Why Obama was Right to Allow Congress to Make the Bill

[berni_mccoy]

We may not like the results, but by allowing Congress to create the bill, and not having the Administration provide one, Obama actually accomplished more than he could have done otherwise.

If Obama provided a bill and it had a PO or Medicare for all, guess where that'd bill be now? And Obama would either have to capitulate to something similar or worse than the existing bill or he'd be vetoing it. It'd be all his fault.

If Obama provided a bill and it had no PO, we'd have less than we have now. And it'd still be Obama's fault. Obama has lost nothing by having Congress create the bill, and in fact, gained a more comprehensive bill than could otherwise be passed. Congressmen from his own party are blaming him anyway, so there is no gain or loss on this point, but the bill is probably better than something Obama could have rammed through using the bully pulpit. Instead, progressives and the vast majority of the party are now defending what is good in the current Senate legislation instead of having the legislation be the focus of a divided party. Furthermore all anger is directed at Nelson and Lieberman, probably where it should be.

I know this probably won't be believed, but it was probably the best move he made this year.

[Larkspur]

1. The Senate bill is still a piece of crap

It enslaves Americans to the health insurance industry.

Obama could have pressured Lieberman to support the public option, but he didn't. Just shows that Obama is willing to sell us into slavery to the health insurance industry.

[berni_mccoy]

3. You actually don't know what went on behind the scenes, but you can fantasize all you want.

[bigwillq]

15. And so are folks who are in support of the bill (nt)

[EFerrari]

2. I agree that bit of his strategy was a smart move.

On the other hand, (all the other stuff I don't agree with.)

[berni_mccoy]

8. I'm still surprised at all the progressives falling in line on this

I'm not sure what to make of it. It seemed as if there was not going to be a bill based on statements by progressives in the House and members of the Senate like Sanders and Feingold.

[EFerrari]

10. Well, the political stakes are different from the outcome of policy.

Maybe that's it.

[berni_mccoy]

11. Isn't it politically worse for them to go against the conviction of their base?

After all, the progressives here have already taken their support away from Obama. Aren't these progressives afraid of the backlash?

[EFerrari]

16. They don't own the media. If a backlash falls in the forrest

will anyone hear it? Lately I'm thinking, no.

[Jamastiene]

4. It's the legislative branch's responsibility to legislate

anyhow.

After bills are legislated, the executive branch signs the bills into law, enforces the law.

The judicial branch just fucks off and gives stupid Republican morons like Bush the presidency when he runs whining to them because he didn't get his way.



At least, that's how I understand it. :think:


Sorry, I couldn't resist. :D

[TheWraith]

5. Unfortunately, no matter what the WH did we were always going to end up here.

It's a matter of simple math. Filibuster requires 60 votes to override. The Republicans will not sign on at all. Therefore we couldn't lose a single Dem to issues like the public option, and that wasn't going to happen.

I'd still like to see a second bill via reconciliation doing some of the other things like a Medicare buy in (possibly available for everybody), but we can't do the regulatory stuff via reconciliation, so this situation was rather inevitable I'm afraid.

[berni_mccoy]

7. I think if they had tried to write the bill, we'd have something even worse

If that is imaginable. The current bill is pretty bad as it is and I honestly believe it is worse than the status quo.

[Ozymanithrax]

6. U.S. Constitution - Article 1 Section 8 and Clinton

First reason:

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Second reason:
President Clinton failed to get Health Care to a vote in his first term after creating the bill in the exectuive.

[berni_mccoy]

9. Doesn't mean someone besides the legislators can't write it.

[Ozymanithrax]

17. Then you fall back to reason # 2...Clinton

Clinton tried and failed to pass legislation after writing the bill in the executive. This was taken at conventional wisdom at the start, and I think it is accurate.

By letting the house and the Senate write the bill, it became the property of those who wrote it, and forced them to expend poltical capital to defend what they wrote.

Obama's mistake was that he stayed too quiet. But I don't think a bill would have been much different. We were never going to get a single Republican vote in the Senate, and only took one from the house (if my faulty memory is accurate). Republicans will oppose any change to Health Care. The bill became what we could get 60 Democrats to oppose a fillibuster for. Even the courting of Snowe was just to put preassure on Lieberman (IMHO) and did not work.

[Renew Deal]

12. I agree with this.

And it was no accident that it was done this way. Obama plays to win, and he did it again.

[ipaint]

13. Bypass everyone and go directly to the people.

It's the only way it would have worked. I and others said this from the beginning. He had the outreach infrastructure from the campaign still in place and he had the will of the american people behind real reform.

From bill moyers the other night:

ROBERT KUTTNER: Look, there are two ways, if you're the President of the United States sizing up a situation like this that you can try and create reform. One is to say, well, the interest groups are so powerful that the only thing I can do is I can work with them and move the ball a few yards, get some incremental reform, hope it turns into something better. The other way you can do it is to try to rally the people against the special interests and play on the fact that the insurance industry, the drug industry, are not going to win any popularity contests with the American people. And you, as the president, be the champion of the people against the special interests. That's the course that Obama's chosen not to pursue.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12182009/transcript1.html

Obama chose between being a fierce advocate for the people, involving us as citizens or an on the sidelines advocate for big business letting a bought and paid for congress squeeze out an industry authored bill.

Imagine if he had approached it as taiwan did by comparing all countries with universal care and incorporating the best of all plans. Imagine if he had involved us through community outreach with literature educating people as to the universal systems in other countries compared to ours, had televised townhalls showcasing different plans from around the world with opportunities on and offline for questions and debate, including the current plan and comparing to other country's plans. Had the insurance companies defending their plan on tv and online against experts on single payer and medicare type plans.
There are so many things that could have been done to bring citizens off the sidelines and into the debate in a real way instead of forcing us to become useless compulsive callers and emailers while we await our fate like victims.

He blew it but I don't think he ever had it in him to begin with. No surprise.

[leftstreet]

14. And Obama had the political capital to do it

Sad

[EFerrari]

19. This is how chips feel the felt on roulette tables. n/t

[ipaint]

23. Yes he did.

And we could have taken it to congress en masse. The power would have shifted.
And even if the legislation didn't pass, the education, involvement and commitment of americans in the process would bring both more progressive representatives in office and the resulting new and improved legislation fairly quickly.

Now the democrats have screwed the poor, the working class and lower middle class, alienating them as participants in their own governing and increased the power and stranglehold the medical industry has over all of us.

I don't believe that was an accident.

[FrenchieCat]

18. The fact is writing a bill was their job.......

that's what they get elected to do.

They have to have a stake in what is passed as law in this country,
and according to the constitution, this is how it is done.

Bush didn't like the constitution, so he did what he felt like it.

[GeorgeGist]

20. Obama is a Coward ...

and you are an idiot.

[berni_mccoy]

22. Oh my.

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

[Neecy]

21. I don't disagree

Yes, Congress should have written the bill. But that doesn't let the president off the hook. He sent his Pit Bull Rahm out to strong arm the progressives, ordered Reid to capitulate to Lieberman and Nelson, and killed the re-importation/negotiation aspect because of his secret deal with Pharma.

This actually was his bill. Who claims authorship is irrelevant.

[OHdem10]

24. If from the get go Obama had insisted on PO he would not have

left room for Centrists and Blue Dogs to undercut him.

Instead of looking in charge he looks weak and people
are beginning to distrust him. The Media were his biggest
cheerleaders. It is amazing what they could have done to
push others to move with him.

Instead, he chose a different path.

[lamp_shade]

25. Bill Clinton wrote his bill and dropped it in Congress's lap. Good idea? Not so much.