Emanuel Assures House Democrats No Compromise On Public Plan (Woolsey: 'We Have Compromised Enough')

[Hissyspit]

Source: Roll Call

Emanuel assures House Democrats that he won’t compromise on public plan.

After initially indicating his support for a public plan “trigger,” White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel reassured House Democrats tonight that he strongly backs a public plan. Progressive Caucus Co-Chairwoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) said she told Emanuel that support for a “trigger” would cause health reform to lose Democratic votes:

“We have compromised enough, and we are not going to compromise on any kind of trigger game,” Woolsey said she told Emanuel. “People clapped all over the place. We mean it, and not just progressives.”

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) said Emanuel reassured him that he “doesn’t stand by that trigger.”

UPDATE Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), co-chairman of the 77-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, fired off a letter to President Obama today, stating: “I want to be crystal clear that any such trigger for a strong public plan option is a non-starter with a majority of the Members of the Progressive Caucus.”

UPDATE MoveOn has been rallying its members to call the White House to express their views.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/07/emanuel-public-plan/

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http://www.rollcall.com/news/36564-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

[masuki bance]

1. That's a rollback. nt

[grantcart]

2. Yes you wonder if it wasn't staged.

[Beetwasher]

25. Gasp!

No way! That sort of thing NEVER happens in politics!

That Rahm, quite the lightning rod, aint' he? Got lots of peoople all riled up and lot's of attention now to the "debate" about WHAT FORM healthcare reform will take. That's a debate that's worth having, yes?

Kinda makes you think some people might have done their homework on how to control a debate, huh?

[grantcart]

31. almost as if there is a plan nay a script

[Grinchie]

3. I'm going to wait and see -- I'm gun shy after they appointed Michael Taylor to USDA

I'm only going to be happy when I can walk into a doctors office and get something treated for free.

[old mark]

4. You can read a free magazine, but most of them are

pretty old.

mark

[theaocp]

6. not really free...

...but, at least without a bill! Yay!

[patriotvoice]

18. Uh... nothing is "for free". I think you mean "already paid for."

As long as we use language like "I won't be happy until it's free" (emphasis mine), we're going to lose the positioning game. It's not "free", it's "paid for by the common wealth as part of the tax structure."

[Demeter]

5. An Interesting Development

Think Dr. Dean beat them into some sense?

[Bankhead_ATL]

10. And obama might have had a few words with him

[No Elephants]

15. The article states what happened. Even sheeple spoke up, for a change. And not "just" Progressives.

Love it how they have to say that to get support.

Not just Progressives. The people you don't simply take for granted are rejecting your proposals, too, so now you have to listen.

What's doing in the Green Party these days?

[DailyGrind51]

7. Emanuel is like "Michael Corleone", he never says what he is thinking.

And, you don't know what that is until something happens.

[hobbit709]

8. I'll believe it when I see it.

[4_TN_TITANS]

9. For God's sake....

Only the MAJORITY of Americans want it! I'm with Woolsey - fuck the compromising on the public option (and take the word 'insurance' out of it). This would be the single best way to keep people in their homes since most forclosures involve outrageous medical bills.

[90-percent]

11. Majority

In this case, approximately three out of every four Americans wants it.

Do we have a democracy or are we totally fascist yet?

"The will of the people" doesn't seem to be high on our elected representatives priority list!

-90% Jimmy

[LiberalEsto]

12. The will of the corporations

is what they listen to. In this case, the will of the insurance corporations.

[No Elephants]

28. Because the people don't speak to them often or forcefully. Let them know

you will vote against them unless there is single payer, or at least a STRONG public option.

[Hissyspit]

30. Well, you're thinking like our Congress critters are not bought and sold and have a real

understanding of what it is like out in the world for the rest of us. You are talking sense. What's wrong with you? :)

[Deep13]

13. The House is on our side even if the Senate jellyfish are complicating the obvious. nt

[Moochy]

20. Gotta love the Senate

Our very own House of Lords, concerned with abstract notions like bipartisan comity and states rights.... but more often it seems their goal is to quash any populist policy before it can get out of committee.

[xchrom]

14. what exactly does this mean --

“We have compromised enough, and we are not going to compromise on any kind of trigger game,” Woolsey said she told Emanuel.

[PassingFair]

17. The Progressives WANTED "Single Payer", they will settle for "Public Option"...

that's compromising a LOT.

Hopefully it WILL be the thin end
of the wedge that insurance companies
and their bought and paid for Republican
legislators fear it is.

[wryter2000]

21. You're right

Keep in mind what Dr. Dean said...if people are giving a choice between the for-profits as they're currently run, they'll select the public option, and the for-profits will die out (except for things like extras -- elective treatments, private rooms, etc. I added that last part.)

[PassingFair]

24. Those are two words I don't hear enough of!

:evilgrin:

The DLC are HIDING behind the Blue Dogs
on this, but they KNOW we can SEE them
now.

[Hissyspit]

29. Also, the triggers are a joke.

[McCamy Taylor]

16. From a public health perspective, any new plan or iniative is better received and

achieves better results if it is organized from the bottom up---i.e. the people it will serve are instrumental in its formation. This gives them a sense of ownership of the endeavor. So, they are more likely to work to make sure that it succeeds. On the other hand, if someone from on high simple creates a new plan, the people it serves may distrust it and be unwilling to put in the effort to make it work. Therefore, the WH strategy of appearing to bow to the pressures of special interests and then "backtracking" is a formula for success in the long run. The American people will perceive that they issued a call for a public option and that they were able to affect the decisions of (Democratic) lawmakers, which will make them accept the new health plan (even if there are problems that need to be ironed out) and will encourage them to participate in politics in the future. An involved electorate means more Democratic votes cast.

[90-percent]

33. McCamy:

So, it's like an audience at a rock show being enticed for an encore by the audience?

The performer looks like a chump if he comes back on stage without any strong demand from the audience?

So Obama want the audience tearing the walls down before he comes back out for the encore?

And he also needs an ever stronger and louder clamoring from THE PEOPLE? (Ever seens a show where the applause was weak, and just before it starts to die down any more, the band hurried rushes back on, so as not to look like chumps?)

That means LTTE and phoning Congressional Offices and what ever else (bumper stickers and lawn signs for me)

So, for all of us that thought that our work was over getting Obama elected, looks like our work is also really just beginning.

However, I sure wish there was one unified movement of like minded populist type people. A "million uninsured march" or something? We're not a single entity. The righties do it by lock stepping. I don't think many lefties do good lock stepping. Lefties lock step like a herd of cats.

I wish the country could get as passionate about todays corporate take over issues as they were during the Viet Nam war!



-90% Jimmy

[madmom]

19. I heard on one of the talking head shows that "Obama is willing to forgo the public option in order

to gain bi-partisan support" Now I don't know if this is true (certainly hope not) but if he does, he is done IMO. Too many people want/need this for them to be screwing around trying to be popular with the other side.

[wryter2000]

22. Wryter2000's analysis

They keep floating things like co-ops and triggers, and the public keeps screaming at them...no! They realize that the people are going to make them do the right thing.

We need to keep on all of them. (Time to contact DiFi again. B-Box is on the right side, as is Barbara Lee.)

[Faryn Balyncd]

23. If Rahm really believes in a public option, why hire an "adviser" who wants to PRIVATIZE MEDICARE?

The adviser being "White House adviser" Zeke Emanuel, Rahm's brother, who has been pushing for the privatization of Medicare, Medicaid for several years.

The Emanuel-Fuchs "Guaranteed Healthcare Access Plan" is a voucherized all-private-insurance-mandate plan which would not only have no public option for Americans under 65, but would actually privatize Medicare itself.



http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/3684




Zeke's plan is an insurance CEO's wet dream - mandatory purchase of private insurance subsidized by the taxpayer.

Every statement Rahm makes needs to be interpreted with knowledge of Rahm's corporatist, anti-public-plan prejudice.

[florida08]

26. Obama

needs to give Biden and Emanuel a time out. That's twice in recent days he's had to go behind them and clean up. You know David Axelrod is smoking.

WALKING BACK RAHM? A day after his chief of staff suggested the White House could live with a public option-free health care reform bill, President Obama released a statement (from Russia!) reaffirming his support for a government-run health care plan:

"I am pleased by the progress we're making on health care reform and still believe, as I've said before, that one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices, and assure quality is a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest. I look forward to a final product that achieves these very important goals."

After Biden said something about "misreading the economy" Obama had to correct him saying the word was wrong and should have been "incomplete" because they didn't have the 1st quarter's GDP which fell close to 6%) and Biden's possible "greenlighting Israel attack on Iran" (Obama said absolutely not in an interview with CNN from Russia).
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/7/7/750827/-Obama-walks-back-Rahm-from-Russia-on-public-option!

[Kingofalldems]

27. Great news!! People who pose as Democrats will not like this one.

[Zorra]

32. Hope someone is keeping a real close eye on Emanuel. n/t

[Wednesdays]

34. K&R

:kick: