Axelrod: "The President embraces the public option . . to keep companies honest"

[grantcart]

CNN had breaking news graphics and big music to announce that the President was softening on the public option.

Building on this theme they introduced Henry who said that Axelrod was going on the record to confirm what they had been hearing others report they had been hearing from senior Whithouse sources.

Axelrod then goes on and repeats twice the President's strong support for the public option.

Henry then asks if that means the public option is still on the table.

Axelrod confirms why the President thinks its important, and so on.

I had an earlier thread that had a brief summary but remembered that I had a DVD function and went back and transcribed word for word what was said but couldn't edit it into the previous post.

Here is the verbatim.

It was during the 3:00 segment of "The Situation Room".


CNN's lead in and Ed Henry's report clearly misrepresented what they show in the interview with Axelrod.



here is the lead in:


(Suzanne Malveaux) Is President Obama ready to scale back or even scrap a government run health care option?

We have breaking news about the big pitch to congress he is planning after his labor day holiday . . .


. . . let's go to our senior Whitehouse corespondent Ed Henry . . .


(Ed Henry) The President is going to be meeting with Senate Majority Leader Henry Reid and Speaker Pelosi next Tuesday the day before the big speech at the White house to go over the final details about what will be in the urgent speech

We are told that there are more and more signals behind close doors that the President is not necessarily in favor of a public option to be in this plan.

Just a short moment ago I spoke with David Axelrod, Special Assistant to the President. He again suggested that a public option is not the top priority and he also made a big vow about the fact that next week the President will get more specific than ever.


(Henry addressing Axelrod) How specific will he get?

(Axelrod) I don't think that anybody will leave the speech without a strong sense of how the President feels we should proceed.

(Henry) Will he spell out 5-6 point what he thinks has to be in the final bill?

(Axelrod)It will be very clear by the time you finish the speech what the President wants.

(Henry) Can you clear up where is the public option? Is it still on the table or is it off?

(Axelrod) The Preasident embraces the public option because he believes we need to have competition and choice in the insurance system, in this pool that will be created for uninsured workers and small businesses who can't afford to buy it and be a boon to consumers to help them get the best deal and keep the insurance companies honest. He still believes that competition and choice is important.

(Hendry) But does that mean the public option is still alive?

(Axelrod) I am not going to deal with the details of the President's speech otherwise there is no point for him to give it. It is fair to say that he believes strongly in competition and choice to keep companies honest.



On the record Senior Whitehouse spokesman confirms that the President is still behind the public option and why he is still for it.

[Kingofalldems]

1. Sounds good to me

[emulatorloo]

2. THANK YOU n/t

[Cant trust em]

3. HEAR YE, HEAR YE!!!! PRESIDENT OBAMA SUPPORTS THE PUBLIC OPTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everybody got that now? The president supports the public option.

[COLGATE4]

22. Looking more carefully at what Axelrod really said

As an attorney, you become more attuned to listening to what a person says and not merely hearing what you want to hear.

Taking Axelrod at his word, he in essence said that Obama will strongly consider an option which fosters competition. But this could well mean he envisions eventually proposing/supporting) Some form of a Co=op plan orb) Some type of 'coercive' mechanism, i.e. enhanced regulation backed up by the so-called 'Snowe trigger option'.

He does not categorically say that Obama supports the public option as most people understand the term. He has left himself a whole lot of wiggle room to avoid saying anything categorical.

[bvar22]

27. I agree. Thats how I read it.

Like most of Obama's campaign, this statement is ambiguous, with lots of carefully worded wiggle room.

A simple YES or NO answer would have sufficed if Obama still "supports" the "Public Option".

The above statement is more representative of someone who is ready to abandon the "Public Option" and substitute a less palatable compromise.

At any rate, we will KNOW in 6 days.

[Cant trust em]

29. Public option itself is wiggle room.

[HopeOverFear]

4. Thank you

[Cha]

5. Freakin' mediaWhores and anyone who swallows that deserves

the Burn.

Here's some Frenchie Action Numbers on cnn.

CNN-
(404) 827 – 1500
Comment line: (404) 827 - 0234
(From grasswire
fax: [phone].
CNN NEWS DIRECTOR Kim Bondy. 404 827 1500. fax. [phone]
CNN NEWSROOM 404.827.1500 . 404.827.1500. [e-mail]
Call Anderson Cooper at 1-866-NY-AC360

Everyone at CNN is listed individually on this page: http://www.cnn.com/feedback/cnntv /

[grantcart]

10. thanks and left a comment reading from the verbatim

[Cha]

11. Yay!

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[mvd]

6. K&R

The M$M likes to deliberately confuse - even get involved themselves.

[still_one]

7. gee, funny that the media gets it wrong again /nt

[jenmito]

8. I just saw that (I DVR it). I couldn't believe that they had the "BREAKING NEWS" banner

and Yellin said they have breaking news on the subject. Then they played the Ed Henry Axelrod interview and Axelrod said just what you said in your OP. Talk about false advertising!

[grantcart]

15. it was as if they were in two different universes

[Uzybone]

9. The blogs and internet gossips say the Public Option is dead

why should I believe the guys who are actually doing the work?

[Joe Chi Minh]

24. Why are you posting on a political board at all, if you place more trust in

the MSM and governments' spin-meisters than politically and legally "savvy" Internet bloggers? As well failing to identify evasion and spin when you see it. You must be very naive indeed.

On the other hand, some credit where it's due, "Pfizer fined £1.4 bn for drugs swindle" and "America hits out at big pharma" are headlines in today's UK Daily Mail.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/markets/article.html?in_article_id=490277

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1210751/ALEX-BRUMMER-America-hits-big-pharma.html

[lark]

28. The guy doing the work is basically non-committed

to the public option. Sounds to me like watered down, ineffective, co-ops are what he's proposing because he still can't get over his "bi-partisan" dream that would not happen even with years of effort from him. It's amazing that he doesn't get it that the Repugs are totally committed to seeing him fail and are not honest brokers. They won't vote for his bill, no matter how much he caves. How can one so smart be so blind? If the co-ops are limited to regional only, which is what Collins wants, then there is no major competition. It will just enrich big pharma and big insurance even more. Isn't it funny that whether it's a Repug or Dem, big money ALWAYS comes out on top.

Now, do I know this for a 100% fact (Obama totally caving on public option and proprosing ineffectual co-ops), no. But if you read between the lines, that's what I really think will happen. I hope I'm wrong, but spine has been totally lacking so far, I don't expect it to show up now.

Sad.

[Clio the Leo]

12. thank you for typing that. NT

[grantcart]

20. welcome

[liberalpragmatist]

13. Did he say "embraces" or "embraceD"?

TPM has the quote as past-tense. You have it as present. Does anybody know for sure?

(OTOH, I hate to be encouraging this kind of parsing over every little fragment.)

[grantcart]

14. embraced

but it is a difference without a distinction.


He wasn't reading a prepared document he was trying to answer someone who was completely unresponsive to his statements.


He was clear in stating that the reason that the President embraced the public option - to encourage competition and keep companies honest is something that he still "believes".


The other point that he made clear is that the final strategy would be agreed by the three main strategists on Tuesday and on Wednesday no one would be in doubt on the key elements of the plan.

[Jennicut]

16. The President and his advisors are lying!

CNN is the authority for this, right?

LOL

[grantcart]

17. lol

[CakeGrrl]

18. But...but that's not what POLITICO sez!

:rofl:

[grantcart]

19. lol

[byebyegop]

21. Thanks for the transcript. I'm not interested in actually watching CNN anymore. n/t

[Douglas Carpenter]

23. kick and recommended

[No Elephants]

25. Here we go again. Yes, he supports it. Yes, he also called it a sliver.

Supporting a public option is very different from saying you will not sign a bill without it.

How many times does DU have to till this same square foot of soil?

[grantcart]

31. Its not the same as saying that he will only sign on a Tuesday either

The point is that CNN was reporting that he was backing away from the public option and that Axelrod was going on the record to that effect.


Axelrod goes on the record supporting the public option.


You may return to believing all of the negative bull that comes from the MSM if you wish but its clear that they are not reporting the President's position accurately.

[Better Believe It]

26. Axelrod doesn't know if the public option is on or off the table.

That's why he declined to give a direct answer to the question and danced around it twice.

Read it again:

Henry) Can you clear up where is the public option? Is it still on the table or is it off?

Axelrod: His response was nonresponsive, dodging the question.
(
Hendry) But does that mean the public option is still alive?

Axelrod: Another song and dance response.

[grantcart]

30. There was no dancing he stated not only that the President embraced it

but the reason for embracing it.

having already answered the question twice in the affirmative Henry's nonsensical effort to try and derail the interview with a big scoop was brushed aside and making it very clear the President feels it necessary to "keep insurance companies honest".


It is becoming clearer and clearer that you have a significant reading disorder, reading your opinion into every thing that is printed.

[TheKentuckian]

32. Same as always folks. The option is part of the plan, not the plan.

I think is a crucial component because it acts as the control system but I think it has over dominated the discussion on both ends. The rest of the plain needs to be internalized by people so they can see why this portion is so crucial to making the rest of it effective.

[jenmito]

33. And today, Biden's spokesman (I think that's who he is) talked about Obama's plan...

and he said (to Andrea Mitchell) Obama wanted competition to keep insurance companies honest, "and that's where the public option comes in."

[Cali_Democrat]

34. I can't believe how many people on DU got punked by the mediawhores. n/t