TPMDC
Lynch: Obama Told Me He Might Try To Get Public Option Next Year
President Barack Obama and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
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Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), who is sticking to his "no" vote on health care, said President Obama told him in a meeting yesterday that he might go for the public option next year.
In an interview with Mother Jones, Lynch said Obama told him he can't put progressive provisions, like a public option, into health care reform this year. But next year may be a different story.
"He said we can't do it this year, but next year he'd be willing to consider inserting a public option," Lynch said.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from TPMDC.
Lynch said he's voting against the bill because there's no public option, there's an excise tax on Cadillac plans and there's no repeal of anti-trust exemptions for insurers. He voted for the November bill.
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Viva!America!
March 19, 2010 2:28 PM
Here we go....
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lousgirl84
March 19, 2010 2:30 PM
Whoever runs against this lying sack of shit, I'm digging into my wallet to support. This guy has taken lots of money from the insurance folks and he's voting no because it doesn't include a public option? Yeah right..
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Why oh why
March 19, 2010 2:44 PM in reply to lousgirl84
You mean, only Obama has the right to lie about the public option to get campaign contributions?
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Slaney Black
March 19, 2010 2:49 PM in reply to lousgirl84
Lynch is totally a lying sack of shit. You know why?
HE GOT BOOED (AND BOUNCED OUT OF RUNNING FOR TEDDY'S SEAT) FOR COMING OUT AGAINST THE PUBLIC OPTION LAST SUMMER:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/0909/Stephen_Lynchs_tough_weekend.html
At a labor day rally with union members, none the less.
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bigmikek7
March 19, 2010 3:54 PM in reply to Slaney Black
BINGO, was just going to write that. What a fraud. And they can't put an antitrust exemption into a reconciliation package, he knows that. The House already passed it and the Senate needs to take will take it up as a standalone bill. He's so full of shit.
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theone718
March 20, 2010 10:23 AM in reply to Slaney Black
Guess he thinks we will forget. He won't be in Congress after his next primary.
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agio
March 19, 2010 3:41 PM in reply to lousgirl84
Sad to say: no one is running against him in the primary. That's the Massachusetts Democratic Party for you, rewarding failure and backbiting since God knows when.
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Steve LaBonne
March 19, 2010 2:34 PM
Lynch and Pruneface- separated at birth? http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/cartoon/images/miscellaneous/dicktracy-pruneface.JPG
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libdevil
March 19, 2010 2:38 PM
Yeah, after being shit upon by our own party for 2* years running, progressive Dems are supposed to believe that next year, Obama will be our champion, despite diminished majorities in Congress. Anybody wanna buy a bridge?
*Well, more like 40, but who's counting?
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FreeRider
March 19, 2010 2:39 PM in reply to libdevil
There's one thing wrong with your hypothesis: Lynch is not a progressive (and neither are you).
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Sportin' Life
March 19, 2010 5:03 PM in reply to FreeRider
True enough. (As far as Lynch, anyway; about libdevil I can't say.)
But that's an entirely distinct issue from the fact that Obama is lying through his teeth.
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mrut
March 19, 2010 4:59 PM in reply to libdevil
You are defending the wrong man, unless you are being facetious and are actually a rightwinger. Lynch ran to the right of the field in the MA special senatorial primary. He never had a chance, in part, because he was the only Democrat who opposed the public option.
What's going on here is that he doesn't want to vote for HCR, so he's making up "wonderful" reasons, like, "Woe is me, it doesn't go far enough!" This has not been his position until now.
So save your shared feelings of martyrdom for an actual progressive. Lynch isn't one of them.
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Zell
March 19, 2010 2:39 PM
Whether his claim is true or not, you know how we're absolutely not going to get a public option anytime soon?
If the current bill dies.
If he thinks that we're going to get a public option anytime soon after the current bill goes down in flames, after over a year of work, after tons of spent political capital that will all have been wasted, after incumbents are shown that they should fear the politics of promoting anything vaguely related to health care reform, he's living in a fantasy land.
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AhTrini1
March 19, 2010 2:41 PM in reply to Zell
Thank you, so not only is that a piss poor excuse, he proves he's an asswad!
"Whether his claim is true or not, you know how we're absolutely not going to get a public option anytime soon?
If the current bill dies."
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AhTrini1
March 19, 2010 2:39 PM
What an asswat!
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madmatt
March 19, 2010 2:43 PM
I beleive Barack said that during the leection too, guess we can trust him this time huh?
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GermanyOrFlorida
March 19, 2010 2:44 PM
I live in Lynch's district and I feel like I must be taking crazy pills. The guy wouldn't say one way or the other whether he would vote for the bill the first time around, he puts out the statement below in support of it that doesn't mention the public option at all, and now he's a giant public option supporter and cares about the anti-trust expemptions?
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ma09_lynch/healthcare.html
He's absolutely lying through his teeth. I'll collect signatures for whoever primaries this guy.
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agio
March 19, 2010 3:42 PM in reply to GermanyOrFlorida
Hope you called his office to register your disapproval.
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clonecone
March 19, 2010 2:45 PM
This is the perfect opportunity for an OFA organizer in this district to take the next step and run for this seat. Any decent Democrat would have immediate backing from OFA, DFA, MoveOn, the unions, and dozens of issue groups. Lynch would have the Council of Molesters, Jane Hamsher's teabagging buddies, some insane PUMAs and pretty much no one else. Lynch wouldn't stand a chance.
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mcc
March 19, 2010 3:47 PM in reply to clonecone
Lynch and Arcuri are BOTH still primary-able.
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bigmikek7
March 19, 2010 3:58 PM in reply to clonecone
Not so fast. Lynch remains popular in his district, which many people assume is liberal. It's not. It's democratic, but it's not liberal at all. Lots of conservadems. I don't have numbers but speaking anecdotally, HCR is not very popular here.
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GermanyOrFlorida
March 19, 2010 5:12 PM in reply to bigmikek7
So what if Lynch is popular? Primary voters are a different animal than election voters - remember, Martha Coakley won a primary in MA last year.
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agio
March 19, 2010 7:34 PM in reply to bigmikek7
So then he wins his primary. Doesn't mean the people shouldn't be given a choice.
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AhTrini1
March 19, 2010 2:48 PM
LMAO@ "Jane Hamsher's teabagging buddies".
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terje
March 19, 2010 2:53 PM
How many ambitious Boston politicos are looking at this guy and thinking primary? There are tons of potential candidates in the wings....
Filing deadline isn't until June 1st, so there is plenty of time for someone credible to jump in.
Lynch has built his career with the support of unions -- if they ditch him now, he could definitely lose a primary challenge.
I think he's just pissed that he wanted to run in the special Senate election but couldn't get any support lined up from unions and party regulars, so he never got into the race -- now he's in a pissy pay-back mood.
If he doesn't come to his senses, his Congressional career is going to be over this year. (And even if he somehow managed to get re-elected, he won't get be able to work with the leadership or the White House -- they won't forgive anyone from a safe Democratic district who wasn't there when they were most needed...)
I still think he is trying to milk 15 minutes of fame and will find some way to vote for the bill....
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agio
March 19, 2010 7:36 PM in reply to terje
Well he already made it onto the front page of the Bo Glob so there's hope maybe he'll decide to milk a last-minute "road to Damascus" conversion story out of it.
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Walter Mitty
March 19, 2010 2:54 PM
This guy is desperately trying to kill the bill. Flush this turd out - give his seat to a Republican for two years if need be.
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mans_best_friend
March 19, 2010 2:57 PM
Wait, I've lost count. Is this the third or fourth different explanation he's given for voting No?
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MD in MA
March 19, 2010 3:25 PM
I attended a health care rally on Boston Common in early September (shortly after Ted Kennedy's death). A number of the Mass congressional delegation were were there, including Tierney, Markey, McGovern, Capuano and Lynch--Lynch was the only one to fail to support a public option in the pending House bill.
If he claims that he is voting against the bill becasue it is not progressive enough, me thinks he doth protest too much. He is full of it and should be primaried
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Steve LaBonne
March 19, 2010 3:36 PM in reply to MD in MA
Nice to know. What a lying sack this guy is. Clearly, having a Thug warming the seat for 2 years would be a small price to pay for getting rid of him.
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mcc
March 19, 2010 3:50 PM
Obama already promised he would push for the public option in future. "Next year" is interesting new information though.
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NR
March 19, 2010 5:32 PM in reply to mcc
And I'm sure that that promise means every bit as much as his promise to filibuster FISA lesislation did.
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tao jones
March 19, 2010 4:17 PM
"...he might try to get a public option next year."
So who is worse: Lynch or Obama? They are both lying politicians, evidently unafraid of their lies, and that everyone knows they're lying. Democrats aren't the only game in town, there are many candidates we could elect. Partisan Democrats are as bad as partisan Republicans.
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Viva!America!
March 19, 2010 4:20 PM
who are as bad as partisan Liberals/Progressives and Conservatives. Did I miss any meaningless labels?
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Galactus
March 19, 2010 4:28 PM
GALACTUS CARES NOT FOR THE DISPUTES OF PUNY MORTALS BUT AS I READY MY MACHINERY TO DEVOUR YOUR WORLD TO SATIATE MY ETERNAL HUNGER I WILL SERIOUSLY CONSIDER EATING THIS ONE FIRST IF IT MAKES YOUR FINAL MOMENTS MORE ENJOYABLE.
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mrut
March 19, 2010 5:04 PM in reply to Galactus
Oh Galactus. You take all the stress out of counting HCR votes.
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Kevin Sutton
March 19, 2010 5:01 PM
Lynch's position is not credible given his past statements and stated motivations. So could Obama have told him this? Maybe. Would it be true if he had? Probably not. What's Lynch getting at?
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