Daily Kos -Cenk Uygur : Howard Dean vs. Rahm Emanuel

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/30/788028/-Howard-Dean-vs.-Rahm-Emanuel
Howard Dean vs. Rahm Emanuel
by Cenk Uygur
Howard Dean vs. Rahm Emanuel Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 07:06:08 AM PDT

skip
Once again, Howard Dean is right and Rahm Emanuel is wrong. The voters didn't vote for a little bit of change. They gave the Democrats the White House and overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate. They voted for real change. The kind of change that Dean always pushes for (and often accomplishes) and the kind of change that Emanuel doesn't ever find "realistic."

Emanuel needs to change his definition of realistic. We didn't elect Obama to fiddle around the edges. We elected him to change the current reality of Washington. We didn't elect him to figure out the best way to appease the lobbyists; we elected him to figure out the best way to beat them. What Rahm Emanuel doesn't seem to get is that real change is realistic. You have all this political power. It's time to use it. If not now, when?

There were rumors when President Obama was picking his cabinet and administration that Emanuel kept Dean out of the West Wing because of their running feud. If there was truth to that, then it seems Obama picked the wrong guy - not just for pushing forward bold reform but also for actually getting it done.

[ProSense]

1. Cenk desperately needs a bogeyman: introduce the all powerful Rahm

Rahm is irrelevant in the health care debate.

[madfloridian]

3. Rahm has great power in any debate.

He is not irrelevant in the health care debate..not by a long shot.

[ProSense]

7. No he doesn't, only in the mind of people who want to assign him that role.

Rahm is not the President, and he has no sway over what Congress does. The House legislation is moving toward a more progressive solution since the bills left committee, even the damn blue dogs are coming over to the yes side.

[wyldwolf]

44. hey! Since Emanuel DOES hold a little sway in the House...

..can we CREDIT him for what you just wrote? Considering the OP's line of logic, I believe we can.

[vi5]

6. He's not irrelevant...

He may not be as relevant as some would like to make him out to be. But he is very relevant in terms of dictating the tone and tenor of the discussion and the tone of Obama's approach to it. When of the few statements he makes on the subject, it is criticizing those on the left for daring to try and put pressure on the "moderates" who are trying to squelch the public option and other liberal ideas, then that to me sets the tone on the subject and whether Obama agrees with him or not, it sends a message to the "moderates" in congress and the Senate that the president and his staff are more concerned with letting those supposed centrists run amock and get away with watering down the bill than they are in getting a fully progressive bill passed. Whether that's true or not, as we unfortunately know inside the washington beltway perception is everything.

So no, he's not the boogeyman but he's not innocent and he's no irrelevant to how this is turning out. I'm willing to believe and hopeful that maybe even his defending the blue dogs and crtiticizing the left is part of this big chess game and that it will all turn out o.k. But if it's not and we lose because of messaging and perception then Rahm's words on the subject bear at least some of the blame.

[ProSense]

8. He is irrelevant. n/t

[flyarm]

25. how is he irrelevant when he tells many in the party to go "F" themselves?" or this.........

how the fuck does this make him irrelevant??????????????????????????????


Trumka Scheduled To Meet With Rahm Today To Cut Deal on Public Option
By: Jane Hamsher Wednesday September 30, 2009 7:06 am

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/30/trumka-s... /


We hoped it wasn't true. We hoped that when Richard Trumka committed to back a public option and threatened to withhold support from Democrats who wouldn't vote for one that it wasn't just pre-convention rhetoric.
Trumka Scheduled To Meet With Rahm Today To Cut Deal on Public Option
By: Jane Hamsher Wednesday September 30, 2009 7:06 am

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/30/trumka-s... /

But then the big guns came out -- Baucus decided that rather than taxing the rich, he would tax the health care plans that seriously affected AFL-CIO workers who had given up wage hikes in exchange for comprehensive health care coverage over years in contract negotiations. When Gerry McEntee rightly called the Baucus bill "bullshit" from the floor of the convention, Nancy Pelosi was then dispatched to say they were considering the same thing in the House.

I defy anyone to find me one single example of the White House twisting one arm for a public option. Just one. But when Rahm and Trumka meet today, it will be after a month of very serious threats to the AFL-CIO carried out at the highest levels. It's the kind of "arm twisting" that only the executive branch is capable of, and it has been done to crush support for a public option, not opposition.

I wrote recently about the fact that people within the AFL-CIO were getting tremendous pressure from the White House to push Trumka into backing down. And sources familiar with the situation say that since the other unions outside the AFL have already caved and are kicking Rahm's trigger football, Trumka feels he has little support for his position and no choice but to relent.

Contact the AFL-CIO and let them know that you support Richard Trumka and his commitment to the public option. Let him know that staying true to that commitment is extremely important to those of us who strongly support labor.

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/09/30/trumka-s...

[marylanddem]

10. Well said. :-)

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

9. Oh really? He met twice with Tauzin in the White House to confirm the pharma deal

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/health/policy/06insure.html?_r=2

"After reaching an agreement with Mr. Baucus, Mr. Tauzin said, he met twice at the White House with Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff; Mr. Messina, his deputy; and Nancy-Ann DeParle, the aide overseeing the health care overhaul, to confirm the administration’s support for the terms."

[ProSense]

11. He's the chief of staff, he arranges meetings and coordinates the White House actions.

He is irrelevant to the creation of a health care bill in Congress---completely and utterly irrelevant.

[marylanddem]

12. Not irrelevant, not by a long shot. Are you Rahm?

[ProSense]

14. Completely

irrelevant, that is unless you believe Rahm is responsible for increasing support for a public option in the Senate.

[leftynyc]

20. So freaking what

Did he throw the President into a closet so he can run the country? Stop blaming the employee for doing exactly what the employer wants. It insults both the President and my intelligence to blame this on Rahm Emmanuel.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

27. I happen to agree with you. Rahm is acting with the President's approval

and under his direction.

I posted the Kos diary with no comments of my own. I think that if President Obama shared Howard Dean's viewpoint or wanted him to be a part of his administration, he would have made that happen, regardless of how Rahm Emanuel felt about it.

Cenk is conflating his own hopes and desires with the President's and assuming that they are the same.

I don't think that anyone can say Rahm is a rogue agent, but many seem to find him an acceptable alternate target for misdirecting disappointment and frustration when they don't want to lay that burden directly at the President's feet.

[flyarm]

28. well absolutely..I agree with you 100% but Rahm is the principle actor doing the Pres's bidding so

he is relevant, in that regard..he si doing Obama's dirty work..therefore he is relevant in that regard..just like others did Bush's dirty work!

[leftynyc]

29. I commented over there as well

This whole "blame Rahm" crap is starting to get on my nerves. It's lazy thinking and thoroughly insulting to the President. You've got a lot of traffic on that thread - kudos for that and for the rec list.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

33. I have been guilty of the "blame Rahm game" in the past and know why I fell into it:

and posted this in one of those discussions:

If you bought in heavily (as I and most people around here did) during the campaign to the rhetoric and charisma of Barack Obama who seemed to actually be a completely different type of leader the like of which we had not seen in decades (Kennedyesque) and if you BELIEVED that he would end the war, follow the Rule of Law, end FISA, bring rational and universal healthcare to us all, etc. at some point you are left with some very very uncomfortable choices:

1. Am I an absolute fool for buying in and believing? - leading to despair and cynicism

2. Is Barack Obama a man who says one thing and then does another (repeatedly)? - leading to despair and cynicism

Or:

3. Is Barack Obama a good man and an able leader who surrounded himself with horrible advisors? - leading to a conclusion which allows for some change for the better to still occur if he would only get rid of all the bad advisors. Some despair, but not quite as much cynicism and a little optimism is still allowed to exist


3 is the temporary safe harbor that one wants to hang out in for as long as possible until forced into either choice 1 or 2.


You can only hang out at number 3 for so long. People have to accept that whatever Rahm does, he does it with the President's permission and approval. Whether you agree with the actions or not is a different matter.

[leftynyc]

39. There is an option #4

That President Obama is a good man with (mostly) the right ideas who came into office at a time of great turmoil in this country. That he has to herd the cats in congress - people who represent over 300 million people and as a result, can only do so much. I trust that he picked advisors who he felt could help him accomplish his goals. I'm still waiting for the final bill when it comes to health care. I don't know the answer to Iraq or Afghanistan - my instinct is to get the hell out but when I think of the women and children in Afghanistan being at the mercy of fundamentalist cretins, I'm torn.

I like President Obama a lot and am willing to give him more time. He hasn't even been in a year yet - I'm not giving up on him so easily.

[Dr Fate]

34. We are often told that the DLC is "irrelevant" when they are fucking things up.

But when it's time to take credit for something perceived as a success, the DLC then becomes "relevant" all of a sudden.

When people start claiming that "the DLC is nothing, just a tiny little club, stop paying so much attention to them-they have no power"- that means you better look out- the DLC is in fact screwing something up again.

When it becomes apparent that the DLC screwed us, that's when they start blaming "the far left" for "not compromising with the conservatives enough."

Same shit, diff. day.

[Raineyb]

38. Sounds like wishful thinking on your part. n/t

[Honeycombe8]

43. I disagree. Rahm was made COS because he could make things happen in Congress.

He was familiar with the cast of characters, how Congress works, and he could forge deals and push through legislation that the W.H. favored.

But Rahm has never been in favor of the public option, from what I've read. So he hasn't used his influence to push that. It shows.

I was concerned about Rahm as the choice of COS from the start. He was a Clintonite...not a bad things, by itself. But he was yet another one in a whole string of them. And in teh health care debate, it was the Clintons who failed miserably in even getting to first base with their health care agenda. And a public option wasn't part of teh Clinton plan.

So you see how it is. The W.H. got what Rahm bargained for and wielded his influence for. A luke warm health care "package" that a single Republican, maybe, will vote for, but which doesn't do much for the average American. But Rahm will call it a victory and tell Obama he can say he fulfilled his promise of health care reform.

I love Obama. But if O lets it go down this way, I will rethink my adoration.

[Cha]

2. I agree but real lasting change doesn't

happen instantly. I like Dean..he was my choice for Prez and nothing's changed my opinion about him but it's so easy to take pot shots from the sidelines.

"There were rumors when President Obama was picking his cabinet and administration that Emanuel kept Dean out of the West Wing because of their running feud. If there was truth to that, then it seems Obama picked the wrong guy - not just for pushing forward bold reform but also for actually getting it done."

There's all kinds of "rumors"..I would like to deal in facts.

[madfloridian]

13. Yeh, darn that Dean and his sideline "pot shots".

:shrug:

He should be ashamed picking on a party who has a big majority in both houses plus the WH and still caters to the corporations.

:shrug:

[Cha]

24. Sorry, I should have made myself more clear..

I wasn't talking about Dean. Dean has been nothing but Stellar through everything.

I'm refering to those who do..Dean is out there doing the real work like the Prez.

[flyarm]

30. and republican mandates..gee just yesterday when dems could not pass a public option, they passed

THIS:

just yesterday..


Panel votes to restore abstinence education money
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee voted Tuesday night to restore $50 million a year in federal funding for abstinence-only education that President Barack Obama has pushed to eliminate.

The 12-11 vote by the Senate Finance Committee came over objections from its chairman, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.

Two Democrats - Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas - joined all 10 committee Republicans in voting "yes" on the measure by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Senate Finance Committee votes to restore federal funding for abstinence education
Associated Press

Last update: September 29, 2009 - 10:31 PM
WASHINGTON - A Senate committee voted Tuesday night to restore $50 million a year in federal funding for abstinence-only education that President Barack Obama has pushed to eliminate.
The 12-11 vote by the Senate Finance Committee came over objections from its chairman, Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana.


http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/congress/62764212.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhU6:_0c:QyDiiUiacyKUnciaec8O7EyUr

or

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/congress/62764212.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhU6:_0c:QyDiiUiacyKUnciaec8O7EyUr

[madfloridian]

36. OMG, I missed that. That infuriates me so much.

Thanks for posting it. That is just plain stupid and idiotic.

They are trying to lose in 2010.

[flyarm]

40. funny how this stuff slips by ,,huh?????? Did you see this??"

Hoyer Cool To Repealing Wiretap Immunity
Source: Associated Press

(09-29) 10:31 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer made clear Tuesday that he would be cool to a Senate proposal to take away the retroactive immunity now given to telecommunications companies that participated in warrantless wiretapping during the George W. Bush administration.

"I don't think that revisiting that issue is really going to get us anyplace," the Maryland Democrat said at a news conference.

His comment came a day after Senate Democrats Chris Dodd, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, Russ Feingold and Jeff Merkley said they planned to introduce legislation to repeal a provision in a 2008 act granting immunity to telecom companies that helped the government spy on Americans in suspected terrorism cases.

The immunity issue was a key hang-up in a yearlong effort by Congress to come up with new rules about government surveillance and eavesdropping in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Bush signed the act into law in July, giving the Bush White House a victory in its demands for stronger tools to fight anti-terror threats. Civil liberties groups protested, saying it gave the government broad powers to conduct surveillance with little or no connection to terrorism.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/0...

[madfloridian]

23. Potshots??? What an insult to Dean. You surprise me.

A party with a majority like this deserves to be called out if they can not perform for us.

[Cha]

26. Hello! See post# 24 for my mia culpa for not making myself

more clear.

[madfloridian]

35. Thanks for clarifying.

.

[marylanddem]

4. Obama has been a huge disappointment.

He's going to be a one-termer if something doesn't change fast. He is looking weaker and weaker.

[TheWraith]

16. Seek professional help. nt

[Cha]

17. PO has not been a disappointment to me,

au contraire. He's been busy building a foundation.. these accomplishments are up until July 20, 2009 courtesy of Political Tiger~

PO also just gave a Mission Statement Address to the UN that has a vision of a peaceful world..and the UN just approved a Resolution to rid the world of nukes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33001551/ns/world_news-unit... /

Political Tiger (1000+ posts) Mon Jul-20-09 06:36 PM
Original message

What your President has accomplished just 6 months into his first term

Signed executive orders to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year, ban torture and end the CIA’s secret overseas prisons and define treatment of Detainees.

Reversed restrictions on stem cell research.

Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Reducing discrimination based on gender, age, religion, or race.

Signed an executive order reversing the ban that prohibits funding to international family planning groups that provide abortions. Gag rule revoked (Mexico City policy).

Creates the White House Council on Women and Girls "to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges confronted by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families."

Signed a Presidental Memorandum extending federal benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers and announced support for the Domestic Partners Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009.

Reverses U.S. position on LGBT Issues at the UN: At the "Durban Review Conference," U.S. supports language condemning “all forms of discrimination and all other human rights violations based on sexual orientation.”

Signed executive order requiring federal contractors to offer jobs to current workers when contracts change.

Reversed a Bush order requiring federal contractors to post notice that workers can limit financial support of unions serving as their exclusive bargaining representatives.

Signed executive order preventing federal contractors from being reimbursed for expenses meant to influence workers deciding whether to form a union and engage in collective bargaining.

Created a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners.

Expanded eligibility for the refinancing portion of the Making Home Affordable plan to help Americans struggling with distressed mortgages refinance at lower interest rates, even if they owe up to 25 percent more than their homes are now worth.

Established a credit card "bill of rights".

Expanded loan programs for small businesses.

Extended and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch.

Expanded eligibility for State Children's Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP).

Expanded funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners.

Created a new White House task force on the problems of middle-class Americans, and installed Vice President Joe Biden as its chairman.

Appoints Vice President Joe Biden to Oversee Stimulus Plan Payouts.

Granted a reprieve to Liberian immigrants facing imminent expulsion.

Directed military leaders to end war in Iraq.

Allowing Caskets to be photographed when the return from Iraq with family approval.

Released nine previously secret internal Justice Department memos and opinions defining the legal limits of government power in combating terrorism.

On Arab TV Network, Obama Urges Dialogue.

Gave a speech in Cairo engaging the Muslim and Arab world.

Bars independent contractors from conducting interrogations of terror suspects.

Granted Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba.

Ordered the release of nearly a quarter of a million pages of records from the Reagan White House that were kept from the public during a lengthy review by President George W. Bush.

Restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program.

Released presidential records.

Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.

Pushed for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors.

Invites gay families to the Easter Egg Roll as part of the Obama administration's outreach to diverse communities.

Created a White House Office on Urban Policy.

Increased funding for the NEA.

Appointed an assistant to the president for science and technology policy.

Funded a major expansion of AmeriCorps.

Banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees.

Investment in all types of alternative energy.

Enacted tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars.

Support for high-speed rail.

Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes.

Extended unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits.

Created the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers to help auto industry workers transition to new manufacturing opportunities, including jobs in alternative energy.

Stopped raids on medical marijuana dispensers.

Nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic to ever serve on the Supreme Court.

Appointed more than 60 openly LGBT persons to positions in the executive branch.

Issues Presidential Proclamation for Pride, proclaiming June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.

Signed a mercury reduction pact with 140 other nations.

Signed the Weapons System Acquisition Reform Act to curb wasteful spending by the Pentagon. Intended to price contracts and budgets lower; may potentially save billions of dollars in defense.

Signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, which serves to protect two million acres of land and creates a new system of land conservation for the Bureau of Land Management.

Phase out government payments to crop producers making more than $500,000 a year and eliminates subsidies for cotton storage to help trim the U.S. budget deficit.

Cut funding for a proposed U.S. nuclear storage facility at Yucca Mountain.

Restored Endangered Species Act Provision requiring U.S. agencies consult with independent federal experts to determine if their actions might harm threatened and endangered species.

Orders The Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration "to protect and restore the health, heritage, natural resources, and social and economic value of the Nation's largest estuarine ecosystem and the natural sustainability of its watershed."

Signed the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act designating two million additional acres of public wilderness areas the highest level of government protection from logging and other forms of commercial use and development.

Signed the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act which will expedite the search for cures and treatments for millions of Americans living with paralysis caused by spinal cord injury, stroke, MS, Parkinson's and many other diseases and disorders.

Established The Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record, a new system for updating medical records of servicemen and women both during and after their military careers.

Established the White House Office of Health Reform

Created new and stronger safety standards to safeguard the country's food supply.

and

got his daughters a new puppy!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8538282

[leftynyc]

22. I remember handwringers

saying the same thing about Bill Clinton. Coasted to a second term as I remember. So, which magnificent republican is going to run against him and win?

[jillan]

5. How I wish that Howard Dean was still the chairman of the DNC thru

all this. You have to admit that the DNC has been pretty quiet in comparison to the RNC these days.
I think that if Dean was still running things we would see a much stronger fight coming from our side.

[depakid]

15. I'm glad that Dean's not involved with this fiasco

We need someone successful and unscathed to represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic party in that this and other efforts turn out badly (in other words if the Republicrats continue to prevail).

[polichick]

37. I sure would campaign for him again! nt

[TheWraith]

18. He does remember that Dean and Emanuel were (and are) allies, right?

Dean was the one who crafted the strategy to run moderate and conservative Democrats in right-wing districts. Everybody attributes the "Blue Dogs" to Emanuel, but he was executing Dean's plan.

For that matter, Dean is still loudly and completely behind President Obama and confident in Obama's efforts.

[madfloridian]

21. Wrong....Dean refused to let the DNC mess around in primaries.

Rahm did more than mess around....he messed up many races, especially in Florida.

He handpicked candidates in every race...not caring if they were Democrats. He picked a millionaire Republican for Foley's seat, kicking out a good Democrat.

[wyldwolf]

42. no, Dean has his shadow organization, DFA, do that for him

In just one example off the top of my head, Dean endorsed Bernie Sanders in the VT Senate primary.

[quantass]

19. The WH and current Accomplishments would be VERY different with Dean on board

The guy is AMAZING and wish he was in the WH working for Obama...His energy and way of thinking would have set the tone very well and accomplishkments would have been swift and very rewarding. Rahm, honestly, sucks! And it appears to affect Obama in a negative way.

[Hutzpa]

31. Looks like Rahm

has started skating on thin ice, whats with him and being COS, he did the same shit
with Bill Clinton and now doing the same shit with Obama, that tells
me he is not going to change and YES Howard Dean WILL win this round too.

[polichick]

32. "We didn't elect Obama to fiddle around the edges."

I used those same words in expressing frustration to my husband recently ~ we're fiddling around the edges on financial reform, healthcare, energy, terrorism, etc. That's not what volunteers had in mind when we worked to put this new administration in place.

And yeah, Dean over Emanuel any day!

[wyldwolf]

41. It seems to me some "progressives" are afraid to say bad things about President Obama

So they assign blame to one of the President's underlings - one who has little or no influence with the matter at hand.

I wonder why that is? Hey Cenk - grow a pair. If you have something to say about the President, say it.

And Cenk - so far Emanuel is absolutely http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/60163-emanuel-bearish-on-public-options-chances-in-the-senate">correct, sad as it is.

The kind of change that Dean always pushes for (and often accomplishes)

Like... what?