Clinton: LBJ "quit at Medicare and Medicaid, because he knew how hard it was..."

[ProSense]

Harry Truman tried to do this, Richard Nixon tried to do it, Lyndon Johnson didn't even try, with the biggest congressional majority in history. He didn't even try — he quit at Medicare and Medicaid, because he knew how hard it was..."

link

[ProSense]

1. No comment? n/t

[PBS Poll-435]

2. You/Any Clinton/Reality

My head is spinning.

[ProSense]

3. Do you have an opinion about his comment? n/t

[PBS Poll-435]

6. Sure. It was very apropos

:)

[donheld]

4. So is Clinton saying we shouldn't even try?

[Jennicut]

5. No, I think he was talking about just how hard it has been to reform health care in this country

We come up against the same obstacles over and over again and at the heart of it is the insurance companies and the politicians who their money from them.

[wyldwolf]

8. no, he's saying it takes courage and political skill

[dsc]

7. In fairness Johnson was a little busy

He passed Civil rights, the voting act, the housing act, food stamps, medicaid, medicare and ahost of other things.

[frylock]

15. +1

[TheKentuckian]

9. The message is at least to stop pretending away the level of difficulty

LBJ didn't even have to deal with this toxic media, an utter lack of moderates in the Republican party to negotiate with and substitute for folks he couldn't coral (and he didn't get everyone), a 24/7 news cycle (even if there was a quality media), or being expected to shoestring through landmark legislation with EXACTLY 60 plausible votes.

[CTLawGuy]

10. Recommend

people don't realize how difficult health care reform is. And worse, I know the Republicans are convinced that if they kill health care reform like they did in 93-94, they will storm back into power in '10 as they did in 1994.

[karynnj]

11. Medicare and Medicaid were two very big programs - and nothing to sneeze at

The fact is that even now, Medicare is used by every politician forced to argue that a public plan is not "scary". You could say that Truman might have failed because he didn't have a massive program that had operated successfully for decades - and that LBJ recognized that. In addition, LBJ faced a different situation with insurance. A far larger portion of the population (excluding the elderly and the poorest part of the population) had employer based insurance.

Ted Kennedy said that they should have gone with the Nixon plan. They didn't because they wanted something better - but even 30 plus years later we don't have that.

[Mass]

13. Where did Kennedy say that? Are there any quote or is it another GOP invention?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/regrets-by-digby-during-last-weeks.html

[karynnj]

14. I'm embarrased to admit that it was said often in the last week

and I accepted it as true. Looking through googled articles, there is a Newsweek on that quotes Jacob Hacker saying so. Here is part of that:

"President Jimmy Carter did not make health reform a priority, however, and Kennedy later regretted rejecting Nixon’s proposal. “It was a rare moment in his Senate career where he made a fundamental miscalculation about what was politically possible—a lot of liberals did,” says Yale University political scientist and progressive health-reform advocate Jacob Hacker. “What was not recognized by anyone at the time was that this was the end of the New Deal era. What would soon come crashing over them was the tax revolts” that ushered in Ronald Reagan and a conservative, antigovernment philosophy. "
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/08/26/echoes-of-kennedy-s-battle-with-nixon-in-health-care-debate.aspx

What I can't find is a direct Kennedy quote, so this could be questionable. I don't recognize the Newsweek author's name. The Milligan paragraph in your link that seems to be the source is far more tentative than the comments all week - in fact, the direct quote seems more a polite "maybe", but he would have to look back to see. Definitely not a yes.

Thanks.

[Mass]

12. And? Not sure what your point is?

[WI_DEM]

16. It's true it is hard--but many worthwhile things are hard. To say LBJ didn't even try

however is laugable. With MC and Medicaid he covered more people than any other president ever did.

[wyldwolf]

17. why is it laughable when it's true?

:shrug:

Referring to a the type of health care plan that covers mostly everyone - not just specific age or economic demographics - and "getting two bills out of committee," Johnson didn't try. No one is taking anything away from Johnson in regards to MC and Medicaid but Clinton statement is a fact.