Beck’s cynical “912” attempt to take credit/control of the rising backlash against Obama and the DC liberals. I find Beck’s efforts to make this about him a bit insulting. I appreciate everyone’s participation, but this is not about Beck or his list of 9 things which make a good American (in his mind). I am not part of 912, though all should be welcomed in any coalition to get this country back on track.]
Between the President’s poor prime time decision before Congress to double down, and yell down, the rising American opposition to his naive policies, and the dignified march on DC by at least a million average Americans this weekend, I can see the credibility shifting in DC already.
The first sign is the surrender of the ‘public option’ for government rationed health care by the New York Times no less:
Public Option Fades From Debate Over Health Care
…
“A public plan is essentially a stalking horse for a single-payer plan,†said Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire. “It is more than the camel’s nose under the tent. It is the camel’s neck, and probably front legs, under the tent. There is no way the private sector will be able to compete.â€
In trying to answer this charge, Democrats feel torn. Mr. Obama and many Democrats deny that they want to drive private insurers from the market. But others embrace the ultimate goal of “Medicare for all.â€
…
Momentum for the public option has waned, in part, because senators have been focusing on an alternative: nonprofit member-owned insurance cooperatives.
The New York Times is one of many left leaning ‘news’ outlets starting to question the need for a ‘public option’. The media is running from the cause.
There have been a few Democrat Senators who have said many times a public option will not pass the Senate. But this weekend something very different happened. Two centrist GOP senators came out today and also basically declared the public option dead.
First was Sen Snowe, a key vote on getting any health care legislation passed:
Republican Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine said there is “no way†a health-care overhaul that includes a public option can pass the Senate.
Snowe, one of six negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee, said that to gain more Republican support, President Barack Obama should explicitly drop the idea of a federally backed insurance program to compete with private insurers such as Hartford, Connecticut-based Aetna Inc.
Second to make it publicly clear the ‘public option’ is DOA was Sen Collins:
“People are concerned about the government’s role [in healthcare],” she continued. “They’re very concerned we’re not dealing with the No. 1 issue, and that’s the escalating cost of healthcare.”
Collins’ remark on Sunday could spell trouble for the White House, which has reportedly worked quite closely with another key swing vote — Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) — on that very issue.
These public proclamations that there will not be any government rationed health care means some key dynamic has changed in DC. Up until now there has been extreme hesitancy on the part of centrists in the Gang of 6 to draw such bold lines in the sand. But clearly, they feel less threatened by openly stating their views today than they did just a few days ago.
I think there is a haunting realization from all the centrists that the liberals are ready to implode politically to get some wins on liberal issues (Pyhrric as they will be in nature). The liberals are not only pushing the truth when it comes to winning on Obamacare, they are pushing reason and sanity. The larger the backlash becomes the more reckless they become. It is now or never for them (which makes it never of course).
This may be one of the things pushing them to sacrifice moderates in vast quantities to get their way:
Fifty-four new Democrats were swept into the House in 2006 and 2008, helping the party claim a decisive majority as voters soured on a Republican president and embraced Obama’s message of hope and change. Many of the new Democrats are in districts carried by Republican John McCain in last year’s presidential contest; others are in traditional swing districts that have proved tough for either party to hold.
From New Hampshire to Nevada, House Democrats also will be forced to defend votes on Obama’s $787 billion economic recovery package and on energy legislation viewed by many as a job killer in an already weak economy.
Add to that the absence of Obama from the top of the ticket, which could reduce turnout among blacks, liberals and young people, and the likelihood of a highly motivated GOP base confused by the president’s proposed health care plan and angry at what they consider reckless spending and high debt.
Taken together, it could be the most toxic environment for Democrats since 1994, when the party lost 34 House incumbents and 54 seats altogether. Democrats currently have a 256-178 edge in the House, with one vacancy. Republicans would have to pick up 40 seats to regain control.
It is becoming obvious the liberals will lose as many new and moderate democrats as it takes to get government rationed health care blocked. Even if it means the constitutionally questionable attempt to run this through the Senate using reconciliation and 50 votes. The result would be years of brutal legal battles, which would only demonstrate how out of touch the liberals are as Obamacare takes precedence over job creation for Americans. It is becoming so precipitous for Dems that a 3rd grader could develop a killer political campaign to whoop their butts.
Those in denial think this rising backlash is at its peak, and cannot get any worse. I am of the opinion it is actually just hitting its stride and will be growing for the next year. If President Obama wanted to slow it down or stop it, he would not have come out like a slick infomercial hawker promising better coverage, everyone covered, endless services, bottomless costs – all for free and no impact. It was a speech made for prime time TV – but a sitcom not reality. He insulted America’s intelligence or their views, he did not engage them to follow his lead.
When you have Snowe, Collins and the New York Times changing their tune over the same weekend, you know something pivotal has occurred. It was more than one thing obviously, a list of missteps. But it was also some very powerful things.
Is the Democrat Party going to go to war against Main Street America and her Senior Citizens as represented at the Tea Party protests? If so, it would spell political suicide on a level not seen in a century or more. The liberals are all in. What are the centrists going to do?
Even if they don’t pass Obamacare, it looks like they still plan to go to war against the Main Street America.
Looks like the Democrats are ready to move on…with illegal immigration reform AND proposing sweeping changes to the world’s banks. Check Drudgereport.
“Obama to call for sweeping overhaul of regulations on world’s largest banks… Developing…”
If states would agree to make the buying of Medical Insurance more competitive by allowing more companies to compete for those who wanted to buy insurance, and the government would give tax credits for those who bought insurance, it would encourage individuals to buy insurance themselves, and my bet is that the price would go down. I want to encourage individuals to buy their own insurance. Insurance companies could send a W2 like form to be included with other tax verifications, maybe they already do. I have always bought insurance myself for me and my 2 daughters. I didn’t find it too expensive, and I think I was in some kind of pool with other individual buyers in my state. It would take businesses off the hook. Why wouldn’t we try this first before going to a public option?
“Why wouldn’t we try this first before going to a public option?”
I am assuming that is a rhetorical question because we all know it’s all about income redistribution, imho, not caring for our health!
IVE…..I still hope beyond hope that Obama is looking at the lower middle income class of people who don’t have insurance, for what ever reason, he wants to help them. Many of those in the non-insurance position are black. I have seen them over and over again at town hall meetings. They may have a few children, have just purchased their first home, both parents are working, and insurance is not in their budget. They don’t qualify for medicaid, because they have a home. There are many in that position of all colors. So how do we insure those people. I say give them $5,000 in tax deduction and educate them in the value of catastrophic insurance. It would go a long way in solving the uninsured problem.
If it is a power move, shame on him! Shame on Washington!
wow, it’s really gotta be bad for Snowe, Collins, and the NYT to go against the Dems…
kathie,
I have seen them over and over again at town hall meetings. They may have a few children, have just purchased their first home, both parents are working, and insurance is not in their budget. They don’t qualify for medicaid, because they have a home. There are many in that position of all colors. So how do we insure those people. I say give them $5,000 in tax deduction
you may be a little mis-informed. I know people that own homes that have medicaid.
people should buy insurance if they want it, or not, as they choose.
everyone in this country has health care. Some are covered by insurance, some are not.
If someone pays for medical expenses (including health insurance) it should be tax deductible (as it currently is, I might add) No change there.
No one should be forced by the government to buy health insurance, after all the government doesn’t require anyone to buy a home and most people consider that necessary.
Thank you Redteam. Then who in the hell are trying to insure? Those who choose not to buy it for what ever reason?
katie – a comment from you gave me cause to put something I’ve believed since the campaign into words:
“IVE…..I still hope beyond hope that Obama is looking at the lower middle income class of people who don’t have insurance, for what ever reason, he wants to help them.”
I believe there is NO hope of this, because Obama is a dedicated, life long narcissist who honestly has *Never* *In* *His* *Life* given a damn about ANYONE else, except in the rare cases where he sees he can use them to his own advantage. That’s why it is so easy for him to throw his associates under the bus whenever they turn out to be “inconvenient.”
This kind of man does not want to “Help” ANYONE, EVER. Although this kind very desperately wants to APPEAR to want to help, since this is a great path to personal power.
This is a deeply manipulative, amoral, and passionless man who would sell out anyone and anything for his own personal benefit. There are many labels for this kind of person, but I know many would simply use the word “evil.”
WWS……so we have an empty human being, who is a orator in the spirit of a preacher, with hip movements, tall, thin, suave, and a writer who knows how to pull on the heart strings of the have- nots. I think you may be right. That is why I haven’t been able to get a handle on him.
This is something that really worries me. Iran will be able to hit Israel and the United States at the same time.
Kenneth R. Timmerman
Sep 13, 2009
The Venezuelan military has tossed out the U.S. Army Field Manual they used for training and has now turned to Iranian Revolutionary Guards troops to train Venezuelan forces in asymmetrical warfare similar to those used by Hezbollah in Lebanon.
I don’t understand. Obama’s proposing cuts on waste in Medicare. Why hasn’t he started on cutting waste now?
OK read this at FREEREPUBLIC…..This is ACORNs version of what should be covered in any Medical Care bill. I think they wrote the Congressional version.
What ACORN wants (demands) out of a Healthcare Bill (MUST READ!!!!!)
09/13/2009 7:27:05 PM PDT · by Red in Blue PA · 5 replies · 98+ views
ACORN ^ | 9/13/2009 | Staff
People need to read this and contact their Congresspeople immediately about ending ALL federal funding to ACORN. Absolutely no excuse after what we have seen with the recent videos. And with healthcare, they demand everything short of Limousine Service, though I would not put it past them from adding it in at this point. ************** SOme of the tidbits: At hospitals: Give low- and moderate-income members of the community a proportional share of seats on the governing boards of all hospitals. Force hospitals to concentrate on providing basic quality care instead of wasting huge sums on showcase buildings and technological…
OK read this at FREEREPUBLIC…..This is ACORNs version of what should be covered in any Medical Care bill. I think they wrote the Congressional version.
What ACORN wants (demands) out of a Healthcare Bill (MUST READ!!!!!)
09/13/2009 7:27:05 PM PDT · by Red in Blue PA · 5 replies · 98+ views
ACORN ^ | 9/13/2009 | Staff
People need to read this and contact their Congresspeople immediately about ending ALL federal funding to ACORN. Absolutely no excuse after what we have seen with the recent videos. And with healthcare, they demand everything short of Limousine Service, though I would not put it past them from adding it in at this point. ************** SOme of the tidbits: At hospitals: Give low- and moderate-income members of the community a proportional share of seats on the governing boards of all hospitals. Force hospitals to concentrate on providing basic quality care instead of wasting huge sums on showcase buildings and technological…
This is interesting…..Republicans could have done something and didn’t. Now we are where we are.
You may have forgotten that George W. Bush made a big deal of proposing tax credits of $7,500 per person or $15,000 per family to purchase medical coverage. He did that in 2007, only to be spurned by a Democratic Congress. Why did he wait till the seventh year of his term? He didn’t. He had offered the idea in 2004, only to encounter raging indifference in his Republican Congress.