Jane Hamsher: Maxine Waters: White House Won’t Put Pressure On Blue Dogs

[Cronopio]

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/07/28/maxine-waters-white-house-wont-put-pressure-on-blue-dogs/

Maxine Waters blasts Rahm and the Blue Dogs on MSNBC, and says what we're seeing on health care is because the White House won't reign them in. MSNBC's Carlos Watson asks the great questions everyone should be asking:

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WATSON: Is the President and Rahm Emanuel -- former member of the House -- are they treading too lightly here, are they not bringing out the big stick against some of those Blue Dog Democrats and saying "we've got a once in a four-decade opportunity to get this passed, everyone knows how easy it is for momentum to dissipate, you guys have to get on board and we've got to go forward and make sure that everyone has better health care, is covered, and hopefully better quality of outcome?

WATERS: Well that may be difficult for Rahm Emanuel, because don't forget -- he recruited most of them. As when he was over in the Congress, in the leadership, Rahm Emanuel recruited more conservative members and based on some of the information I'm getting, they told them that they could vote the way they wanted to vote, that they would not interfere with what was considered their philosophy about some of these things. So, now the chickens have come home to roost.

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Of course they did. Because Rahm believes what the Blue Dogs believe. What's to interfere with? And let's remember -- Rahm beat the shit out of progressives on the supplemental/IMF and on Waxman-Markey. It's not like he has a "hands off" policy.

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WATSON: Is it time then for some of the progressives Democrats such as yourself, who didn't make those same promises and didn't do recruitment, to go very public in your demands that either these folks step up or that some primary challenges be run against them similar to what happened in Connecticut against Joe Lieberman in 2006?

WATERS: Well the thing about it is, you can't make empty threats of course. As I'm talking to you today, and trying to be very honest about the Blue Dogs, who they are how they got there, which is a step beyond what we would normally do, I intend certainly to continue to bring clarity to what is going on. I will be meeting with the progressives and Barbara Lee and the Black Caucus and the Tricaucus to talk about what we do.

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But many of these Blue Dogs represent districts that have strong pockets of poverty and minorities and they're not representing them with this approach that they're taking. And so I don't know whether or not there will be people running against them. Certainly we're not organized to run anybody against anybody, that's not normally what's done. But there may be people out there listening and observing all of this who may get motivated based on what they're seeing, and throw their hat into the ring.

Waters says that the progressives in the House will revolt if the Senate passes a bill without a strong public plan (thank you Maxine, that's all we're asking):

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KERY ELEVELD: There are reports out of the Senate Finance Committee today that they may be dropping the public option in their negotiations. Do you think that's going to sell in the House?

WATERS: No. As a matter of fact, that's a kill for sure for the progressives. For the majority, I think, of our members a public option is a compromise -- we wanted single payer as you know, and we backed off because they said that was going to be impossible to do. Again they brought up the more conservative elements, etc. etc., and so we will not support any bill that does not have a public option in it.

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Watson and Waters are right on target. As we've said from the start of the Public Plan whip count effort:

We don't have much influence over the Blue Dogs. The White House does. If you make failure the price of giving up on a public plan, Rahm works for you.

The only thing we can really do is help build a progressive roadblock, and make Rahm twist Blue Dog arms if he wants to pass health care. That's it. That's the end game.

Thanks to Rep. Waters for once again being the one brave enough to talk openly about what's going on.

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I've suspected this since Rahm coming out to the press long enough to express "admiration for the tenacity" of the obstructionist conservatives in Congress during the finance and health reform wars. In both cases, he admired their game but didn't follow it up with ideas about countertactics or even a statement that he was willing to counterattack. He knows that we're assuming that he's doing that behind the scenes - but maybe he's worse than just ineffective.

[aquart]

1. Wimpy wusses.

Give the bastards jaundice.

[rudy23]

2. Two things to always remember---Rahm Emanuel is awful, and Obama picked him first.

He was the absolute first person he hired. We can never forget that.

[Jane Austin]

4. I think he picked him to be the "bad cop" to his (Obama's)

good cop.

Very practical.

[rudy23]

9. I agree with that for the most part. That's why we can't forget Rahm's a part of Obama.

He was his number one draft pick. He can't just send mean old Rahm out there to disassociate himself from the unpopular aspects of his policies.

[Demeter]

8. I Know, Rudy. I Was Shocked and Appalled at the Rahm Appointment

and my anger level just keeps on rising with every mention of his name, actions, whatever. At least he's out of Congress. When the O man goes down in flames, he'll have to find another line of work.

[madrchsod]

3. maxine can see right through rahm.....

rahm has always been center right so i`m not surprised at all on maxine`s observation. he had to be a democrat to run in chicago but if he lived in the western burbs he`d run as a republican.

[BlueMTexpat]

5. When Obama chose Rahm as CoS, I was very disappointed,

particularly when it became clear that Howard Dean, who served all Democrats ... and the nation ... so well, and who was so uniquely qualified to be at the forefront of needed health care reform, would not even be considered for a Cabinet post, instead being relegated to the hinterlands.
It is a credit to Dean that, despite Rahm and other loud detractors, he continues to be a strong and credible voice for progressive causes in general and for health care reform in particular. We need to show the White House how terribly unhappy we are with the sell-out compromises that Rahm's Blue Dog recruits are attempting to foist upon us.
We also need to make our voices heard, loudly and clearly, by these Blue Dogs, whether we are in their districts or not. They need to understand that even if they are in conservative districts, health care reform is needed nationally and will be their own political "Waterloo" insofar as the rest of us are concerned if they betray us on the public option and mandates for all to purchase, with subsidies as needed. These elements are the absolute minimum that any meaningful health care reform must have.
We have the tools: we have the internet, we have C-Span, and we have YouTube. If letters, visits, emails and telephone calls to these hypocrites and cowards are not working, we can publicize exactly who they are in the blogosphere to the point where they cannot hide behind their office doors or their refusal to listen or otherwise respond to us. We can write letters to their local newspapers or even to national newspapers excoriating their actions and publicizing their ties to the health insurers who are fighting health care reform to their last breath. We can also contribute to groups such as MoveOn and Democracy for America and the Wellstone Foundation and others like them that are devoted to progressive causes.
But yes, WE have to keep pushing these Blue Dogs. We cannot leave it for Maxine Waters, wonderful as she is, and those like her to do all our work for us.
And yes, Obama himself should be more forceful on this. But we also have to help him by assuring him that WE have his back.
Because Rahm, aided and abetted by Republicans and Blue Dogs, will continue his attempts to convince Obama that we progressives are the fringes and not the majority.
If we allow that to happen, then we ourselves must share part of the blame.

[glitch]

6. Maxine Waters is correct, as usual.

I wish I had a Congress member as excellent.

[Demeter]

7. I Wish We ALL Had Such Good Representatives!

Lord knows we need them!

[depakid]

10. LBJ he ain't (at least thus far)