Obama's sell outs and why a normal person should be concerned this time around....

boston bean

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Sat Jul-09-11 06:50 AM
Original message

Obama's sell outs and why a normal person should be concerned this time around....

Edited on Sat Jul-09-11 07:13 AM by boston bean

Back Room Deal with Hospitals to kill the Public Option from the NY Times:

WASHINGTON — In pursuing his proposed overhaul of the health care system, President Obama has consistently presented himself as aloof from the legislative fray, merely offering broad principles. Prominent among them is the creation of a strong, government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers and press for lower costs.

Behind the scenes, however, Mr. Obama and his advisers have been quite active, sometimes negotiating deals with a degree of cold-eyed political realism potentially at odds with the president’s rhetoric.

Early last month, for example, hospital officials were poised to appear at the White House to announce a deal limiting their industry’s share of the costs of the overhaul proposal when a wave of jitters swept through the group. Senator Max Baucus, the Finance Committee chairman and a party to the deal, had abruptly pulled out of the event. Was he backing away from his end of the deal?

Not to worry, Jim Messina, the deputy White House chief of staff, told the hospital lobbyists, according to White House officials and lobbyists briefed on the call. The White House was standing behind the deal, Mr. Messina told them, capping the industry’s costs at a maximum of $155 billion over 10 years in exchange for its political support.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/health/policy/13health.html

Back Room Deal with Republicans to keep the Bush Tax Cuts from the Washington Post:

President Obama on Tuesday faced an uprising among angry Democrats who strongly opposed his deal with Republicans on tax cuts, opening a public rift that could prevent the White House from ending the year with a fresh dose of stimulus for the economy.

The Obama-GOP compromise would extend all the tax cuts that are set to expire Dec. 31, including for the wealthiest households; continue long-term unemployment benefits through the end of next year; give businesses a major tax break to encourage capital investment; and provide working couples as much as $4,200 in extra cash in 2011 through a one-year payroll-tax holiday.

The far-reaching package - which would add more than $900 billion to the deficit over the next two years, economists said - contains numerous other provisions, including extensions of smaller individual and business tax breaks that had been widely expected to lapse. Democrats expressed astonishment at the plan's scope and price tag, though they reluctantly conceded its potential to create jobs and boost consumer spending.

But they were furious that Obama capitulated to Republicans over the main provisions - an array of individual tax breaks signed by President George W. Bush nearly 10 years ago that have remained controversial.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/07/AR2010120707230.html

No we are asked to believe, once again, by some, that these newspapers are not to be trusted when it comes to a possible deal with Republicans over SS, Medicare and Medicaid. Sorry folks, I heard the same sorry excuses such as...... trust Obama....... you can't believe an anonymous source....... nothing has been done yet.... you're a hater....stop being to dramatic..... who you gonna vote for...... welcome President Bachmann.......welcome President Palin..... All the same excuses that were being used during the discussions over the public option and the Bush Tax Cuts are being hurled again over SS and Medicare. And we got screwed last time, what makes anyone think this time will be any different. Everybody better believe this time around that Obama wants to cut this deal with Republicans. We need to make as much noise as we can about it.