"Triggering" a Democratic Civil War: some White House staffers trying to sell Snowe "trigger"

[CocoaBeachCoco]

"key people at the White House have become obsessed with Olympia Snowe on health care, and are willing to do pretty much whatever she demands in order to get her on board...."


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-lux/triggering-a-democratic-c_b_295954.html

Some senior White House staffers are now beginning to try to sell this trigger to progressive groups as the compromise version of a public option, saying the White House doesn't want to have a floor fight in the Senate, and that they can always fix it in conference committee. That way they can pick up Snowe, satisfy that desperate urge for being officially bipartisan (even though Snowe can't bring a single other Republican with her), and not have to worry about procedural hassles in the Senate. But by finally winning Snowe over, the White House is risking something far more politically dangerous: an ugly fight within the Democratic Party, further erosion of Obama's standing with his base, the specter of more primary fights.

The AFL-CIO, Howard Dean and Democracy for America, bloggers, MoveOn.org, progressive media figures, and the tens of thousands of people coming to Obama rallies and cheering wildly for a public option will figure out quickly that this trigger proposal is a farce specifically written to kill any chance of a public option. The Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus already are angry at having legal immigrants thrown under the bus by Baucus, all will explode.

As someone who spends every single day working hard to build and strengthen the bridge between the progressive community and the White House, I feel like the White House is triggering a bomb to blow the bridge up from under me (pun fully intended).

This trigger will never trigger a public option, but I can tell you what it will trigger: a civil war inside the Democratic Party just when you most need unity to pass health care reform. I am convinced that there are deals that can be struck that will bring progressive and moderate Democrats, House and Senate Democrats together on a good strong health care bill that will pass. But a trigger designed to never trigger isn't even close to being one of them.

[mdmc]

1. leftist, stand behind me

we don't have no where to go anyway.. we are all DLC now..

[SIMPLYB1980]

2. There is always a civil war in the Democratic Party.

As long as the far left doesn't fall for that same old meet the new boss same as the old boss BS we will be fine. If they do fall for it then they deserve the republican rule that they end up with.

[truedelphi]

3. What?? n/t

[CocoaBeachCoco]

7. "The far left". Also known as "the left of the left" in insurance company-backers parlance.

[rudy23]

Also, in troll's parlance. nt

[SIMPLYB1980]

13. Well you get what you give.

I welcome Snowe to the Democratic party, and I bet Obama will to when she is run out of the republican party for helping us out. He might even campaign for her. I bet that would really chafe the left, but it would be fun to watch.

[CocoaBeachCoco]

14. "I bet that would really chafe the left" -- Why so hostile to "the left", dear heart?

[SIMPLYB1980]

17. Easy the far left is as dangerous to us as the far right.

Also I tire of the far lefts attacks on anyone within our own party that doesn't toe the leftist line. I'm sorry I can be a Democrat, but I can not be a leftist on every issue.

[CocoaBeachCoco]

18. Again you are claiming that "the far leftist" line is the public option when most support it. Why?

[truedelphi]

20. Maybe they are one of the paid industry trolls

They would rather side with industry than tear it apart, so that is my suspicion.

[SIMPLYB1980]

24. I support the public option, but I will settle for a triggered one.

Or haven't you been reading past the word leftist. Also the real leftist position until a few weeks ago when Obama calmed them down was single payer or bust. At least as far as DK and his people were concerned. I'm glad that they have finally decided to stop that BS, but it may be to late to get a public option without a trigger.

[CocoaBeachCoco]

26. It's 'to' late if we let it be.

[truedelphi]

19. I think the main difference between people like you and people like me

IS MONEY.

I don't have any way to put aside the fact that MONEY should not be controlling this debate.

Now you probably make enough money that no matter what happens, you'll still have your insurance. Through you rich parents, or your government job or whatever.

And it doesn't bother you that MORALLY it is reprehensible as HELL that the lobbyists are pushing so much of this puzzle piece. This puzzle piece BTW controls my life. I spent two of the last five years dealing with the Hellacious Monsters known as the Insurance industry. As far as I am concerned, the CEO's of those corporations should be in a maximum security prison, not giving the Obama administration $ 30,000 a head so they can have a seat at the table for the "reform" discussions.


Also, Obama spent ALL OF LAST YEAR running around this nation promising us that he was Change that you can believe in. Then he gets in office, and his new message - IMMEDIATELY AND NOT EVEN A WEEK AFTER BEING SWORN IN - was that he would be "conciliatory."

Well then somehow "Conciliatory" trumps being the Change that we can believe in.

Broken is his promise to keep lobbyists out of the governing decisions of his Administration

Broken is his promise to see that the legislative bills that are written are small enough, manageable enough to be clear to the public. We have spent a whole summer on this issue, and we have no clear vision of what ultimately will be the bill. Right now we have the Baucus bill plus three or four others. (And Waxman's committee's bill is just as lengthy as the Baucus bill,a nd has a lot if industry give aways.)

You can MONETARILY afford to have another Republican-lite President. I cannot.

It's not just the health care issue - it's many issues. It's Velsick and Taylor as well!
I don't want Monsanto GMO food, as it will prove to lead to famine. I don't want Monsanto FDA rulings. I don't want Geithenr/Bernanke Wall Street giveaways (Totaling two to three trillion to date, while California gets frozen out of our governor's request for some small change to help us avert a calamity!)

Barack Obama's Presidency makes me long for the original;l Republican-lite President, Bill Clinton, because he stood up to the banksters. (Though I can never forgive him for NAFTA.) At this point in time, I cannot believe that I saw Barack Obama as being more progressive than Hillary, and choose him over her a year ago.

But like I say, it all comes down to money. Those of you on DU who can support this new Republican-lite style Administration usually have a lot more money than those of us who are truly progressive, and are of the Teddy Kennedy-style Democratic party and not the rotten to the core Rahm Emmanual style Democratic party now in fashion.

[CocoaBeachCoco]

23. MAGNIFICENT.

And when the moneyed and privileged are uninterested because it won't affect them, they resort to saying it must be a "far leftist" idea. Spectacularly not only centrist, but self-centered as well.

[SIMPLYB1980]

25. I make around 30,000 a year. This year less since I work

for a surveying company and we have been part time since the housing marked crashed. As is I'm only working 20 hours a week but things are looking up since in the last month we have been getting at least 1 survey almost every day, which is a lot better than one or two a week.

My parents are middle class, but I will not tell you what they make. I paid my own way through college with a job waiting tables, and a scholarship.

I pay a good bit of my check on taxes and I don't mind if they go up to pay for those less fortunate than me to be covered. I pay my own way, but it's basically paycheck to paycheck for me right now. You are right in one way that if I lose my job my family will take care of me, but that is what families do best.

I think Obama has made the right moves, but what do I know since I'm Mr. money bags guess I'll get rid of my civic go get a Hummer and waste as much gas as possible.

[CocoaBeachCoco]

4. Oh yes, the "far left", the only group demanding a public option. Do you read polls?

[SIMPLYB1980]

9. How much you want to bet there is a public option or

a triggered public option in the final bill. I want the public option, but I want the elimination of "preexisting conditions" even more. What about all the other good stuff in the bill should we just say fuck it not important if it takes a triggered option to get them passed?

[MisterP]

5. what these staffers clearly need is more of our blind trust and supine patience :sarcasm: n/t

[Echo In Light]

6. The push for "bipartisanship" is pure BS cover for what was going to occur all along.

[KansDem]

8. While we're at it, let's retroactively place a "trigger" on the Iraq invasion and WMDs...

We can say, oh, if the WMDs are not found in, say, oh, 6 months (after all, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld were certain they were there and certain they knew where), then we would withdraw. And this "trigger" would begin the day of the invasion (if we can grant retroactive immunity to telecoms who knowingly supplied our phone records to the Bushistas without court orders, then we could "trigger" the Iraq invasion as well).

So, that means we have been in Iraq for a little over 5 1/2 years longer than we should be.

Oh, and like "nuisance lawsuits" (the Repubs love to throw that one around), the plaintiffs, in the case Bush and Cheney, will pay the cost, which is almost $3 trillion by now...

[CocoaBeachCoco]

12. Beautifully put, Kansas.

[madfloridian]

10. Good for Mike Lux. I was just starting to post that from Open Left.

He is exactly right on that topic.

http://openleft.com/diary/15220/triggering-a-democratic-civil-war

Recommending.

[stuball111]

11. Trigger Shmigger...UNIVERSAL OR BUST

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[truedelphi]

22. +1,000 n/t

[DireStrike]

15. The public option IS the compromise

Anything less than a strong public option is a failure of negotiation. And unacceptable.

[CocoaBeachCoco]

16. If progressives JUST THIS ONE TIME failed to give in on this

it would start to change the way we are viewed. Perhaps we would even be coddled as much as the Republicans seem to be regarding this matter!

[DireStrike]

21. I agree. However we need more organization.

Where is our march on washington?

Where are the commercials? FDL of course has a notable one, focused on Arkansas, to which I donated.

I called my congressfolks. I talk to everyone I see who shows any interest in the issue.


...but I don't have millions of dollars from corporate sponsors behind me, making my voice heard. I don't even have a central place to go for news and activities on this issue.