President Obama: "The public option has just become symbolic of ideological fights" !!??

[Better Believe It]

President Obama watched the vote
POTUS: Public option 'symbolic'
By CAROL E. LEE
December 21, 2009

President Obama told American Urban Radio Networks's April Ryan Monday that he stayed up to watch the Senate's early-morning vote on a health care bill and said he's confident Congress can work out the "five percent" difference between the House and Senate bills.

"I was up because I wanted to make sure that I was watching what could end up being an historic moment," Obama said.

The public option, he said, "is an area that has just become symbolic of a lot of ideological fights." But, Obama added: "As a practical matter, this is not the most important aspect of this bill — the House bill or the Senate bill."

Only "a few million people" who buy into the insurance exchange set up in the bill would have benefited from the public option, he said.

"So it wasn’t like suddenly everybody would just go out there and buy a government-run plan," Obama said. "Most people will still get health insurance from their employers."

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/1209/obama_watched_the_vote_3dac2d12-13ff-416b-9394-16cf24e21c02.html

[Enrique]

1. omg!

wait, so what?

[roguevalley]

20. and death from lack of insurance is a figment of our collective

subconsciousness. poverty from paying premiums for shit a mere bagatelle.

[chimpymustgo]

2. PUKE.

:puke:

[kenny blankenship]

3. Oh yes, those tired old ideological fights, resolved by the transcendent glory of Ronny Reagan

All Hail the New Reagan!

[fascisthunter]

4. yes, and your ideology is corporate

and its why you won't have the support you had last election, you fool.

[uponit7771]

6. More hyperbole

[uponit7771]

5. Obama:.."If there's something better then I'll do it", I'm no longer stuck on PubOption if there's..

...something better in the end and the conference bill hasn't even been written yet.

[Bullet1987]

7. I think it's become clear that Obama never supported a PO

to begin with. Which means there was a LOT of grandstanding and arm-waving about it over the past few months. Obama and Rahm have forced Progressives like Feingold, Boxer, and Dean to support the bill. Now that Progressive voices in opposition have been silenced, he can say what he really believes.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

8. We would call any human being other than Obama an asshole for saying that

But of course President Obama is not an asshole.

He is just playing sphincter-chess.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

9. Wow.

:wow:

Well, there it is folks. The hard, ugly truth.

The mask is off, Mr. President.

This is one voter who will not forget.


I picked my DU name back in the very earliest days of the first Bush presidency after the theft in Florida -- Hell hath no fury like a voter scorned.

I find it sad and disgusting I find my name still appropriate in an Obama presidency.

[OHdem10]

10. Spoken like a true DlCer--in fact it sounds like Lieberman

describing the "tired old FDR Programs"

[rudy23]

19. We should start a game show---Obama or Lieberman?

We could post random quotes, and let DU'ers guess whether they were said by Obama or Lieberman. There could be prizes and everything.

[AndyA]

11. We. Will. Remember, Obama. Enjoy your one term in office. n/m

[glitch]

16. He'll be fine.

Plenty of open arms await him in the war, financial and insurance industries.
Not bad for only one year in office.

[dgibby]

12. To paraphrase Craig Ferguson:

It's a sad day for America.

[Laelth]

13. Vomit.

Here's what the President said in July, 2009:

Any plan I sign must include an insurance exchange: a one-stop shopping marketplace where you can compare the benefits, cost and track records of a variety of plans - including a public option to increase competition and keep insurance companies honest - and choose what's best for your family.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/obama-demands-the-bill-i-sign-must-include-public-option.php

Now he wants to pretend like the P.O. wasn't important? It was the biggest cost-control measure in the bill.

:shrug:

Kill the bill.

Forcing people to buy insurance is no more the answer to a failed health care system than forcing people to buy houses is the solution to homelessness.

:dem:

-Laelth

[FiveGoodMen]

14. And FUCK THE BOTS WHO COME HERE TO DEFEND THIS

They are no better than the pukes.

[glitch]

15. In fact they are exactly the same. nt

[dpbrown]

17. Those "few million" could have been the entrepreneurial engine for a new prosperity, Mr. President

People who are underemployed now and stuck with dead end jobs for the insurance could have reignited our economy and put the United States back on top. Now they will continue to be stuck as wage slaves for the insurance, but I guess it's okay as long as inefficient corporations continue to thrive.

[rudy23]

18. I said before, it's like he's trying to Jedi mind trick us into believing it.

Because nothing is more symbolic than life and death matters?

[timeforpeace]

21. His smart mouth will kill this if he doesn't get out of town and incommunicado. Asshole.