Remember how we got here---Every single compromise---at every stage---has been to strip away

[kpete]

Remember how we got here: the left wanted a universal, single payer plan; the WH developed a market-based approach, and we let that slide. The left wanted reconciliation and a process the Dems could control; the WH wasted months seeking a “bipartisan” approach with an opposition party that never had any intention of working with them – and in the process forced everything into the 60 vote requirement that has brought us to this morass. The left wanted a public option; and we lived through triggers, co-ops, opt-ins and opt-outs, until at the eleventh hour the public option was simply dropped entirely to placate a stubborn handful of holdouts. We watched the anti-abortion crowd try to use this bill as a lever for RESTRICTING women’s access to abortion. There was a moment of hope with the Medicare buy-in compromise, until the VERY FACT that progressives were happy with it became a reason for Lieberman to oppose it.

Every single compromise, at every stage, has been to strip away, little by little, the elements that made this bill attractive to the left. And now they have the nerve to complain that we’re unhappy about it? (And, no, I’m not surprised. Dems always find it convenient to appeal to the left during campaigns and then “triangulate” their independence from the left once they get into office, even demonizing progressives when it suits them. Republican Presidents generally don’t make that mistake – they embrace their base, even when they might not give them everything that they want.)

http://pbd.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html#6828455297597750073

[AzDar]

1. I am simply gobsmacked.

This will be the end of Dem-controlled ANYTHING for a very long time... and rightfully so, I guess.:nuke:

[jgraz]

2. They're not booing, they're yelling duuuuuup

[jgraz]

3. It's time. The left needs to go to war.

Enough with this bullshit. The American Left has NO ONE representing them in Washington. We need to remind these assholes who the real majority is in this country.

[d_b]

21. k&r

[scentopine]

36. agree we need to get organized- fuck OFA, DLC, DSCC, DCCC they are all DICKS -nt

[AndyA]

4. Compromise normally means the parties involved each give a little to find common ground.

In this instance, there is no compromise, as we have gained NOTHING. We've given up first this thing, then another, then yet another, and have gained ZERO votes from the GOP. We gave away the most important things and received in return for that effort: NOTHING.

Compromise means all parties give up something, and find a middle ground both can agree with. We not only were forcibly drug across the middle ground, they yanked us through the fence, hurting us in the process.

We need new leadership. We do not have leadership at this point. They promise us the moon to get our votes, then expect us to forget those promises once they've won the election. Oh, and we're still supposed to donate money to them, because they're fighting hard for us in Congress.

I call bullshit, and all of us should be issued boots to walk through the crap, instead of being drug through it!

[HowHasItComeToThis]

31. REPUBLICANS ARE VICIOUS....... BUT SMART

YOU GUYS SURE CAN COMPROMISE.



:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[Toots]

5. Compromise means both sides giving something

This has been a steady course of Capitulation with zero Compromise..

[niyad]

6. k and r

[Captain Hilts]

7. The senate gave away single payer BEFORE the negotiations began, BUT gave Ins. Companies a seat at

the table.

So, guess what, the bill is what insurance companies want!

[jtrockville]

15. My first clue was when the "Baucus 8" were BANNED.

It was clear to me then, that we had no intention of addressing health care. The focus was health insurance.

What, exactly, do we owe the insurance industry?
Do we owe them a market?
Is protecting that market the job of our legislatures?

Bah.

[pleah]

8. K&R Back to the stone age. n/t

[branders seine]

9. It's almost like they wanted it to turn out this way,

Wait a minute. It's exactly like they wanted it to turn out this way.

[laughingliberal]

19. Well, that's what Russ Feingold said. And he has a much longer history of playing it straight with

the base than this administration does.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

40. yep

You have to start from the assumption that there really was no negotiation, nor concessions - much less capitulation - for what transpired to make any sense. It was like a WWF wrestling match, the script had been written and all the action in front of the camera was a poorly orchestrated but entertaining bit of theater.

[JHB]

10. Not simply "the elements that made this bill attractive to the left"...

...those were also the elements that would make it work. That is, for everyone except the insurance companies.

It's not as if this is some petty dispute over style.

[Lost4words]

11. I am lost for words. endless dissapointment ! n/t

[pissedoff01]

12. You don't understand the kabuki

where the supreme 12-D chess master devised an utterly brilliant plan to get all his men killed off in order to achieve a total and glorious victory

[Laelth]

13. I am sick of triangulation. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[Marr]

14. This whole process has been a piece of theater, designed to move the issue from

from what Obama found convenient to talk about during the election, to what he actually wanted, while leaving him enough space to claim innocence. We need to get rid of the entire party leadership. They're little more than lobbyists.

[CoffeeCat]

32. ...and that's what makes me so ticked off at Obama...

If Obama did want a public option--as he said thousands of times in nearly EVERY state--during the campaign--then
why in the hell didn't he man up and lobby for it?

George Bush wanted Social Security privatized. I sure didn't agree with that notion, but look at what Bush did. He organized
rallies all over the country--talking up the benefits of privatizing. He put pressure on Congress--and put the screws to all
of them, to pass what he wanted. Remember Bush even threw out protesters and held town-hall meetings? We all complained that
they were orchestrated and filled only with his supporters. That was true--but at least the idiot was standing up for
something and fighting for it. OBAMA DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO PASS meaningful healthcare reform! He left it up to Congress.

WEAK and pathetic.

[chimpymustgo]

34. Yes, we have been played. The cheerleaders call it chess. What a sad, disgusting spectacle.

[Bette Noir]

37. If it was chess, he lost the game in the first move.

[Thickasabrick]

16. K&R Great post nt

[treestar]

17. Because the left is not well represented in the Senate

The left is not a majority and doesn't even include all of the Democrats.

[coti]

22. And the obstructionists are- all three or four of them.

Sorry, but there are many, many more liberals than that in the Senate.

[treestar]

25. Not enough

to make demands, or they'd be doing it.

[coti]

28. The reason they're not making demands, like we are, is because they've been

threatened and told to get in line by the Obama Admin. Not to mention that "finish line" syndrome everyone is suffering from.

This is what the Obama Administration wanted- and now they're fighting for it. This was the deal they made and they're defending it.

[laughingliberal]

18. Absolutely! Compromise at every step along the way, then come out fighting when you've got the worst

bill you could have and send the apologists out claiming we'll improve on it later. Like I'm going to believe this bunch will fight for any improvement when they wouldn't fight for a decent bill to begin with. Oh, yeah. I'm sure that's their secret plan. There is an end to my gullibility and they found it.

[bvar22]

20. That wasn't "compromise".

In a "compromise", both sides get something.
What I witnessed was a complete Sell Out.
Kabuki Theater.

The "Public Option was never more than a shiny object dangled before the peasants to make them think they had a voice while a TRILLION DOLLARS of Public Wealth was transfered to the Private Sector.

[Odin2005]

23. This wasn't compromise, this was CAPITULATION!

Compromise is a strong PO and strict regulation of the Insurance Industry.

[Cleita]

27. You've got it. n/t

[d_b]

24. But we don't have 60 votes

Reconciliation is only for rich people. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

Here's a nice photo to calm you down.

[Bette Noir]

39. We were so much younger, then.

A new puppy was enough to make us happy. Of course, that was when we thought the guy was on our side.

I still love the dog-- they guy holding the leash, not so much. Fool me once...

[SlavesandBulldozers]

41. Barney is a metaphor for the progressives. nt

[Cleita]

26. This is why I said that we shouldn't have given up demanding Medicare for All

until we got to the finish line and then maybe, maybe we might have gotten a decent public option. That would have been a true compromise and bipartisanship. This is nothing of sort, just a sell out from those who told us that single payer wasn't a good thing for this country, but sure we'll get a robust public option.

:nuke:

I have taken names and so have millions of Americans who will be kicked in the ass by this legislation. I'm not letting these politicians go quietly into the night. The war is only beginning where I'm concerned.

[Vidar]

29. K&R.

[Vidar]

30. K&R.

[Quantess]

33. All we get is weak sauce.

[MissDeeds]

35. K&R

:kick:

[ipaint]

38. It was a set-up. We never had a chance.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7277153

They are at least 3 years ahead of us and about to declare victory.

[hayu_lol]

42. We really don't want Medicare for all...

it is a safety net sort of program. You can easily go broke on the co-pays and the delays in getting payment out of Medicare. Doctor's offices and hospitals sometimes have to submit the same paperwork several times before payment, usually less than the bill, is finally made.

Don't settle for half a loaf or less...demand a Single-Payer National Health Plan.

Without it we are mostly all going to drown. With this bill pending...we already drowned.

[midnight]

43. Yep.... We've been HOODWINKED!!

[luckyleftyme2]

44. THATS NOT TRUE

THE RIGHT GAIN CONTRO THEN TURNS IT OVER TO BIG BUSINESS WHICH CLEANS EVERYONES POCKET BOOK!
TELL IT LIKE IT IS NOT LIKE YOUR TOLD!