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Leave Harry Reid Alone?

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Other Politics
Posted on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 08:48:06 AM EST
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In reference to everyone upset at criticism from progressives of President Obama, I ask again my new perpetual question, why does no one ever write a "Leave Harry Reid Alone" post?

Do people REALLY believe Reid has more power on this issue than President Obama? And if so, do they believe that Olympia Snowe has more power than both of them? For the record, I think this a great ad.

Speaking for me only

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    Leave Harry Reid Alone? | 12 comments (12 topical)

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    Hold ALL Their Feet to the Fire (5.00 / 4) (#1)
    by daring grace on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 09:00:25 AM EST
    We elect the president and everyone in both houses of Congress to do a job.

    So, I say hammer, finesse, cajole, scare them with primary threats, and yell at the top of our lungs at them until they do what we sent them there to do.

    Especially when the state of political affairs in this country leaves liberals/progressives with only the sorry Dem party to rely on to enact our agenda.

    And we have no real recourse with voting the bums out beyond a primary from the left which even if we succeed to get another "progressive" in there often results in another stickinthemud incumbent measuring his/her own professional longevity in terms of how "moderate" they can be.

    I hate the attitude that assigns some pols immunity from public outcry. It's an offshoot of the cult of personality we still see so much in evidence after the primaries last year. Enough.

    Enough! (none / 0) (#3)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 09:05:18 AM EST


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    Front page of Daily Kos, right now... (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by Addison on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 09:10:28 AM EST
    The answer to the question you pose is, from all available evidence, "yes, they do."

    As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) contemplates how much power Olympia Snowe (R-ME) should have handed to her so he can pretend he has a bipartisan health care reform bill, perhaps he could take a moment to consider her stated approach on the issue:

    I'm traditional in my approach towards reforming health care.

    Yes, that's just what we need -- a traditional approach on the issue that has eluded reform for more than forty years.

    Instead, perhaps he could consider fighting for what the American people want rather than the heath care reform tradition of kowtowing to the insurance industry. For a change.

    I fixed it for BarbinMD in the thread.

    Obama is the President (5.00 / 5) (#5)
    by mmc9431 on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 09:47:35 AM EST
    Any question left on how Obama feels about the public option should be laid to rest:

    "Obama continues to support the concept of a government-sponsored insurance option, but "he is not demanding that it is in" the final legislation, Valerie Jarrett, a senior White House adviser, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "He thinks it's the best possible choice."

    "White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, in two television appearances, noted that the public option could provide much-needed competition, but that "it's not the defining piece of health care."

    My question is: If Obama thinks the public option is the best choice, why doesn't he fight for it? The answer is that he wants to be on the winning side, no matter which side it ends up being.

    This should also be an ad. (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by mentaldebris on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 11:40:47 AM EST
    President Obama has continued to say he "supports" a public option.  The O-defenders point to this as proof of his commitment, ignoring all the obvious signs ("just a sliver") that he has backed off from it. The administration's apparent viewpoint on the PO: Oh my word, there is opposition to the PO from some conservaDems so we must cater to them and the out-of-power Republicans because...well, we just have to.  

    I'd love to see a mashup ad of his campaign promises and all of these contradicting statements from Obama and the administration on the PO followed by:

    You promised affordable insurance for all. Polling indicates a majority of the public wants a robust PO. Democrats control Congress and you've said it's the best possible choice. Yet, according to your administration you won't fight for it. So where do you really stand on the public option, Mr. President? Millions of Americans would really like to know.

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    All this talk about support (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by Anne on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 03:12:03 PM EST
    just reminds me that I really need to buy some new bras...the ones that have been, um, providing support just aren't doing it anymore.  

    Sorry...I'm just sick of all the talk from Obama, and agree with you completely that he doesn't care what wins, as long as he's on the winning side.  

    You know, I've said for a long time that Obama likes to figure out where something is headed and then race to the head of the line and pretend he was leading the march the whole time.  If he had chosen to assess what the country wants, instead of what the insurance companies want their bought-and-paid-for Congress-beyotches to deliver for them, he'd have been at the head of a very strong line and could easily have used it to press for really good legislation.

    So, either he got this one all wrong, and he doesn't have the political instincts he's supposed to have, or all this equivocation is designed to camouflage the fact that he really is not in favor of a government option, and that's why he's not really fighting for it.

    So far, his support for the public option is resembling the elastic on my need-to-be-replaced bras.  As in, the support is mostly imaginary.

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    will Obama deliver a public option (5.00 / 2) (#6)
    by jeffcrafter on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 11:11:32 AM EST
      They need to know that we are drowning. It is different this time. If we calmly go away after they pull what they seem to be about to, then we get what we deserve. No matter what, voices must stay raised until this is done right. We cannot afford to let it go this time.Write and write and write, even after the bill is done. DO NOT LET THIS GO!

    If a public option makes it through... (5.00 / 3) (#10)
    by NealB on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 12:13:37 PM EST
    ...it's still just a small step in the right direction. Whatever the outcome of this health care reform fight, it's just the beginning. Even if Congress passes the most robust public option on the table, it's still years away and will be available only to very few. Health insurance costs will continue to rise for everyone that will not be permitted to choose the public "option." They will rise for everyone. 13% of income is way too much to have to pay for health insurance; yet conventional wisdom says that's a reasonable price point. Our health insurance costs should be in the 5% - 7% of income range, like the rest of the world. The best way to get there, is single payer.

    I don't think America is going to like the outcome of this round of "reform." The legislation is structured so that the politicians can lie about it for a few more years, but health care reform will be a top issue again in the 2012 election cycle regardless. Congress, and whatever president is elected that year, will be doing all of this again.

    So either way, this year's reform is just a warm-up for the next one.

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    Sausage (5.00 / 3) (#8)
    by Carolyn in Baltimore on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 11:26:58 AM EST
    All the sausage-makers have power, some more than others, but power depending on position, funding, influence.
    Right now the power rests in primarily in the hands of the crafters of the final bill, the leadership that can guide the amendment process, the arm twisters, and the people who are going to be on the conference committee.

    The public option must be in a final bill, hopefully both because the conference will not make up an all-new bill.

    Obama has plenty power, Reid, Pelosi, President Snowe, and many others can and will influence what we get.

    We need a huge fire for that many feet. We should be working a national whip list. We need to get the good people to hold out for a better bill, the fence-sitters to do the right thing, and let them all know that there is a primary in their future. If you're in the district of a hopeless R or D, it is never too late to encourage new candidates....

    Not a question of who has the most (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by oldpro on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 12:16:14 PM EST
    power.

    The question seems to be who will use the power they have.  And how.  And when.

    Good ad.  Hope Harry's seen it.

    Great Ad (none / 0) (#2)
    by MO Blue on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 09:01:04 AM EST
    Hits all the right points.

    Would be nice if our representatives in Congress listened to their constituents rather than President Snowe.

    Roland Burris: Man of the Hour? (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by prittfumes on Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 11:21:57 AM EST
    Absolutely agree it's a great ad. Speaking of Congress, funny how things turn out sometime. Is President Snowe's power slowly ebbing away or is it in free fall?

    They've [Democrats] never needed 60 votes like they do on the yet-to-be-finalized health care bill. A disciplined grin shows that Burris knows it. No, he says, he will not vote for any version of a government-run plan circulating in the Senate, other than the full-blown one from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

    He won't vote, for example, for Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe's idea to use the threat of a public option to force insurers to lower premiums by certain deadlines. . . .

    [emphasis added]

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    Leave Harry Reid Alone? | 12 comments (12 topical)

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