Liberal Groups Take Direct Aim At Rahm, Demand White House Take “Stronger Stand” On Public Option

[babylonsister]

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/health-care/liberal-groups-take-direct-aim-at-rahm-demand-white-house-take-stronger-stand-on-public-option/

Liberal Groups Take Direct Aim At Rahm, Demand White House Take “Stronger Stand” On Public Option

In recent weeks, liberal groups have largely refrained from directly pressuring the White House on the public option — even as there’s been lots of grumbling behind the scenes that Rahm Emanuel is the leading force within the White House trying to trade it away in exchange for compromise.

No longer. A coalition of liberal groups is now openly calling out the White House, demanding it take a “stronger stand” in support of a robust public option — and in an unusual move, the letter is specifically targeting Rahm and demanding he make it happen.

A source sends over a letter signed by several dozen leading liberal groups — including MoveOn, the Campaign for America’s Future, the American Federation of Government Employees, the NAACP, the Progressive Congress Action Fund — that will be sent to the White House today:

Dear Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel:

We, the undersigned alliance for a robust public option, write to request that President Obama heed the will of the people and the organized progressive grassroots and take a strong leadership position in support of a robust public option. The public has spoken and the majority of members of Congress have spoken: Health care reform must include a robust public option…

The House has shown leadership by moving forward health care reform that includes a robust public option. We respectfully ask that the Office of the President take a stronger stand on a robust public option in order to enact true health care reform this year. We request a meeting with you at your earliest opportunity to further discuss this matter.

That’s pretty confrontational; it’s questioning Obama’s commitment to the public option and demanding that he show stronger leadership. The decision to call out Rahm is also suggestive, since he is widely seen on the left as the main voice within the White House pushing to trade away core liberal principles for moderate support and calling on liberal groups to refrain from training fire on their own.

[Autumn]

1. K/R Sometimes "confrontational"

is necessary.

[MNDemNY]

2. And this is one of those times.

[Salviati]

5. Replied to the wrong post... oops

[ej510]

3. This is what Obama campaigned on. He said make me do it.

[Salviati]

7. And I for one am happy to oblige him.

I've been thinking, while I don't think that Obama largely taking a back seat on the whole healthcare reform issue was necessarily a good idea, it has borne some good fruits. We've really seen some of our elected officials shine in this fight, I'm thinking of Anthony Weiner and Alan Grayson in particular. Without this healthcare fight, I probably wouldn't know who they are, but now I do and I've even donated a bit o cash to both of them. We've even seen Nancy Pelosi really take a stand on this one. I am still a bit put out by hr seeming unwillingness to hold the previous administration accountable, but I used to believe that she and Harry Reid were cut from the same cloth, now it's obvious that there is a big difference between the two of them.

In retrospect, if we get strong healthcare reform out of this, I think that the process will have been really great for the democratic party, as it's allowed some new names and faces to shine, and hopefully they'll be rising stars in the party. However, I really don't think that it was an intentional strategy, and if so, I feel it is really too risky to be playing around with for the political gains that we might see. I wish Obama had come out more forcefully from the get go, but I do appreciate the fringe benefits of the process so far.

[DrToast]

4. I agree 100%. It's time to push the White House now.

Obama needs to know that a mandate without a public option is not acceptable.

[geek tragedy]

6. Make him do it. nt

[Whisp]

8. and who says he hasn't been working on it...

fucking CNN and the rest of those fuckers?
whose ass is all this being pulled out of? what bs.

[geek tragedy]

11. Senior white house officials are going to the pressq

and telling them Obama opposes a public option and instead wants triggers.

Blame them for spreading these stories about their boss.

[Whisp]

12. do these officials have names or is it that 'some say' thing...

without a source name... and probably by Politico as well as there is a whole lot of politico links here - since when are THEY supposed to be a reliable source, what the helll........

I wasn't really reading all the 'public option is out!' threads lately as I got sick of them really fast.

[Sebastian Doyle]

9. Meanwhile, Rahm's brother wants to privatize EVERYTHING, including Medicare

Who do you think that putz is gonna listen to?

[babylonsister]

10. Wow, what tripe have you been reading?

http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-treatment/emanuel-who-doesnt-curse-knows-health-care

Emanuel has called for replacing existing insurance arrangements with a voucher system. Everybody would choose from among a set of affordable private plans. Reformers would then introduce incentives designed to achieve better quality at lower prices, ultimately making the whole system more sustainable.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/feature/2009/08/10/ezekiel_emanuel/

This right-wing smear campaign against Zeke Emanuel is complete and utter bulls**t. Please read this excellent Salon debunking to see why. (Via Yglesias.)

Reading it, you can't help thinking Betsy McCaughey was in some ways Sarah Palin 15 years before Sarah Palin. (And I'm honestly not sure who loses in that comparison...)

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1915835,00.html

Ezekiel Emanuel, Obama's 'Deadly Doctor,' Strikes Back

[LaPera]

13. Slimy corprate DLC Rahm Emanuel...Always bends over for the corporations!

[joeycola]

15. want some fish? te he.

[SpartanDem]

14. It's crunch time and Obama is have to lay a line if not now then soon

it's one thing to not do it during the committee procress, but when it becomes problematic when comes time to start whipping votes.

[Clio the Leo]

16. How far along would HCR be in Congress if the President hadn't made it a top priority?

I'm not being snarky ... that's a serious question.

What is so special about this legislative session that has enabled them to get as far as they have? What makes THIS year unique?

Thoughts............

[Clio the Leo]

18. yep .... that's what I thought.

How are you gonna complain about the route I'm taking to Disney Land, when I was the one who offered to take you, paid for the gas and bought the car?

[babylonsister]

19. ...

:rofl: You ALWAYS get the right answers!

I agree, ftr! :fistbump:

[Armstead]

26. It was the VOTERS' priority last year -- regardless of candidates

Obama didn't decide to take us to Disneyland. He and the Congressional Democrats were told to by the voters.

Last year, the pot boiled over because people were getting screwed on their premiums and coverage and an ever-increasing number were uninsured....This it became a campaign issue that none of the Demoratic candidates could ignore or avoid.

So they were given their marching orders to do healthcare refofrm by Public pressure. They had no choice.

But the handling of it by Obama and many Congressional "leaders" has been rather hapless and cowardly, starting with their refusal to even consider a clear universal coverage plan.

So, Obama and the Congressional dems may be driving us -- but it's looking like they're headed to Mississippi rather than Disneyland.

[Clio the Leo]

30. But it was more than just a campaign issue.....

.... or if it was, he's psychic. He wrote rather extensively about HCR in "Audacity" ....... three years ago.

There was also a little ditty called the "Health Care Justice Act" that was passed in the Illinois State Senate in 2004.

[HopeOverFear]

17. Even if it's bullshit that Obama wants a trigger (and I believe it is)

call the WH anyway. can't hurt. Nothing wrong with more calls, more urging. Just don't forget to call the congress as well.

[Odin2005]

20. "Now come make me do it" --FDR

[polichick]

21. Exactly! k&r

[donheld]

22. How can people who aren't listened to make someone do it

[TorchTheWitch]

25. No kidding

Obama has made it abundantly clear that he isn't interested in pushing a public option robust or otherwise.

[eridani]

23. What public option? The ones so far are like the Holy Roman Empire

It ain't public or an option if 95% of the population can't use it.

[Better Believe It]

28. Exactly! What real public option is on the table that everyone can join?

[Bluenorthwest]

24. He also needs to know that the people have a dictionary

And will be expecting that which is called an option to be just that, not a last resort but an open choice among other possible choices. The President's love of language games will not fly in this case. This is about the health of our loved ones and about our finances. Calling a turd a diamond might work in many political acts, but not in this one. No room for weasel words.
The President needs to follow the faith he professes when he explains his prejudiced views of some minorities, he needs to speak with precision and clarity, as taught by his 'savior', avoid all confusion in speech, and allow his 'yes to be yes, and no to be no' because his Lord says that any thing more than that "comes from evil". So he needs to practice his own faith, and speak without spin. Or sack that faith blather because he does not even try to live by it himself. To him Christianity is just a thing to strike gay people with, like a baseball bat of words. It is not a thing he thinks applies to him or his wife or his kids. Just to minorities he does not like much.

[GinaMaria]

27. Is it too late for Medicare for all?

Wouldn't it just be easier to expand something that already exits, functions and produces expected results?

[bikingaz]

31. WH, Congr. & Fed. employees on same HC bill as all of USA

1. If they sell out to lobbyists, big pharma & insurance maybe we should demand that if we're on this health care reform bill, that they give up their perks and be on the same system we get. None of the opt-in crap.

2. They should pay what you & I are going to pay. My neighbor told me that the current annual costs will be ~13% of gross income. If this is right, some one making $ 60k pays $7.8K. Is this right?
What is the current % being discussed, does any one know?

[Overseas]

29. It bothered me that after we all did raise objections and get the PO revived

and bring more legislators toward supporting it-- then we got treated to another "leak" that the White House is still hoping for that ridiculous One GOP Vote to make it 1% Bipartisan. That is what is discouraging. We get our momentum going and then that kind of "golly we're still trying to get that one vote" story rolls out of the White House.

WHY? To preserve more insurance/corporate funding for Democrats as long as they can?

After Anthony Weiner and Alan Grayson had come forward and re-energized those of us who want the public option because thousands die early every month due to lack of health care and we have a good model for the public option running already, called Medicare-- after we all contacted our Congresspeople and Senators one more time and the public option was gaining steam again--

WHY THEN did the White House let another rumor slip that they would be chasing that tiny little vote-- that 1% bipartisanship-- once again?

I would have led right off the bat with Medicare for Everyone who wants it as the public option, as the quickest and most effective way to address the intense problems of our current system. HOWEVER, I did wonder whether the administration might have other aims in holding back--

1) Expose the depths to which private insurers will sink in hiring amoral professional right wing PR groups like FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity to stir up dangerous fear and hatred among our desperate fellow citizens just to protect their private profits.

2) Get the Democrats to act more like Democrats by having their constituents tell them, again and again, that they want and support a public option OPEN TO ALL and making them fight for what their constituents actually want. I did wonder if our president was doing that; hanging back because we've got 60 Democrats in the Senate who should be representing us constituents instead of their corporate donors and pushing that public option. Perhaps he was holding back to push the Democrats who have compromised important issues before, hiding behind the need for bipartisanship to GROW A SPINE ALREADY.

So just as more of our Congressional leaders have been showing spines and opening up to the public option we get
-- Harry Reid saying he was kinda sorta moving in the direction of perhaps talking about a public option last week,
and then
-- another of those "behind the scenes" leaks that the WH is still chasing that 1% bipartisanship.

So that means I need to send my 25th message to my Senators and Congressperson begging that they do the right thing? And after we create Groundswell #10 will we be treated to another behind the scenes discouraging rumor?