Rahm Emanuel Assures WSJ: Don’t Worry About the Left

[BurtWorm]

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/12/18/rahm-emanuel-dont-worry-about-the-left/


December 18, 2009, 11:43 AM ET.By Jonathan Weisman

Turn off MSNBC. Tune out Howard Dean and Keith Olbermann. The White House has its liberal wing in hand on health care, says White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

“There are no liberals left to get” in the Senate, Emanuel said in an interview, shrugging off some noise from the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) that a few liberals might bolt over the compromises made with conservative Democrats.

As the White House leans on conservative Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska for the 60th health care vote, Emanuel has made the case that this generation of liberal political figures will not make the mistake of their predecessors. The late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s greatest regret was not cutting a deal with Richard Nixon on universal health care. Former President Bill Clinton has forever rued the day he did not take moderate Republican Sen. John Chafee up on a compromise that could have secured a health care bill early in his presidency.

Liberal senators nearly scuttled the creation of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program -– S-CHIP –- because Clinton compromised with Republicans and agreed to take the program out of Medicaid and involve private insurers.

“Every time they’ve gotten close to the deal, they’ve passed up the opportunity and chosen to walk away from a particular where they’ve lost the forest for the trees,” Emanuel said.

The comments may not endear the powerful White House chief of staff to liberal activists, furious that Senate Democratic leaders, at Emanuel’s urging, cut a deal with Sen. Joe Lieberman to drop a federally run insurance policy option, then eliminate a Medicare buy-in proposal.

...

But Emanuel pointed to a New York Times column by economist Paul Krugman and another coming from National Journal writer Ronald Brownstein pressing for passage of the Senate health bill. “What you’re seeing is the progressive backlash against the progressive backlash,” he said.

[PSPS]

1. He's wrong, of course

These "pretend democrats" like Emanuel like to trot out Krugman as the final arbiter of what "the left" should accept. But it's really quite obvious why Krugman wants any bill (any bill at all) to pass. It isn't because the bill is good (it isn't) or "has some good things in it" (it doesn't, really.) The only reason Krugman and his ilk are frantically trying to promote this bill's passage is to simply give obama "a win." They think that, without passing some kind (any kind, please!) of bill, obama will "look weak" or "lose momentum." In other words, these people think that, by passing anything at all with "this is real health care reform! Really!!11!" stamped on it will somehow resurrect obama's dwindling stature and political fortunes.

Well, I'm afraid that ship has already sailed. Obama already scuttled his prestige and political prospects with his feckless and naive (perhaps cynical) calculation that his already-lengthy list of wrong moves (more war, gitmo, more illegal wiretapping, more "rendition," more indefinite detention, more stonewlaling court orders, etc., etc., etc.) would magically evaporate from reality as long as he passes something, anything, really anything at all! Please!

[Libertas1776]

2. With every day that passes I come to despise

that sniveling little worm, sorry excuse for a human being more and more :grr:

[AndyA]

3. You've heard the story of the snake at the side of the road that befriends the little girl?

It convinces her it's friendly even though she knows what it is.

Then it bites her, and when she asks why, it tells her she knew what it was when she picked it up.

Emmanuel = snake.

[Greyhound]

5. Former. Investment. Bankster.

He got rich stealing, then went back into politics to increase the take. I predict he will quit as CoS and return to the financial/insurance industry after he's done indenturing us.

[WI_DEM]

4. Why is Bernie going to vote for this bill then?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. LBJ didn't "worry about the left either". How'd that work out, Rahm?