Specter: Republicans Plotted Early to Stop Bipartisanship, Beat Obama In 2012

[democracy1st]

Run time: 01:33 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS8Y8G2aNpk   Posted on YouTube: December 28, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 29, 2009 By DU Member: democracy1st Views on DU: 2942

 
During his appearance yesterday on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) appeared to give out some inside dirt from his days as a Republican -- alleging that the GOP plotted early to stop any bipartisan cooperation with President Obama, and to instead look towards the 2012 election.

"I'd like to pick up on what Sen. DeMint says about the process. I think the process was very bad. But the process was really caused, in large measure, by the refusal of the Republicans to deal in any way," said Specter.

"Sen. DeMint is the author of the famous statement that this is going to be President Obama's 'Waterloo,' that this ought to be used to break the president," said Specter, referring to the political battle over health care. "So that before the ink was dry on the oath of office -- and I know this, because I was in the caucus -- the Republicans were already plotting ways to beat President Obama in 2012."

It's not often that a Senator will divulge private conversations from within the party caucuses. In Specter's case, he appears to be dishing out information from his former party caucus, declaring that they decided early on to focus on opposing Obama politically, and they now complain about a lack of bipartisanship that they themselves caused.

Specter's office has not yet responded to our inquiries for further comment, nor has the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

However. Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-SC) spokesman Wesley Denton gave us this comment, declaring Specter has no credibility after having switched parties and changed his political positions:


"No one better represents what's wrong with Washington than Senator Specter who proved this year he has no principle but political self-interest. He's flip-flopped on issue after issue and has lost all credibility with voters. The fact is that Republicans put many serious health reforms on the table like ending state insurance monopolies, tort reform, and fair tax treatment for folks who don't get insurance at work. But Democrats were never serious about listening to any idea that didn't include a government takeover of health care, which they knew Republicans would never agree to. Specter and Democrats don't want bipartisanship, they want political cover for their wildly unpopular health care bill that raises taxes and premiums without even covering the uninsured."


http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/specter-republicans-plotted-early-to-stop-bipartisanship-beat-obama-in-2012.php?ref=fbfp

[Goldstein1984]

1. There's a lot more on the Progressive agenda than HCR

President Obama's supporters aren't going to abandon him if he doesn't abandon them.

I know what the Republicans are trying to do. It doesn't matter.

I'm paying more attention to what President Obama is and isn't doing.

I voted for him. I'm disappointed in him so far. But there's still plenty of time for him to mature and turn things around.

[tblue]

2. I'm with you!

I am SO hoping Obama will unite us again. We could be so powerful, there's almost nothing we could not accomplish.

Just realized it's you, Goldstein, my buddy. You night owl, you!

[FrenchieCat]

3. Funny how folks talk about what he could be all powerful.

What don't you tell me what that would be?

I'm all ears.

[Goldstein1984]

5. It's simple...

He needs to:

Stop making deals with Big Pharma
Stop creating more enemies than he kills with his increased us of predator drones that kill civilians
Have a consistent human rights policy based on principles rather than political expediency (e.g. Don't condemn what's going on in Iran right now while ignoring what's going on in Honduras right now)
Investigate war crimes committed by Bush/Cheney and their ilk
Reject extraordinary extradition
Reject the classification of "enemy combatants" as "nonpersons" un-entitled to habeas corpus

And I'd kind of like to see him do something about getting us our 4th, 5th and 6th Amendment rights back. I kinda miss those.

[tblue]

8. You just love to insult me.

Getting really tired of your put downs. I've been holding my tongue, trying to be polite to you for a loooong time.

I know you think Obama is powerless, overwrought, overwhelmed, incapable, unwise, and/or otherwise not up to the job. I get it. You have made that more than clear. But I happen to think Predident Obama really is a magnificent human being, with astounding gifts, wisdom, fortitude, and a fair amount of political prowess. I think he has everything it takes to be the greatest president ever. He is no weakling. He is no naive rube. He is no victim. He is no simpleton. He is no loser. He can unite this country in untold ways. Ways you can't imagine. He's done it before; he can do it again. You think his election was the pinnacle of his achievement. I think it was the tip of the iceberg. I **don't** expect him to work miracles. I do expect him to stand by his principles and undo as much of the Bush disaster as ** humanly** possible. If anyone can do that, it's Barack Obama. (It's kinda sorta important, and it's why he was elected.) But you! You think that's waaaay too much to even ask of him. We need to downgrade our expectations. Well, listen. I believe in Obama. I really, really do. Yes, I expect a lot iof him and I hold him accountable for his actions. Because I never thought "Yes we can" was just a slogan. Or that "ENOUGH" was just a throwaway line. You think we're supposed to forget all about that. "Hope and change"? How silly to think he meant it. I believed him when he promised that, and I think he'd want it that way. So spare me your relentless sarcasm and your daily snide little comments. I don't know what is up your behind or why you think you need attack everything I say -- and I no longer care! -- but I am done trying to reason with rude people. You just want to stomp your foot and tell people to shut up and agree with you and only you, and to expect nothing, absolutely nothing of President Obama, unless you say it's okay. That's dead. Everybody, Frenchiecat, EVERYBODY here on this site is entitled to their opinion. Not just you! I enjoy reading and learning from diverse opinions. But no one needs to be subjected to your nasty insults and your pettiness. Ever! Let alone every day. Just stop it.

I don't need this. I'm not reading your insults anymore. So, fire away into cyberspace all you want, and just kiss my dust!!!

[FrenchieCat]

9. Ooh....I like that!

That was actually quite awesome!

Yes WE can! :applause:

[Kweli4Real]

16. Preach On ...

I agree with a lot of what you wrote. I, too, believe that PRESIDENT OBAMA can do much to pull this nation together and forward. But being a political neophyte, it has occurred to me that many Democrats have bought into the RW line ... that PRESIDENT OBAMA is "The One", i.e., some kind of messianic figure. No, he is not. He has merely stoked our collective imaginations as to what our country/world could be, IF WE ACT.

That is our part in a democracy. Imagine what could be accomplished if the millions that voted for PRESIDENT OBAMA had come out in support of Kucinich's Single Payer plan, dispite PRESIDENT OBAMA's protestations. We might not have gotten the SP, but we certainly would be farther down that road than we find ourselves today.

If you have a problem with what PRESIDENT OBAMA's administrative direction, bytching about it and threatening to defect on a bulletin board is about as useless as tits on a bull. No ... you have a problem, contact your congressional reps ... often ... with an alternate plan.

Who was it that said, "That's my promise ... Now you go make me do it"? Could that possibly have been the plan all along ?

Regarding the interactions on this board ... I think that's just what people in general, Democrats included, do. We are happiest when we are bytching, moaning and finding fault ... we've spent the better part of 2 decades perfecting the dysfunction.

[Goldstein1984]

4. I think he has it in him. He just has to find it.

But I think all his supporters can support him best by telling him what they really think, not following him for sake of party.

[FrenchieCat]

6. Well, I hear ya...but the repetition is killing me.

I understand policy differences, but it all smells more like primary wars to me,
because it is all about everything this President does or doesn't do, barely much about congress, upcoming legislation, or about the stinkin' Republicans who are getting away with murder, cause we give them a pass. And don't get me started on our media!

Seems like we just argue among ourselves, and it isn't even done in an educated manner anymore, i.e., there is barely any real policy discussion with real facts from reliable sites anymore; just a bunch of folks bloviating with their ingrained opinions about a bill they haven't bothered to read, and literally acting like children. The auto-pilot Kool Kid SWAT Unrec'ing crew comes in and simply unrecs any thread remotely positive of various Obama news unless it is negative, and does the same to "special" posters that they don't like.

This place used to be an exciting colorful Zoo-like place, but now it's like an elementary
school playground, that resemble Lord of the Flies, where the Kool Kid bullies have tied up the nerds in the utility closet.

[Goldstein1984]

10. I've only been here a couple of weeks, but...

I've seen the "Lord of the Flies" aspect clearly myself.

When a fact has been often-repeated or seems well-known to me, I often don't provide detail or leave out a citation, just to make my post a quicker and easier read. And I've been accused of being "vague" when the specifics of a general statement I've written are so clear that I'm sure the "vague" think is only a rhetorical tactic. (I don't believe issues like "human rights" and "war crimes" are vague at all).

I'm researching a couple of OPs now, but because of the way unrecs are used to suppress an unpopular opinion in DU (I have no idea whether the OPs will be unpopular or not; I think it depends on which faction finds it and initiates the unrecs first), I'm hesitant to waste a lot of time on a post that will be driven down the page and out of site.

I've learned who uses ad hominem arguments the most, and I usually don't even open the door, and I never reply unless there is some scrap of a cogent argument worthy of a reply.

I'd like to be able to freely discuss my "disappointments" regarding President Obama without being called a "hater" or "whiner" or "troll" or "teabagger" or "self-centered" or any of the other epithets I see used routinely on DU.

I voted for Obama. Tears came to my eyes as I watched his inauguration. I liked what the election of a black president said about our country. But I expected more, and I hope he changes course between now and 2012. Until then, I believe my criticism is a form of support, because he needs to know what voters like me think of his performance. And if I can use fora like DU to get like-minded persons to also write letters and make phone calls then Obama is served still better by those who have supported him and want to continue to do so.

I don't always agree with your posts, but I always enjoy reading them. Thanks.

G1984

[FrenchieCat]

11. Appreciated your response....

and yes, I agree there is a lot of tension currently,
and I hope that we will work this out,
and make more progress, cause that's what we need.

I'm not 100% of some of Obama's approaches,
and I have told him and a few others so.

But what I'm most amazed at is how long it takes congress
to do anything. It's like they are rusty or something,
and aren't used to getting shit done.

Well, I'm saying....Hel-lo Congress, they need
to work harder, cause we've got a whole lot more to do!

I think it will end well, considering the mountain of crap
that we are under.

[Goldstein1984]

13. Congress is a mess

I think the Republicans are doing everything in their power to make the President a failure.

And we sure have a big mess left over from the Bush/Cheney Error.

As a progressive living in Alaska, my default mode is frustration. Alaska is a solid Red state. We currently have what will likely be a one-term Democratic Senator, Mark Begich, who was only elected because Ted Stevens was under criminal investigation. Begich is unlikely to win again, so those like me in Alaska will not be represented.

I think Congress needs to fear the people more than they fear Wall Street, but I can't think of any peaceful way to make that happen. The way business interests don't even bother to hide the way they manipulate the political process says a lot about how out of control the people are.

I hope it will end well.

I also hope to contribute to constructive discourse on DU. Some of my posts may be short and blunt; they may be critical; and they may change over time as I read arguments and process information. If I'm caught in an error, I always try to correct it and give credit where credit is due.

People do seem to be on edge.

Thanks for this give-and-take.

G1984

[Juche]

7. Typical republican solutions

"reforms on the table like ending state insurance monopolies, tort reform, and fair tax treatment for folks who don't get insurance at work."

Translation:

Gut consumer protections and give token tax cuts.

That is their solution to everything. Cut regulations/protections and give tax cuts.

[JHB]

12. This should be a talking point raised by every Dem who gets on camera...

...not to mention it should have been hammered that way over the past year.

You can't passively break up a phalanx.

[Vermontgrown]

14. I don't think

most people thought any differently about that subject. What's happening in Washington has become very transparent. Specter telling us about anti partisanship just confirms what most people already knew.

[GTurck]

15. Loved...

DeMint's flip flop comment about Spector given the recent defection of Griffin from the Democrats to the Repubs. I don't think that any of the repugs listens to what they say or what other's in the party are saying because it is all at cross purposes and only Fox gives it some logic - for a few moments anyway.

[RedCloud]

17. Sound byte time across republican election campaigns!

That and the refusal to renew military pay sound byte should sink their lazy ass approach to government.

[edc]

18. Way too much thinking here folks.

Those who support you are your allies. Those who oppose you are your enemies. Allies who deliver tangible results are your friends. For now, Specter has been a better Democrat than most Blue Dogs, which raises questions about the election strategies of the Party and about the ability, willingness, and/or collusion of the President in abetting its sellout to the Blue Dogs and hence to the Republicans.

[Grassy Knoll]

19. Gee thanks Specter......

We all figured that out long ago, just another refried bean !

[wisteria]

20. Not surprising. Republicans care only about power and politics.

I hope a majority of Americans see how bad the Republican party is and will be for the future of America. Anything of any inportance- that meant the betterment of American's and our nation- done in the last 100 years has been done by Democrats.