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Barack Obama, June 23, 2007:
I have made a solemn pledge that I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family’s premium by up to $2,500 a year.
There’s something rather surreal about this seemingly endless hysteria over President Obama fulfilling one of his campaign promises.
Americans had a clear choice when it came to the presidential candidate’s platforms on health care. And they soundly rejected John McCain’s tax credits and "letting the marketplace work" plan. Less than a year ago.
What did they vote for when they voted for Obama? Some very specific proposals, including:
- Affordable and high-quality universal coverage through mix of private and expanded public insurance.
- Prohibit insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
- Require all children to have health insurance.
- Require employers to offer “meaningful” coverage or contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the public plan; small businesses will be exempt from this requirement.
- Create a new public plan so that small businesses and individuals without access to other public programs or employer-based coverage could purchase insurance.
So to recap: Obama runs on providing universal health care via a public plan, which McCain opposed. The candidates spend endless months discussing and debating the issue. Voters then give Obama the largest margin of victory in 12 years, and the largest percentage of the vote in 20 years. And on top of that, they give Obama even larger majorities in the House and Senate with which to enact the proposals he ran on.
Now he’s supposed to actually do the stuff he got elected on right? Otherwise, what’s the point of elections?
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You vote for someone based on 1 issue?
That pledge is now worth the paper it is written on. Obama also expressed support for a strong public option.
“The working class can kiss my ass
I’ve got the foreman’s job at last”
If elections made a difference, they wouldn’t let us vote.
The voters had their chance. Now’s the chance for the corporate overlords and powers-that-be to tell Obama what he can and can’t do.
Thank you!!! This is what I want to shout at the screamers at town halls.
So should the right have yelled at the left for protesting against Bush policy??
The last prez who actually tried to do what he claimed he would do was JFK. We all know how well that turned out.
Just read a book on the subject, which is why I made the comment.
From health care pledges to the assassination of JFK. Man, oh man.
What, and let an elected official _keep_ a campaign promise? What’s the fun in that? /s
This is the video of Glenn Beck’s show from last night (8-11-09) condensed into 10 minutes.
I have never seen so many health care scare tactics and talk about eugenics in such a short period of time.
You have to watch.
http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=2505
It’s my fault. I provoked it, knowingly. Only I didn’t say the name.
The constraint exercised on the Office of the Presidency in 1963 will be remain part of our legacy, unless we bone up and confront the reality.
Obama said he was in favor of single payer…something he has conveniently “forgotten.”
June 30, 2003 “I happen to be a proponent of single payer universal health care plans. . . A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that’s what I’d like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House.”
We did. Now single payer is “too disruptive” (apparently to the insurance companies).
Well said, BT … this point is getting lost by both sides … Obama & the Dems have to pass Healthcare with a strong public option or they will spend the next 3-4 election cycles in exile.
Namaste SD !
I hope the Senate passes their Bill quickly, the final Bill will be drafted in Conference and it will include a strong public option.
Aw, shit, I could be talking about my one and only marriage and, bang, here would come some comment about 9/11 or JFK.
You are seeing the effects of the “dead-enders” who lost and want a re-do.
And the corporate lobbyists and their pals in Congress, who said, “Sure, sure, you just try, buddy.”
And the compromised staff he had to employ just because “they have experience working with Congress”.
It’s amazing how close the cynics language sounds like that of the teabaggers. They discount everything with “He’s lying.”
Well, what if he isn’t?
Namaste, Petro
We’ll see. Unless and until Congress shifts its focus from Profit Over People to People Over Profit I’m not optimistic.
Gees does almost every thread have to turn into a pissing match about 9.11
Heh. The book I just read argued that the Bushes were behind it all (not 9/11, just JFK assassination, BCCI, and a host of other shit). Quite a conspiracy concoction, but it raises interesting issues that cannot be ignored.
New audiobook disc is loaded so I’m off. Be well.
It’s not the issues I have a problem with. It’s the speculative answers taken as truth and repeated as such to anyone who will listen.
Just like an unresolved family squabble. Or a festering wound.
eCAHN !
No, there’s the one other option. The “Obama SUCKz!!!111!!” threads far outnumber the 9/11 ones.
To be fair, John McCain did get 46 percent of the popular vote, and since there were only really two candidates to choose from, many people voted for Obama even if they disagreed with him on some issues–for example, his stance on gay marriage or on the war in Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, I’m fairly confident that if you had a referendum, most people would vote for this reform bill if they knew what was in it. The only problem is getting them to know what’s in it.
The nerve of some people, not to be completely satisfied with the status quo!
“We” haven’t taken back the House or the Senate. Just the White House.
Key leadership positions in Congress and much of the senior leadership of the DemocratIC Party are still dominated by the BigMoney infiltrators known as the Blew Dogs or DLCers. They are there specifically to stop any Liberal reform from actually happening, and not until we get many more of them out of there will Democrats have actually regained control and can start making big institutional changes.
Even when all the big reforms were happening in the 60s and 70s, most of the Dem Party, while perhaps a lot of old school rascists, sexists, etc., was at least still economically populist. That’s why a lot of that stuff back then was passed and why it’s so hard now to get anything significant through.
The DLC BigGame, led by the Clintons, has and continues to be our number 1 obstacle. Well, perhaps tied with the BigMedia conglomeration.
Which is why I demand nothing short of perfection.
A good point, but I’d wager Obama had a huge advantage in over McCain on that issue if we looked at the polls.
Healthcare for The Dems is a fight for survival. If they go back on the public option, they are exiled by their supporters.
If they bring in a weak public option, the Repubs will hammer them into oblivion faster than you can say Blowjob !
There are not enough votes for single payer and I think Obama’s main concern with it is how long it will take to implement single payer. Therefore a strong public option is their only real option.
Oh, so you’re saying you want to murder old people?
Sorry, but you kept asking those silly “Oh, so you’re saying” questions, and I had to return the favor.
Don’t assume the worst and then demand that your opponent defend a position they don’t hold. It’s dishonest and very right-wingy.
I’m certainly not, and that’s why I’ve been actively working on many of these issues out in the field for my entire adult life, especially single-payer.
The question becomes, “what to do about?” The balance is so far off to the informational/holding feet to fire side that it’s hurting the ability to actually get some things accomplished.
The only proglem with your logic is that this bill is not being decided by a referendum.
You too?
Geithner!111!!!! Summers11!!!! BOO!
Trying to follow your logic. You just claimed that Clinton was responible for the DLC/BigGame. If his feet were held to the fire at that time, he would not have gotten away with it.
the point of elections is to delude people into thinking they have input into how the government rules over them.
on the bailouts, on the wars, the candidates were way more in alignment with each other than they were with the people.
on health care, the Obama plan, which includes a mandate to purchase policies from the profit driven insurance cartel, and envisions $30 billion in cuts in Medicare over 10 years, would be very unlikely to pass under an (R) admin, because the (D)’s would grandstand and oppose it.
Largest Percentage of the vote in 20 years? 8 years for Bush, 8 Years for Clinton, 4 years Bush 1. Reagan ? Obama one with Reagan Numbers?
After 20 years of hearing every GOPer pretend to be the second coming of Reagan Obama one with Reagan numbers? I bet Fox News never mentions that fact? So we should play this up!
I don’t suppose you have the percentage of people who voted in each election total?
Your argument makes sense. The welfare reform that occurred during Clinton’s tenure would not have sailed through so easily under an (R) administration.
What about the media we have 76% support on this issue but Media coverage is running how much for and against this issue?
Equal time is one thing, however if the media was looking for viewers they should be giving our side 76% of the coverage right?
If the GOP is getting more favorable coverage then the MSM is loosing viewers and sacrificing ratings from defecting 765ers to push a story and shape public opinion with their news coverage rather than report the news.
On covering National Issues a 50/50 split would be more than fair for the other side because we got 76% public support! We got the White House, the House and a Veto proof margin in the Senate!
Check Wikipedia. Obama’s 52.9% was the highest since HW got 53.4% in ‘88. Obama actually did better than Reagan in 1980 (50.7).
Whoa, man. Here’s a perfect example of the BigMedia spin and framing and how destructive it is.
I had seen a clip of this yesterday at the Claire McCaskill event, and it was portrayed as some angry Black woman, Obama Socialist getting out of control, you know like they do, but you can clearly see from this other angle that the woman was nearly assaulted by a Teabagger first, totally out of the blue, and she was complying with the rules:
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/…..-town-hall
And it was a Rosa Parks poster, not Obama. Crazy, crazy stuff.
Stop claiming this 76% number. It’s ONE poll, and a broad question. More recent polling indicates that the results of the ONE QUESTION you’re citing is not in-line with the majority of Americans.
http://www.bizjournals.com/bal…..ily27.html
Sinclair broadcasting an independent mostly Fox affiliate with 58 stations is in trouble not enough advertising money and to much debt from rapid expansion. The GOP attempt to control the media led to higher prices for the media.
The Debt on the loans used to buy the media at these higher prices is unsustainable at current advertising revenue rates.
Now if only I could get more numbers on Fox buying the WallStreet Journal.
So a comfortable margin to win the presidency, and majorities in both the house and senate? I see no reason why we should expect any change whatsoever, whether it be health care or otherwise. I mean…let’s not be unreasonable.
The logic is that “holding feet to fire” does not win you major legislative battles by and large.
Mass organizing does. Looking at history and every major Liberal reform, it took creative organizing on a mass scale that was tailored to each issue and each era.
Holding feet to fire is fine and valuable, I agree. Problem is, as you stand there holding somebody to the fire for so long, you’ll both get burned eventually.
As I said earlier, it’s about balance, and it’s been way off in my opinion in most the Liberal blogs. I am happy though with some of the recent Actions FDL is trying. I’d prefer much more activity in this direction instead of preaching to the choir 98% of the time.
See Talking points you never hear from the MSM Obama beat Reagan in 1980 Bwahahaha!
I want to see Jon McCain’s head explode! We need to anger the GOP more, we need to trip them!
We need to mention facts like this often.
Amen Brother !
Jane & other FDLers have done a great job of uniting the Progressives, more of this is required.
and for once, he’s being made to pay for that sh* – 3 advertisers pulled out this week alone -
exactly, case in point. (D)’s will put up a show of defending their captive constituencies when they are out of power, but watch out when they have the Congress and the WH.
and, amazingly, they can be a pitifully ineffective ‘opposition’ in the minority, but when they have numerical superiority in Congress, suddenly they have to capitulate all the time because the (R) opposition is so powerful.
the innocent bystander fable, “we don’t have the votes”, no one could have predicted, etc.
Solid argument, but the choir has to become passionate for it to make a difference. The passion then flows outward motivating othes to action. It is a balance, but it’s the passsionate energy on the inside that creates the momentum.
As for the JFK and 9/11 tie-in? You have to start with the fact that the earth is flat…which is how the limousine was able to drive so slowly through Dealy Plaza, and how the multiple shooters were able to carefully aim without…ya know…falling off the earth. And when those same guys escaped from the grassy knoll? They were never found, right? Clearly they were helped to get away so they were then able to open a training camp where the 9/11 hijackers could begin to prepare. Obviously it was all planned in advance.
See? It all makes sense…Well doesn’t it?
What dark hole have you had your head stuck in from 2001 to 2008?
One broad question indicates broad support. Recent polling has been affected by hugely distorted media coverage and I suspect biased polls. Given the increasing unemployment numbers our numbers should be growing.
Can’t even call you a cynic when what you say is so perfectly true.
Yeah Bill Mahr lost his Network tv show!
“3 advertisers pulled out this week alone,,”
Progressives need to focus much more intently on organizing boycotts of companies which see fit to advertise on shows like Beck’s. Beck is free to spout his crazy hate speech all he wants, but “reputable” companies shouldn’t be underwriting it. Hitting at $$$ can have an effect. And while it’s true that the major advertisers who pulled out of Beck’s show simply moved their money elsewhere on the “Fox Lineup”, it is also true that a message was sent about Beck. And that is, at least, something. The pressure now needs to be intensified.
People who had health insurance even if they liked their private coverage after losing a job face having to pay for health insurance and the peace of mind it brings on unemployment checks.
The GOP always pushed to lower unemployment benefits to force workers back to work quicker and make them less likely to hold out for more pay.
Now that there is no jobs these unemployed people should be seeing the light on everyone getting healthcare.
Haha, the question was so broad in that poll (that only included cellular phone users btw) that the people polled didn’t understand what was going on.
Either it’s the biased media, or people actually thinking about the consequences of the plan. Either way, the support is gone. Get over it.
Create chaos in order to gain more government control. Great plan!!!!!
Have you read any of Mark Lane? Kennedy’s aide Kenny O’Donnell heard multiple shots, but was pressured by the FBI to tell the Warren Commission he only heard one. Arlen Sphincter likewise attempted to pressure eyewitness Jean Hill to say the same thing.
I think you are exactly right. These advertisers understand the bottom line very well and we should be going right at them. Actually, we should have been doing it for quite awhile. We know it works – look at what happened to Melanie Morgan on radio.
Exactly!
That’s another element to frustration with many of my fellow Liberals over the last year. This overwhelming focus on the negatives and almost complete ignoring of the many positives deflates our side when this is precisely the moment when we need maximum engagement and enthusiasm. There is a lot to be excited about, yet simply read through this thread along with basically every other on here and show how “passion” is being injected into Liberal reform movements.
It’s just the opposite in fact. Many Repubs like Grover Norquist are publicly stating they’re using places like HufPost to stoke Liberal dischord about Obama and Dems. Their classic divide and conquer technique, and sadly so many Liberals are playing right along. Again, it’s not to say we shouldn’t be critical, but it is healthy be fair about it. I’m interested in actually seeing some stuff enacted, and there has never been a better time for this in my lifetime at least.
Balance. Yin-yang. Ancient stuff here…
Got any facts to back that statement up?
The support is gone?
If you had popular support above 50% even in just one poll your side you be screaming it. But you don’t do you.
Ummm, have you seen the polls lately????
That NYT poll is old. It’s a small sample. It’s a broad question. And the respondants are cellular phone users only. Name ONE other poll that shows that kind of support for the public option. Or can even be interpretated as such.
Get out of your progressive bubble sometime.
Don’t pull my statement out of context…
could you very briefly enumerate some of the many positives? PW will thank you.
I will list one big one. The repression of the previous eight years has at least been relaxed. Activists can at least have freedom of movement without being targeted as “terrorists.”
Healthcare for the Repubs is a fight for survival. If healthcare passes and people actually start seeing the difference in their pocketbooks, the credibility of the Repubs sinks even further than it is right now.
If they can sink it, 2010 is 1994 revisited. If not, it is 1934 revisited.
On Norquist and others using Huffington Post, etc.
A link would be very helpful for understanding how they are using it.
Or if it passes and people start seeing rationing of care, increased taxes, and limited private options, then the libs will be out for a long long time…
Typical GOPer dodge don’t pull my statement out of context. Meaning don’t use logic on me.
Popular support means more than 50% support if our support is gone I assume you have at least 51% a majority enough to win an election on that issue if we were to vote now?
if you have skepticism about the Official Story of 9/11, perhaps you should apply some of it to the notion that activists are now under less scrutiny.
for example, I wonder what the NSA is planning to do with 1.5 million square feet of building space?
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7418884
via cryptogon.
Support for public option. Name one poll, other than the previously cited NYT poll, that confirms it. You can’t.
Typical dodge? Haha. Maybe just common courtesy. If you’re going to quote me, don’t just pull out a phrase. It’s like me quoting you as saying “our support is gone”…hahaha
Bush did not run in 2000 on invading Iraq.
Have I seen the polls nope but you need 51% in the polls to win an election do you got it is there a 50 50 tie or do we win?
The only protestors were because of Iraq????
You think a blue dog is going to pass a bill that only has 51% public support??? Hahahaha, sure…..
Bush destroyed our economy by not regulating banks from using $36 for every one dollar of collateral leverage.
Bush and Greenspan lowered interest rates and created the housing bubble they did not regulate bank loans Ninja loans that wasn’t ACCORN that was not government regulation forcing banks to loan to the poor.
That was banks making bad loans and not caring because they were selling the loans to anyone they could.
So when the bubble burst people got unemployed.
The chaos was caused by the GOP. The fact that unemployment benefits are so low again because of the GOP just makes it worse.
We did not create the chaos your side did we are stuck cleaning your mess.
If you don’t like how we do it next time don’t make one.
So you want to exploit the chaos and cram a public option down everyone’s throats because they’re unemployed and might want it now? Really?
I would say yes, the majority of the protests — certainly the only ones on par with the Teabagging — were opposition to the war.
But Bush didn’t run on invading Iraq. Oh, and he lost the popular vote.
Really??? gee, I’m pretty sure LBJ tried to do what he said he was going to do, and yeah, he actually did a lot of it. Bill Clinton tried to do what he said he was going to do and he also did a lot of it. Hell, even Bush tried to what he said he was going to do, abolish the “death” tax, permanent tax cuts for the wealthy, partially privatize social security…He actually failed on much of it. What kind of Obama worship is it to say he’s the first President since Kennedy to try and do what he said he was going to? That’s freaking absurd.
The plans being debated in Congress do neither, as Obama himself has asserted, so what’s your point?
This is ample evidence that well-organized boycotts do, in fact, work. They’re also cheap and easy to execute. All the progressive bloggers need to get on the same page about this…
Exploit chaos nope there is a problem people need healthcare I’m for fixing the problem. Whether its Government or private insurer the money will be spent.
In other countries the government covers everyone for less money than the private insurers do to cover some people in this country.and the people live longer.
Even the French who drink and smoke like us and eat real butter.
Without Asians and Hispanics boosting America’s life span numbers the numbers would be even lower.
Now personally I like the idea of living longer and paying less money to do it but then again I’m a Lefty.
Wow Blue Texan. Half the people who voted, or who voted for a major party candidate, voted for Odumba. And your interpretation is that this means he should do whatever he wants. And, Soros paid whorlet that you are you claim he told us all this before the election so we have to take it. Remember, you say, he posted an 1,000 page plan on a website during the primaries, identical to (one of?) the current bills, and every voter signed it in blood. So if they don’t want government controlled healthcare now, as polls say, or even want Obama, as many who voted for him now say, they have no choice. Contract signed in blood and filed in the main courthouse in hell.
What a sorry mess of sewage you fascists are. I can’t wait for the citizens tribunals. I am going to operate the [mod note: please, no violence].
A good question would be are even the rich in America living longer than the rich in countries with socialzed medicine?
Have you ever noticed that guys like Soros and Buffet who made their money themselves tend to be democrats and that inherited money Bush’s McCain’s etc tend to be GOP.
If you want an America where regular people can rise to the top vote Dem. If you want an America where an inbred elite runs everything Vote Jeb in four years!
You ever read the Good Smaraitian about a guy who gave healthcare to a stranger? Be like JC a rich person has less of a chance of going to heaven as a camel has of going through the eye of a needle.
Give up all your goods to the poor if you would be like me!
Now then you punk just who is going to hell!
Haha, careful on your conclusion there… Buffet and Soros are the minority when it comes to the political leanings of the extremely wealthy. There are many many super wealthy individuals, most of which are conservative, they just aren’t public figures.
The Lord just told me to tell you about healthcare yes Cain you are your brothers Keeper.
Look at the numbers for the super wealthy in Buffet’s and Soro’s wealth class self made men vs inherited wealth.
If this is Christian nation and if there is a God then our choice is clear.
Hope white avoidance and denial of our collective sordid past doesn’t obscure the fact that:
Conservatives and right wing radio talk show hosts are using (playing) racists (”I want my country back…”) at town halls to object to Obama’s healthcare push, motivated by the fact that if healthcare with a strong public option passes the Repubs will be on the outside for a while.
How can a person who is clueless about the definition of fascism have any credibility?
Even if Obama were a socialist, that is the polar opposite of fascism.
This may not be a Christian nation in terms of governance, other than sheer number of persons who call themseves Christians, but Jesus said that to love God totally and to love one’s neighbor as oneself is the greatest commandment.
So, shouters, rightie haters, dividers, where’s the love? I’m waiting…
Aren’t the “cuts” in Medicare to the so-called subsidies to the Medicare Advantage programs – which are just hand outs to HMOs for services that are no better than regular Medicare?
Like all of the entrepeneurs, bankers, brokers, real estate investors, etc. that are self made? You named 2! haha
Here’s one off the top my head from a few days ago. Thought it was pretty good and I could name many more myself:
http://www.dailykos.com/commen…..7/312#c312
The White House web site is quite good, and nice to get the info of what’s being said daily without the BigMedia and dominant Liberal blog filters. Lots of other places too if you’re really interested in a variety of opinions.
Another one off top of me head. Many others out there:
http://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p=1277
Isn’t that a funny one? I never see this pointed out in BigMedia coverage, or from most people I ever talk to about this.
There’s been another recent one with the Teabaggers (some poor sap asked Claire McCaskill about this yesterday), where they imply directly that Obama is part of the Jewish conspiracy to take over the nation because he recently gave Rahm Emmanuelle’s brother Ezekiel a job.
So he’s a secret Muslim infiltrator AND and promoter of a Jewish takeover?!?! Wow, what a talent!
No just the name the multi billonaires in America all off them then compare self made vs inherited wealth and Dem vs GOP.
I did say compare the people in Buffet and Soro’s class.
totally correct!!!
your doing a great job, FLG. keep it going.
By the way … i think you(FLG) noticed that you are getting MORE popular since the “teabaggers(racists)” , “birthers(racists)” and wing-nuts are now commenting a lot more on your site.
Keep fighting against the morons.