Not much we can do

[fadedrose]

Somebody, forget who, on MSNBC, after Obama spoke earlier today, said that the President's problem was that NOBODY feared him.

I wonder if they might fear all the people who voted for President Obama, I think maybe grabbing one of those lists with non-supportive Dem senators and emailing AND calling all of them might enlighten them as to why Obama won the election - mainly a national health care plan that doesn't depend solely on private insurance companies.

[LaurenG]

1. He shouldn't be feared

though I would like them to fear for their jobs, especially if they continue drinking kool-aide while on the job and then trying to force it down our throats.

[cliffordu]

8. Is this a problem in your workplace??

[LaurenG]

10. It's a problem in congress. nt

[John Q. Citizen]

2. The Public Option wasn't mentioned until after the election. So I'm not sure you can make that case.

Also, Obama ran against mandates to purchase insurance. So, again, I'm not sure you can make that case.

Also, many of the people who supported Obama want a single payer system, and Obama didn't even allow us to make our case, but instead shut us out from the very beginning.

And he ran on inclusion and he ran on looking at all ideas regardless of ideology. But he didn't do that once he won.


So, I'm not sure there are that many people who are all that passionate about a public option that is unaffordable and unavailable to most people.

Are you excited about an unaffordable unavailable public option, because I'm not.


The problem with a hybrid public/private system is that everywhere it';s been tried, it's failed because it's too expensive. Our Democratic officials know this even if the public isn't paying that much attention. I don't think they want to be left holding the bag when it all falls apart.

We know single payer works to cover everyone and to keep down costs so that it is affordable and sustainable. So why mess around with something that won't work?

[fadedrose]

7. I heard single-payer would never pass...

and that the public option was a compromise to make the insurance companies happy. Trouble is they're afraid people will switch to the public option and they don't even want that.

The real problem is the money paid to our Senators to buy their vote. Can you imagine how cheap private insurance would be if they didn't pay all those millions to our politicians?

I can only want what I believe is the best thing we can get now, and for that I depend on Howard Dean. I trust him and if he says that what Obama wants is a good thing, that's what I want. You gotta trust somebody..

[John Q. Citizen]

9. I heard America wasn't ready to elect a black man President....

so should Obama have not run?

It makes no sense not to ask for what we want.

Now it's true, sometimes we don't get what we want. But if we don't ask for it, it's guaranteed we won't get what we want.
And that has been my complaint and my warning since last November when Obama won.

The public option wasn't the compromise because by not putting single payer up on the table, there was nothing there to compromise away. Now we see the public option being compromised away. The house bill is going to be the most liberal bill that comes out of this, and right now, that bill calls for a public option by 2013, and 10 million members of a public option by 2020. So I can tell you right now and straight up, that's as good as we are getting and we don't deserve any better because we didn't even ask for it.

Dean was brilliant with his 50 state strategy. He said "Contest every race, everywhere. You won't win them all, but you won't win any that you don't contest. Yet when it came to health care reform he was like soggy milk toast. "Don't contest single payer because you can't win," was what he said. It was the polar opposite of the 50 state strategy. And i think it's been a very poor strategy. Though I don't blame Dean for the strategy, because he went along with it, he didn't develop it.

What I blame Dean for was not speaking up about the exclusion of the millions of Americans being shut out of the debate who are in favor of single payer. He could have said, "No! Everyone deserves a seat at the table," but he said nothing and just pretended those millions of people never existed.

Howard Dean is now saying, "Well, even if we don't get a good strong public option, or even if it takes years to implement we can put in guaranteed issuance and community rating. See, Dean is right that those two things will help, but they won't contain costs.

So we go through this whole big exercise and get a tiny bit of incremental change out of it. I'm not sure that's going to cut it.

[babylonsister]

3. David Brooks wrote that in his op ed today. Why he thinks

fear should be a motivator is beyond me. Because Machiavelli said so? :shrug:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/opinion/21brooks.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Machiavelli said a leader should be feared as well as loved. Obama is loved by the Democratic chairmen, but he is not feared. On health care, Obama has emphasized cost control. The chairmen flouted his priorities because they don’t fear him. On cap and trade, Obama campaigned against giving away pollution offsets. The chairmen wrote their bill to do precisely that because they don’t fear him. On taxes, Obama promised that top tax rates would not go above Clinton-era levels. The chairmen flouted that promise because they don’t fear him.

[3waygeek]

4. Well, maybe if Obama took down

a big-time crook like Cheney, the other baddies would sit up and take notice.

[Thrill]

5. I actually agree with this. He worries too much about making everyone happy

and wanting everyone to like him. He's yet to call these assholes out.

I'm one of Obama's biggest defenders. But he's going to have to get tougher if he plans to get his agenda through. I mean he acted like he was scared to mention Demitt's name. Call his ass out. As well as people in the Democratic Party. Lehar asked him last night if he was going to knock some heads. And he said "I don't know about that". He should of said Yes. Demand these people support your agenda. Stop worrying if they like you or not. Jeesh

[ChiciB1]

6. Ding! Ding! Ding! I Hear You & Agree! n/t