Reply #170: He DID indeed campaign on the public option and then DENIED it

[chill_wind]

to WAPO when it was all done.

“I didn’t campaign on the public option,” President Obama told the Washington Post. But he touted the public option on his campaign website and spoke frequently in support of it during the first year of his presidency, citing its essential value in holding the private insurance industry accountable and providing competition:

– In the 2008 Obama-Biden health care plan on the campaign’s website, candidate Obama promised that “any American will have the opportunity to enroll in new public plan.” (2008)

– During a speech at the American Medical Association, President Obama told thousands of doctors that one of the plans included in the new health insurance exchanges “needs to be a public option that will give people a broader range of choices and inject competition into the health care market.” (6/15/09)

– While speaking to the nation during his weekly address, the President said that “any plan” he signs “must include…a public option.” (7/17/09)

– During a conference call with progressive bloggers, the President said he continues “to believe that a robust public option would be the best way to go.” (7/20/09)

– Obama told NBC’s David Gregory that a public option “should be a part of this ,” while rebuking claims that the plan was “dead.” (9/20/09)

Despite all this overt advocacy for the public option, it appears that Obama was reticent to apply the political pressure necessary to get the plan in the final hours of congressional negotiation.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/12/22/74682/obama-repeatedly-touted-public/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/22/AR2009122202101.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009122202132

Just had to reiterate that. There's been incessant revisionism about that ever since, and a complete willingness to ignore his facile ease with untruth about that part of matters, especially, to WAPO regarding it in the aftermath:

"Nowhere has there been a bigger gap between the perceptions of compromise and the realities of compromise than in the health-care bill," Obama said. "Every single criteria for reform I put forward is in this bill."

Yes, once again, he was dismissing the left with our craaaazy "perceptions", saying in effect his base had been hallucinating about his campaign positions. (bold mine).

But really, if I had to go back to my very first inklings of uneasiness about Obama, it would have to be all the way back to turncoat actions on FISA fix/mess in the earliest days of his campaign-

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2008/07/obamas-fisa-shi/

And not only did he do a 180 on his support for a filibuster, he joined ALL the Republicans in voting for cloture.

The Rev Wright thing, the cabinet picks, the Rick Warren biz, the clear preservation of the Bush DOJ National Security State policies from the beginning of his admin on, when every new FOIA or court action from the Bush era came to light, seeing Yoo walk and the CIA torture tape destroyers walk under Holder, the Bankster coddling, the cat food commission and the concerted ignoring of mainstream progressive economists, the ongoing PermaWars-- all of it depressingly downhill from there, for me. Still, I supported him as vigorously as I could up to his inaugural because I just didn't believe Hillary could win the G.E. and I couldn't begin to contemplate McBush/Palin.

I sucked it in. I phone-banked, canvassed, donated. Distributed stacks and stacks of bumper stickers, yard-signs, registered new voters. I AM one more of angry millions. And as inconsequential as anything I did as it stacked up in reality in the grand scheme of things- of the real deciders of elections (big money)-- I'm just one more that can't do it again for him this time. I just can't.