Screw Dana Milbank

[Cyrano]

Washington Post columnist, Dana Milbank, seems to think that Obamacare is the end for Obama's presidency. He seems to like saying "game over."

President Obama’s signature initiative (Obamacare) is on the ropes — Down in the count! Fourth and long! — but he remains strangely sportsmanlike.

snip

But on the broader question of whether Obama can rebuild an effective presidency after this debacle, it’s starting to look as if it may be game over.

snip

Even as he accepted responsibility for the debacle, he couldn’t resist transferring some blame to the assembled press (“the things that go right, you guys aren’t going to write about”) and to Republicans (“repeal, repeal, let’s get rid of this thing”).

snip

And, he said, “when I do some Monday-morning quarterbacking on myself,” he concludes that maybe he should have been “breaking the mold” with the rollout earlier because “the federal government has not been good at this stuff in the past.”

Wait a minute: Monday-morning quarterbacking? Maybe the president does understand that the game is over.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-does-health-care-fumble-mean-game-over-for-obama/2013/11/15/77dc0b0a-4dfa-11e3-be6b-d3d28122e6d4_story.html?wpisrc=emailtoafriend

With friends like Milbank, who needs enemies? Any Republican could screw a goat on prime time TV and most of the pundits and the MSM will find ways to justify it. But Obama hits a rough patch, mostly due to Republican obstructionism/sabotage, and so-called "liberal" columnists like Milbank tend to spit on him.

It's no wonder that the crazies keep winning most of the battles. And with people like Milbank who is supposedly on "our side," they may win the war.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

1. Yeah, I do see a low level of this mindset...

...making its way into the language of the MSM. I can't help but believe that it's a statistical anomaly. Some folks just like to hedge their bets. We must insist that the current situation offers an opportunity and not an avenue for retreat.

[Hoyt]

2. Plenty of Democrats saying or thinking pretty the same thing.

It's sad. Without support, a lot of important legislation - - including real fixes to Obamacare - - will go undone.

[Cyrano]

4. Why are some Dems willing to throw in the towel

so easily? Todays Republican/Teabag party is a deadly enemy to our democracy. And we've got to fight them tooth and nail.

I don't think the vast majority of Americans would want to live in a country in which they held all the levers of power.

[L0oniX]

8. Maybe because a lot of us expected single payer health care and had to settle for ACA?

[djean111]

9. Because 99% of them only care about getting reelected and getting contributions.

That number may be a little low.

"What is good for American citizens" has turned into "What is good for American citizens that will not affect reelection, campaign contributions, or diminish any current or future profits of banks and corporations".

The whole Washington circus makes sense when viewed through that lens.

[HereSince1628]

3. In sports metaphors, I'd say this one got Obama grass-stained

nothing to draw attention unless you're part of the coaching staff.

Don't ya just cringe at sports metaphors?

[99Forever]

5. Yeah, sure...

... blame it on the "liberal" columnists like Milbank when Obama shows the spine of a jellyfish and folds like a cheap suit.

Who the fuck do you think you're fooling?

[Cyrano]

11. Obama needs a lot more vocal support from

Democrats everwhere. Especially elected Dems at the local and national level.

He's been beat up for five years now with minimal support from the mainstream media. And looking at him over the past few weeks, he seems to have aged 10 years in a short period of time.

The last thing he needs is to be beat up by people on DU.

[99Forever]

12. Oh please.

When he showed backbone just a few short weeks ago, he got TONS of support.

When he waffles, he neither gets nor deserves it.

[Cyrano]

15. Oh please.

In not supporting Obama, you may as well be supporting the Republicans. They support their own under the most despicable of circumstances. The least we can do is stand behind him even when he screws up.

[fadedrose]

17. Yes, he needs and deserves our support

It's also good to let him know how you feel. His email system is terrific and open to all.

[bluestate10]

21. You're wrong. I want to see the President put an end to the mistakes that his Administrators

are making. I want to see him shake up Sebelius so that when she goes before Congress, she rips their fucking throats out will well crafted and well delivered facts and not allow herself to be over talked by assholes. I want to see him call lower level IT people into his office and drive home the reality that they MUST have the ACA website up and running adequately by November 30 and that he doesn't want to walk in front of a camera and say that his people have failed again.

I dearly want the ACA to get working 100% so that Americans can start gaining the benefits of the ACA. That result will mark the beginning of the end of the republican party, that party has vocally opposed the ACA under bright-lights, democrats must use that information to destroy republicans.

[99Forever]

24. Bullshit.

NOBODY should get a free pass when they screw up, regardless of what damn letter they drag behind their name. Because the Republicans do it is the stupidest fucking excuse for doing so I've ever heard.

[DefenseLawyer]

6. Snark for snark's sake

That's Milbank's schtick. His writing should carry any weight with anyone.

[fadedrose]

7. What was it with Keith Olbermann?

What was there between KO & Dana Milbank that, to the best of my recollection, made Milbank come up with the decision not to go on KO's program or MSNBC, not sure, because of something, don't know what...

Anyone remember something like that, or was it just another bad dream?

I notice he returned to MSNBC when KO left, or shortly after.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. KO banned Milbank from Countdown due to a colunm in which Milbank too Obama out

of context and pasted quotes together to make Obama sound like a jerk. Milbank quickly found a home at CNN rather than explain his work.

[fadedrose]

16. Thank you....

Glad it was Keith who banned Milbank...

Never did like him. Very stuffy guy.

[bluestate10]

10. Milbank has always been lukewarm in his support. So his position isn't a surprise.

The November 30 date is vital for the Obama Administration. If the Administration comes out on that date and says there is still work to be done to make the ACA website work adequately, then the shit hits the fan. If the November 30 date is missed, republicans will go fucking wild in their attempts to kill the ACA and at that point, anything WILL be on the table. So Milbank is on target if he is looking at that November 30 date with trepidation.

The Obama Administration largely brought this on itself. Yes, republicans were complete asses, but that was well known all the way. Republicans didn't provide funds for adequate rollout, but the Obama Administration had access to some discretionary funds that could have been used, republicans couldn't control that use. So the President is right, his Administration fucked up and it needs to fix the problem. If the Administration has a working fix in place on November 30, the game is over for republicans and they know that. If the Administration announces a fix on November 30, more people will visit the site at all hours of the day and night to view plans and sign up, my claim is that the overwhelming number of those people will like what they see. Nervousness by some Democrats now will help those people later if the ACA is working well when they face their republican opponent, because they can say that they pushed the Administration to fix ACA problems, but they still believed in the good that the ACA would do for consumers.

[Cyrano]

13. Every single Dem program, from

Social Security in the '30s until today, has been opposed by the Republicans. And every single one of them had problems on the rollout. A year from now ACA will be working just fine.

In the meantime, every Dem should be fighting back against the Republican propaganda/hate machine. Obama needs our support now more than ever.

All of us would have liked to have seen universal health care. It's been a Democratic goal for about 75 years now. But given the congress he's had to work with, it just wasn't doable. We're lucky to have gotten this far.

[JoePhilly]

18. +1

[bluestate10]

19. The President has my support. I would love to see him appeal to donors to crowd

fund ACA initiatives if republicans keep trying to obstruct. For example, there was a DU post about Texas Oncology potentially not taking patients that have ACA origin policies. So let's say Texas Oncology tries that to make the ACA fail in Texas and other places that it operates, but there are good humane Oncologists and hospital administrators in Texas who will take ACA patients, they would just need facilities and equipment, $500 million crowd sourced money given to such a group will allow them to set up a clinic and hospital network and start treating patients that Texas Oncology rejects. The net effect of crowd sourcing will accomplish two goals, it will make the ACA grow in Texas and it will put Texas Oncology out of business, both are good end results.

BUT, I want to see the President getting ahead of republican obstructionism and not being surprised or being naive about their intent. I want the President to kick ass within his Administration and stop people from implementing brain dead policy.

Yes. Every Democratic initiative to help Americans during the past has been opposed by republicans. One element that is missing is that there was not a 24 hour Press filled with people who are either evil, or those who are fucking afraid to tell the truth. I want to see a President and Administration that thinks through strategy and it's impact when it become public. I don't want to see a President giving press conferences after the fucking horse is out of the barn and galloping down a freeway. One of President Obama's weaknesses, IMO, is his inability to put responsibility into the hands of a person that he knows is ethical, but who isn't in the circle of friends that he has gained while in politics. His COS is an old friend who is a nice guy, maybe he needs a COS who is an ethical ass-kicker who treats people fairly but don't fucking accept excuses for outright failure of the inability to meet goals.

[Cyrano]

20. Good idea about Texas.

However, getting ahead of Republican obstructionism/sabotage is almost impossible. They're historically much better at this than Dems. And today they're backed by Wall Street, the Kochs, hate radio, Rupert Murdoch's media empire, and MSM timidity. They even managed to impeach a president as popular as Clinton. And then the stole the next election.

Until we can find a way to counter their propaganda and their tactics, I'm afraid we'll always be playing catch up.

[bluestate10]

22. We need to do a better job of fighting back. We have truth, justice and genuine

concern about people that need help on our side. AND, collectively, we have considerable wealth. I could give money to crowd funding, and if each of us give what we can, that money quickly adds up to an amount that the Koch brothers or Wall Street would seriously have to think about whether they want to match. Yes, the Kochs are worth tens of billions, but we collectively are worth several trillion, the question is whether we are willing to use our collective advantage to force good, or whether we will just sit around and complain about the Kochs and talk about why we as individuals can't match them.

[Lifelong Dem]

23. Gallop daily job approval poll is the same

The law is the law and it's staying.

People like what they are seeing in ACA savings.

https://www.facebook.com/Haronianinsurance/posts/10152047967062288

http://queenofspainblog.com/2013/11/13/we-just-enrolled-in-obamacare/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/05/i-am-obamacare-_n_4046470.html

http://www.lohud.com/article/20131112/NEWS02/311120064/Affordable-Care-Act-%20%20profile-Self-employed-couple-find-400-savings?odyssey=mod|

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamacare-saved-my-family-from-financial-ruin/2013/10/08/2b4c03c6-2f6e-11e3-bbed-a8a60c601153_story.html

Doris Gelbman ?@dwgelbman 25m @elspethrb @TheAtlanticWire by contrast, Obamacare will save many lives. has saved me $700/mo. SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS. A. MONTH.
https://twitter.com/j_five00/status/401415832284037120/photo/1

Jack Strack ?@JackStrack 15m @ezraklein Reality vs notational: Purchased a new policy at http://Healthcare.gov yesterday and saved 93% of January 2013 costs.

Joshua Best ?@joshbest 14 Nov @kmbc not in our house. We just saved nearly $600/month on health insurance premiums. Why not tell the good with the bad? #healthreform #ACA

Chief JayRamesses II ?@JaycenBradley 13 Nov You cant change my opinion the #ACA because its already saved my life so keep your negative theory to
yourself

marahall pickett ?@MarahallP 9 Nov I just saved $65 a month on my health insurance!!! Same exact plan that I have now just cheaper under
#AffordableCareAct awesome.

Paul Stewart ?@PaulStewartII 11 Nov Amy Robach "The doctors told me
bluntly: 'That mammogram just saved your life"
http://bit.ly/1bl03sQ #Cancer #Mammogram #ObamaCare #ACA

Rep. Barbara Lee ?@RepBarbaraLee 18 Jul What else has #AffordableCareAct done? In #CA13: 235,000 people have saved $ on premiums: 38,000 have gotten rebates! http://1.usa.gov/13OYN3R
https://twitter.com/RepGaramendi/status/383653640310771712/photo/1

Health care law saves consumers $1.2 billion nationwide
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2013pres/09/20130912a.html

HHS: 6.6 million people with Medicare have saved over $7 billion on prescription drugs as a result of the Affordable Care Act

NEW Analysis: Consumers buying own health insurance saved $2.1 billion in 2012 due to #ACA’s MLR provision
http://kff.org/health-reform/perspective/beyond-rebates-how-much-are-consumers-saving-from-the-acas-medical-loss-ratio-provision/?utm_source=nd&utm_medium=tw&utm_campaign=060613

The Human Face of Obamacare: she saved >$23,000 in the past 18 months on her health care savings.
http://www.shesugar.com/type-1-diabetes/human-face-obamacare-patient-nurse-affordable-care-ac/