White House Finally Decides to Get Tough on a Political Opponent

[debbierlus]

Howard Dean


White House Finally Decides To Get Tough On A Health Care Opponent
By: David Dayen Wednesday December 16, 2009 11:36 am

After months of a general hands-off approach in public to members of the Democratic Party who have grumbled and griped about health care reform, the Obama Administration has finally lashed out at one of its own party members for attempting to block the bill.

Not Joe Lieberman, who held up the bill for weeks on the public option.

Not Ben Nelson, who is still threatening a filibuster because of the abortion language.

Not Blanche Lincoln, Jim Webb, Evan Bayh, Mary Landrieu (who’s on board now), or any of the other Senators who have publicly trashed elements of the bill at various points, parts that the White House claimed to support.

No, the first time they use this tactic is to go after unelected public citizen Howard Dean.

Recently, a somewhat perplexing new line of argument has emerged about health insurance reform, with some folks suggesting the Senate bill is a “dream” for insurance companies.

If that’s the case, though, it must be news to them. The insurance industry has been leveraging its considerable resources in a ferocious effort to defeat this bill, including producing a report the day before the Senate Finance Committee vote that was so misleading the firm behind it had to walk away from it. And that’s not surprising, because this bill will finally wrest power away from the insurance industry and put it in the hands of American consumers <...>

It’s also important to remember that, while none of us are shedding any tears for the insurance industry, the primary goal of health insurance reform isn’t to punish insurers – it’s to give every American the ability to find affordable coverage while controlling the unsustainable cost growth in our current health care system that is crushing families and businesses. On that front, this bill is hugely successful. This bill will bring stability and security to people who have insurance and provide affordable options to those who don’t. It will protect against arbitrary insurance company rules and will lower premiums for American families and businesses. And it will take a big chunk out of the national deficit.

You can argue about whether the bill does enough to promote sound insurance company practices, and whether the bill will provide affordable coverage for all Americans (I think it’s incredibly arguable). What you cannot argue is that this is virtually the first instance of the White House attacking a prominent Democrat in public. They did not pressure Joe Lieberman to any degree, according to him. They vociferously denied pressuring Ben Nelson over a military base in his state.

But Dean caused the White House great displeasure. Not because he was actively working as a member of the US Senate to undermine what were described as key priorities in the health care bill, but because he was stating his opinion on the legislation after the fact, in a way that could deny the President his “win” on health care.

I’m assuming Russ Feingold is next

“This bill appears to be legislation that the president wanted in the first place, so I don’t think focusing it on Lieberman really hits the truth,” said Feingold. “I think they could have been higher. I certainly think a stronger bill would have been better in every respect.”

The President didn’t leverage Democrats working against his stated policy, one has to conclude, because they weren’t working against his policy in any substantive way. They were facilitating it.

http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/12/16/white-house-finally-decides-to-get-tough-on-a-health-care-opponent/

[msongs]

1. a doctor who saves lives versus a lawyer who kills people? hmm, tough choice nt

[fascisthunter]

19. very well stated

[David Zephyr]

35. Thank you, msongs!

The White House chose Lieberman over Dean:

A man who has delivered babies with his hands and who healed the sick, who gave health care to every single child in his state when he was a Governor long before anyone else ever began to talk about it

versus

a warwongering coporate whore who has the blood of tens of thousands of Iraqi children on his soul.

[WCGreen]

67. Yes baby...

I'm pissed off about the way the whole thing played out...

[democrank]

2. Bravo, Dr. Dean!

Bravo!

[Parker CA]

3. Bad miscalculation by the WH message makers on this one.

[debbierlus]

4. I have to admit, I thought the White House would give the base SOMETHING

...

At least for the sake of political cover...even I am surprised that they let the legislation get THIS bad. Granted I thought the legislation was beyond the point of redemption a while ago, but a lot of people hung in there with Obama on this sell out. It is just downright politically STUPID.

But, I guess arrogance and greed are huge blinders.

Wow.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. Rahm.

Working his 90's magic.

Clue: It's not the 90's anymore.

[DrDan]

14. oh come on . . . . let;s put the blame where it belongs

even if it was Rahm - who picked him??????

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

42. Best guess: Rahm himself.

[cascadiance]

73. Hmm... Cheney did that too...

One can smell a rat in both instances...

America is going to suffer under the continued influence of the Rahm-per Room.

[Zodiak]

15. It's the straw that broke the camel's back for a lot of progressives

To see a snake like Mary Landrieu and her DLC history of scuttling all good progressive legislation and ushering in practically the entire Bush regime wholeheartedly go after Howard Dean like that defending a corporate sell-out is demoralizing.

We are NOT repeating the 2004 election, DLCers....got it? You go this route, you WILL lose this next election....and no amount of Republican rule will ever get them to come back. You blew that when you blamed us in 2000, but needed us to get back in power.

Wow, I never thought that the Democrats would sell out this badly. Really, I thought I was cynical, but the giveaways to the corporations are breath-taking to behold. And they actually THINK they can shove it down out throats and make us like it.

The polls are dropping faster than under Bush.

HINT: It's NOT becuase you are not giving in enough to conservatives.

[phasma ex machina]

68. +1 "the giveaways to the corporations are breath-taking to behold"

Little guys expected to STFU.

[HughMoran]

5. Cool - let's destroy this Presidency!

Good for Dean - tell the truth even if it destroys the party!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. Or, let's go along and sell our souls.

:patriot:

[HughMoran]

11. Nah, who needs a party

fuck 'em, right?

[Vinnie From Indy]

37. Your right about the fucking part, but

you have the wrong idea about who is doing the fucking and who is being fucked. I am also growing quite weary of your constant refrain that those of us that are horrified by this latest sell out are abandoning the Democratic Party. That is YOUR straw man. Granted, some folks may abandon the party, but many more I believe are gonna try focus more on exposing the rot and corruption in OUR party and worry about the elections later. I look at it like chemotherapy. We hope to make the patient well again, but acknowledge that we run the risk of killing it with the medicine.

[HughMoran]

38. It's a calculation

I hope it's OK with you that I see a patient dying.

[DrDan]

16. better to sell out to the large insurers????????/

keep those obscene profits flowing?????

[arthritisR_US]

17. if truth will destroy the party, then it was built on one hellishly feeble foundation.

:shrug:

[AndrewP]

26. Yep

[Edweird]

20. So, it's not what he's doing that's the problem, but that someone pointed it out? Seriously?

Like nobody noticed anything until Dr. Dean opened his mouth?

[HughMoran]

23. Politicians always tell the unvarnished truth no matter what the consequence

Right?

[Edweird]

27. A calorie is the amount of heat required to change the temperature

of one kilogram of water one degree, right?

[HughMoran]

28. Cheetos are very crunchy

Right?

Can't take a stand? Dean did. Celebrate it.

[Edweird]

31. So, please explain how Dr. Dean pointing out how fucked this bill is

will 'destroy the presidency'.

[HughMoran]

36. Was stated that they can just replay his interview as an ad showing that Obama & Dems passed

a bill that will do no good.

Pretty simple calculus if you ask me. Obama is being trashed here worse than I've ever seen - if no Democrat has his back, what do you think will happen to the Presidency?

[Edweird]

43. Did we leave Obama, or did he leave us?

I believe his undoing is his own making.

[HughMoran]

44. Rhetorical games? OK. I can play.

So I guess I'm right - we are destroying the Presidency (but I'll use your words) "because he left us"

Happy?

[Edweird]

48. "We" aren't destroying anything.

"We" don't have that power. The only person destroying Obama is Obama.

[Mithreal]

50. You have to make Obama do the right thing but not vice versa

Ask not what President Obama and Congress can do for you but what you must do for the Party.

[Edweird]

51. The only people I can recall ever saying anything like

"Oh Yeah? Make me do it!" are bullies and assholes. Not very good company.

[Mithreal]

61. Another President said that though. FDR.

The community organizer seems to be invulnerable to our kind of pressure though.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7808133

[Edweird]

87. Yes, he did. But he never said it to me :)

[rhett o rick]

83. Pres Obama has made his choice very clear. He isnt supporting the American people.

Not one single bit. I would rather he fight and lose than compromise with the devil and still lose. He should have, at a minimum, supported a strong public option, even if the Senate wouldnt give it to him. But no, he bowed down, not the the Emperor of Japan but to the big pharm and big insurance and big banks and big defense. He has not once said he supports the common man the workers the poor. There are two sides in this war. I know what side Dean is on and I know what side the repukes are on, but what side is Pres Obama on? Do does he concede to?

And if you dont believe me just listen to his henchman Rahm, the bastard.

The Presidency has been dead for many years. Dont you dare blame us.

[ldf]

57. you damn right

if the politicians told the truth we would know, as citizens, EXACTLY what was being done, in our name.

and that is exactly how it should be. we are big boys and girls, and can handle it. and i think most americans are thirsty for the truth.

but you seem to think we DON'T need to know.

if it makes us uncomfortable, then maybe we don't need to be doing it. and THINK of the money we could save. we could fund single payer, no problem.

but you underestimate americans. americans can just continue to stick our fingers in our ears and go la la la la, if we don't like what we hear, and all is good.

i have no intention of doing that, and i want to know EVERYTHING our government is up to.

[Ignis]

29. "tell the truth even if it destroys the party"

Well, yes.

Some things are more important than party loyalty to many of us.

[girl gone mad]

45. Telling the truth is not what's destroying the party.

Consistently selling out to the large corporations is what is destroying the party.

[Jackpine Radical]

52. No, no, we can't do that! Let's put out our eyes and pour hot wax in our ears

Speak no truth, hear no truth, let no truth stand unchallenged by a comforting lie. Support Obama, Rahm and Holy Joe. The only way to save democracy is to shut up and take what the Corporate State is willing to give us.

[donheld]

55. What good is a party that does not work for it's people?

[Marr]

62. The the truth can destroy a thing, it isn't worth defending.

[mitchtv]

64. just step aside

He's doing a good enough job of it himself. Don't blame truth tellers

[truth2power]

75. The party is already in the process of destroying itself...

It doesn't need Dean to do it.

[MessiahRp]

77. Don't worry Obama is doing that all himself.

Because that base that he keeps flipping off, they're the people that put his ass in office.

He better pray to god that corporations fund his next election well, as they should for how well he's treated them, because the base isn't donating shit to him. And he better hope that a TV campaign works because the grass roots are not volunteering for him. Oh and he better hope Republicans hate their candidate... because a ton of Democrats aren't going to vote for Obama.

He fucked the Presidency up.

Keep on cheerleading though... maybe the small minority of the party power over principles people like yourself will somehow make up the gap. LOL.

Rp

[sabrina 1]

81. Is there something wrong with telling the truth? What a strange

thing to say. And to blame the truth for the failures of the 'Party' is just plain ludicrous. Have you slammed Democrats who have sold out to corporations btw?

Is it 'party before country' for you? I think that's what the sell-out Democrats thought would happen. I think they are learning that the American people care far more about their country than any political party.

They need new advisers. Looks like Rahm and his DLCers are about to lose another election for Democrats. They just do not respect the American people, and that disrespect will hand over Congress to Republicans, as it did the last time Rahm was involved. They are to blame if the Republicans take back Congress and I hope if that happens, that Rahm and his DCL buddies are thrown out of politics, or at least Democratic politics, permanently.

The DLC will be the death of the Democratic Party. Won't be the first time a major shift in politics occurred, but the party under the influence of the DCL is not the Democratic Party that represents the needs of the American people. The DCL = 'The Republican Wing of the Democratic Party' as someone famous so rightly said.

So put the blame where it belongs. No one is listening to the apologist talking points anymore. The situtation is as clear as it could be, except for those who do not wish to see it.

[bertman]

85. Once again, your moniker is well deserved, Hugh.

Destroy the party!

You should have been a commodian, Moran.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[DrDan]

7. not a big Dean supporter here - after the elections in Florida

but I am standing with him here. He is the only voice I am hearing that is for the people. The rest have sold out.

[Eric J in MN]

8. You should put the middle in a shaded blockquote.

Use brackets around
div class="excerpt"
above

and
brackets around
/div
below

Example

[debbierlus]

13. Okay - I will try it - I am so bad with code!

[Eric J in MN]

25. I meant to blockquote the WH words to distinguish from the blogger's words.

The WH words are:
====
Recently, a somewhat perplexing new line of argument has emerged about health insurance reform, with some folks suggesting the Senate bill is a “dream” for insurance companies.

If that’s the case, though, it must be news to them. The insurance industry has been leveraging its considerable resources in a ferocious effort to defeat this bill, including producing a report the day before the Senate Finance Committee vote that was so misleading the firm behind it had to walk away from it. And that’s not surprising, because this bill will finally wrest power away from the insurance industry and put it in the hands of American consumers <...>

It’s also important to remember that, while none of us are shedding any tears for the insurance industry, the primary goal of health insurance reform isn’t to punish insurers – it’s to give every American the ability to find affordable coverage while controlling the unsustainable cost growth in our current health care system that is crushing families and businesses. On that front, this bill is hugely successful. This bill will bring stability and security to people who have insurance and provide affordable options to those who don’t. It will protect against arbitrary insurance company rules and will lower premiums for American families and businesses. And it will take a big chunk out of the national deficit.
=====

[undeterred]

10. If they attack Feingold it will help him with the next election.

Republicans will like it, and the rest of us can't be moved.

[sendero]

12. Yet another way..

... that Obama is just like George Bush.

[ThomCat]

33. Yes. Keep moving to the right.

And instead of attacking the people in the party that are constantly pulling us to the right, attack the critique who has enough popular support to possibly pull us back to the left.

Obama clearly does not want the part pulled back to the left for some reason. :grr:

[Cleita]

18. I understand Rahm Emmanuel hates Howard Dean.

It's too bad this is where they decided to draw the line because of a personal vendetta. Now, I feel that Emmanuel really needs to go. If Obama ever gets a clue, he'll sack that whole Goldman Sachs and Clinton administration retreads for real Democrats.

[debbierlus]

21. Rahm was a HORRIBLE choice from day 1. But, ultimately, Obama put him in there

I wonder if deep down, Obama feels really insecure and really doesn't know how to lead and that is why he has capitulated to the worst of the DLC.

[AllentownJake]

22. or perhaps Rahm and him are more ideologically similar

than the President wanted primary voters to know.

[debbierlus]

24. If that is true, then Obama is just evil

I don't understand his motives, but I know that the majoriy of his policies need to be fought against.

[AllentownJake]

30. He out Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton nt.

[dgibby]

41. Seems to me Naomi Kline tried to warn us about the "Chicago Boys"

BEFORE Obama was elected. Maybe we should have taken her more seriously.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x365382

[tonysam]

54. Bingo

Neoliberals of a feather stick together.

[David Zephyr]

32. That sums it all up for me.

Kill this fucking travesty of a bill.

[Major Hogwash]

39. I don't understand the rush to get it passed by Christmas. They didn't get it done by August break

So, drop it, and come back in January.

Because these people are not going to get reelected anyway, for the most part.
10 of the Republicans aren't even going to run for reelection.

And if they don't pass a real healthcare reform bill next year, how can the Republicans gain any seats in Congress?

We need to keep this issue alive for another 10 months or so, and never pass it, as it is written.
Screw the process up so bad for so long, that eventually we will get more than 60 real Democrats elected to the Senate - hopefully next year - and then they can pass a single payer option healthcare reform bill in 2011.

It seems that this is what they are doing, dragging it out for so long as to make the entire healthcare issue impossible to get passed without at least 5 more Democratic Senators who will vote "yes" to counter Lieberman, Lincoln, Landrieu, and Nelson.

The Blue dawg Democrats are almost as bad as the "just say no" Republicans, but a couple of them are up for reelection, and I don't think they will be reelected next year.

[Major Hogwash]

40. Plus, if they drag it out for another year, it may override the good news that will come out

About the detainees coming to the United States from GITMO closing down GITMO, the soldiers returning from Iraq, and the rebuilding of the economy

[leftstreet]

34. K&R

[madfloridian]

46. Recommended.

[slay]

47. Howard Dean 2012

hey, a guy can dream can't he... sigh.. this sucks.. we suffered through 8 years of Bush and THIS is all we get.. :puke:

[Jackpine Radical]

53. Dean-Feingold.

I guy can have manic delusions, can't he?

[cascadiance]

74. that would be the good primary opponent. Failing that, then Bernie Sanders in the general...

Not sure about his running mate, but someone who's non-corporate and prominent that could grab independent votes along with progressives would fit the bill. Maybe him teaming up with Dean if Dean comes to the conclusion that he needs to be a part of a new party/independent voice if the Democrat Party at that point is perceived to have abandoned its traditional base. Kind of like John Anderson abandoned the Republican Party to run as an independent then.

[rtassi]

56. Yep! n/t

[dpbrown]

49. Just so you know Lieberman is doing what the White House wants him to

And Dean isn't.

Sad. Beyond sad.

[debbierlus]

59. Absolutely true. Wrote about that yesterday.

[rhett o rick]

84. I agree. nt

[ldf]

58. maybe they will run dean OUT of the democratic party

he would make a fine head of a new REAL progressive party.

since the democratic party isn't up to the task, the only other option IS another option.

[amborin]

60. k&r

[ChiciB1]

63. Couldn't Believe The "Long Knives" They Pulled Out Today! It Is

nothing short of "shameless!" Can't write much more, I'm just too MAD and BETRAYED!!!!

[Overseas]

65. WH has been pretty tough on all us progressives so far.

Quite painful so far.

Editing to add

All the more painful because the dream I had of a brilliant 21st Century FDR was really beautiful.

And the trying times we're in gave Democrats the perfect mandate to band together and give the people a bailout after we'd bailed out Big Finance for billions. They had the moral imperative to give the thousands of people being evicted from their homes (aka foreclosure) a bit of freedom from medical terror and chose not to do it.

We were treated to a shameful gamesmanship. Groveling for non-existent bipartisanship while thousands more died uninsured.

Our legislators played games with our health security. That wasn't anything like Si Se Puedes.

[Swamp Rat]

66. Yeah, the WRONG one!

:patriot: Geaux Howard Dean!! :applause:

[Bette Noir]

69. Excuse me while I email Mr. President,

requesting that he apologize to Gov. Dean.

[earcandle]

70. I want to see a CBO report on the HR676 and its derivatives before I let insurance companies raise

rates again.  How can you say this cuts costs?  That is not
what I heard. 

(But I love your photo!) 

[democracy1st]

71. K & R

[lib_wit_it]

72. Up.

[MessiahRp]

76. Dean/Feingold 2012!

Frankly it shows me that we elected a Republican when they attack Democrats and side with traitors like Joe Lieberman.

I want Obama primaried so bad by a serious liberal/progressive candidate that I can taste it right now. 30 years of this shit has to end.

Rp

[Cowpunk]

78. The operative word here is "opponent"

As Glenn Greenwald and Russ Feingold explained yesterday, these other folks are giving Obama just what he wants.

[Vidar]

79. Give 'em hell, Howard!

[Laelth]

80. k&r for the Good Doctor Dean. Kill the bill. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[kath]

82. As it becomes clearer and clearer what assholes we have in the White House...

:cry:

[bertman]

86. Firedoglake is ON FIRE!! Love the way they are standing up for the people. Rec. nt