I was shocked the other day to find myself IMing the following to a friend: "I'm on the verge of wishing I had voted for Hillary."
You could be forgiven for thinking I'm just trying to be provocative, and - full disclosure - I was totally delighted by my dad's reaction to my complaint: "You brought me to Obama-land! Don't leave me here." But it's true. I am on the verge. To me, the single best reason for nominating Obama over Clinton was his ability to wield the soft power of the presidency, to control the national conversation, to be teacher-in-chief - stuff that would be especially helpful in a health care debate. Instead, Obama's relative silence in the debate (until recently) has been deafening, and the "public option" is getting skeletonized before our very eyes.
I am unwild about the "learn from 1993, majorly defer to Congress" idea. This isn't 1993. The Democrats have surged back into power, and Americans are mighty disgusted with the corporate behavior they've seen over the past ten years. It would have been a great time for Obama to be out front on this issue, not to ram a bill down Congress' throat, but to give weaker members of the donkey herd some cover. Instead, we're waiting for Senator Baucus, who represents about 450,000 people, to make up his mind about a few things. Frankly, I'm not even sure what is being referred to when the press mentions the "Obama health care plan."
Things do seem to be changing now, but I think it's too late. Obama gave speeches in New Hampshire and Montana, but now they just seem to be responses to the town hall yahoos. He's sharpened his rhetoric against the insurance companies - and I do give him credit for bringing them in and neutering the Harry and Louise threat - but they seem to be getting what they want (a dead public option).
P.S., Tom Daschle, I've never wished more that you had remembered to pay your taxes.
Monday, August 17, 2009
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I said the same thing... that we might as well have elected Hillary. She might have gotten it done as that was her main issue... and is my main issue right now.
So far, I'm fairly disappointed that the leader we elected to LEAD is allowing his goals for the country and his decisions on what he believes the country *needs* to be compromised for the sake of diplomacy and "Bi-partisanship", and lead by republicans and ignoramuses toting guns and nonsense at town halls. And what good does it do? So that they can say they all passes a mediocre bill together? That's playing for Washington, not for the people of this country who desperately need this bill... and need the bill not gutted and ragged. It's time for Obama to stand up and say "I am the elected leader of this country and this is what I said we need and what I believe we need, so this is the bill, I hope you're with me" and then let the democratic majority work, if that's even possible. I'm so tired of the democratic party acting like the school kid who gets terrorized on the playground but still invites the bullies to his birthday party hoping they'll like him. If McCain had won, the only reason "bi-partisanship" would even be spoken would be because there was a democratic majority. If all positions were switched, they wouldn't care what the dems were in on unless they absolutely needed their votes. They'd ban together with what the president wants as a party, regardless even of whether they all agree on it, and they'd have clear talking points for the public.
This whole thing has become an embarrassment.
There's hardly a point to the expense and endless amount of bureaucracy that will accompany a healthcare bill like this if it doesn't have a public option.
Ok, I'm done.
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