House Progressives and the White House on a Collision Course Over Public Option

That letter is a beautiful thing, it will wreck Obamacare for the forseeable future. Keep up the good work.

Finally.

Someone in the progressive caucus shows some balls.

Hopefully, they won't end up folding like a house of cards.

(Sorry for the mixed metaphor)

Sounds like there will be NO HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL this year. Republicans will be laughing at the Democrat destruction in 2010.

The public should punish those lawmakers who are taking big money from insurance, hospitals, pharma etc. and voting against reform and the public option. They should punish them by voting them out of office, Republican or Democrat.

Why is the public option 'toxic' when a) most people in the country want it and b) the ones who don't want it usually do not know what 'option' means, as they yell that they want 'choice'.

The rightwing blah blah machine, from the RNC chair to talk radio to the TV MSN to the Congress persons who shamelessly demagogue this nonsense (see McCain's latest accusation that for Obama, 'old people are expendable') should not be kowtowed to.

I hope Congress gets it back way up; they know the people want this. I have half a suspicion that O is doubledaring them to do this. If so, great.

everyone's gotta stick to their guns and at the end of the day, majority rules. progressives (while i am one) are not in the majority. we can't force what we want on the nation (even though it is better). this is a d-e-m-o-c-r-a-c-y that is sadly ruled by special interests. we gotta start somehwhere. and no we will not abandon obama, but what we need to do is start organizing in the blue dog and red areas and convicing people of what we want. all that misinformation damaged this fight for health care reform. this is a huge issue, and obama can't afford to become the "socialist" president. we need those repubs and independents to get more sh** done. i'd be happy if we could get rid of pre-existing, if we could streamline insdustry, do price caps AND have some sort of affordable option for people to buy on their own. i wish we could have hit the ground running on this, but the repubs were smart and canniving. i will give them that. NO MORE HMO MONOPOLY OVER AMERICA's HEALTH THOUGH. this sucks.

I've seen comments like "Obama needs us [progressives] more than we need him." Maybe. Or, maybe progressives need Obama just as much.

I think it's unreasonable to think that progressive aims will be advanced by hamstringing this president. Many progressives sought to undercut Obama when his approval numbers were quite high. Now, these same progressives are complaining that he doesn't have the power to just ram the bill through. Well, elected officials look at polls probably more than anyone else, and they are less inclined to support a president with a lower approval rating, and the public is less inclined to support a president's initiatives when his approval rating is lower. Thus, one could make a strong argument that Obama is less able to ram a bill through, because of the position progressives helped put him in. Of course, Obama hasn't been perfect. But you should know that incessant, and sometimes specious, attacks from the left can't be made without a political toll.

Let's go even further. Say progressives do kill this bill... The most likely outcome is that Obama could see dramatic drops in his support among the public, and a hardening of independents against him. Democrats could essentially neutralize what is currently the party's most influential asset; a well-liked president.

And, what do you think that will mean for cap and trade? The proposed Wall Street regulations? Immigration reform? All those things that progressives want to see advanced will be much more difficult to achieve with a neutralized president. Republicans will be emboldened to challenge EVERYTHING the president and Democrats do. Democrats would be essentially bleeding themselves into shark-infested waters.

How do I know this? It happened in 1993 -1994. Many Democrats voted against healthcare then. We all know what a smart move that turned out to be. And now, people are seriously advocating a repeat of history??

Actions have consequences. I just wish people would be willing to consider the long-term ones, and not get so caught up in the moment.

[Counter view: If Democrats do get a healthcare reform bill passed, regardless of what some are saying, it will indeed be an historic and meaningful advance forward for this nation. The choice is ours.]

Is it really true that if a major coverage expansion happens without a public plan, the only thing that will mean is that private insurers get more money? Won't tens of millions of people, most of whom are low-income, low-wage workers, disproportionately likely to be people of color, receive health coverage? Do progressives care about whether such people have the ability to go to the doctor and fill prescriptions when they get sick? Of course, a public option would be better than private insurance, but private insurance is a helluva better than what nearly 50 million uninsured people have right now!

Well I think folks, this is just the beginning. Obama said it himself, this would not be easy. You think the Civil Rights or Women's Movement gave up this easy? People had to organize, even die for meaningful change. Electing Obama and now going thru this fight just shows us where our weaknesses are as a movement. Nobody said change would be easy (we're talking about Washington D.C. here and the wealthiest most powerful nation on earth). I am not going to give up just cause I didn't get what I wanted right off the bat. What if Dr. King had given up or Cesar Chavez or the union activists of the 20's? We can win single-payer, universal health care in the future. But we can't ram it down America's throat. As a progressive, I believe that we must engage all of America, not just expect to get what we want (Even though yes we are right)... Let this be a lesson. This ain't gonna be easy folks. Are you in it for the long haul? In the words of a famous women activist- "Don't mourn, organize" and "Pray for the Dead; Fight like Hell for the Living".... si se puede!!!

CLINTON CUT OFF AID TO HONDURAS!!! victory for progressives, liberty and democracy. still a sad day for honduras.

When I think Mark Fuhrman, I think of how a doctor or doctors at the El Paso County hospital, under the leadership of a cost-cutting ceo imported from Chicago, withheld care when I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2005.

When Bush got his Part D medicare prescription plan, my meds jumed to almost $250 per month, hard to meet on ss income. I went to the VA for assistance.

Within six months of being enrolled, I was send to Albuquerque for a heart cath procedure, and subsequently had 5x bypass surgery. Unlike Letterman, I was not able to parade the team of docs, nurses, aides, support personnel, before the public to thank them for their care, something I would have dearly liked to do.

One year later I was gifted with a combination pacemaker/defibrillator. Three weeks ago, I had cataract surgery to reclaim the sight in my right eye. The left eye will soon be similarly repaired.

I joked with a doctor about spending so much money (the eys and such) on a dying man. His reply? Son (if I make it, I will be 75 the 21st of this month), you earned it. My reply: doc, but my Navy service was right after Korea.

No matter. You were called. You wore the uniform. You served.

I was really taken aback. I had not gone to the VA prior to the drug prices precisely because I was not a combat vet.

I don't believe you have to be a vet to receive the care I have received from the VA. Of course, Medicare helps.

But I do know this. If the President, as an alleged constitutional scholar, has difficulty understanding the meaning of "provide for the general welfare" part of the Constitution, then he is in the wrong business, and probably ran to satisfy his ego. In that, he was hugely successful.

Would I share a foxhole with Rep. Grijalva? In a New York minute. With the President? Not so much.

In the military, it's a matter of defending the principles of the county and the people one serves. In political life, it's being true to those who elected you. I don't think the Republicans made any significant contribution to Mr. Obama's successful run.