Anthony Weiner wants the prez to welcome ideas from the left too...

[polichick]

On Big Ed's show, the Congressman said it's fine to bring Republicans into the room on healthcare, but he hopes the prez knows it's the left who has the ideas and will listen to them too. Also mentioned the public option.

I was so glad he said it because this TV session seems to be about showing the Republicans for the obstructionists they are rather than actually coming up with real reform.

Any chance the left will be heard too?

[tranche]

1. The left has bean "heard". And the Senate Blue Dogs told them to STFU.

If you an explain to me how the left and/or Obama can whip those Senators into shape and bring them around to voting on things the "left" love, then I'm all ears. Really. I want to know. I want to logically walk the steps through in my head as to how, let's say, Universal Healthcare can be achieved. How does it work?

[Xipe Totec]

2. It starts with you

If you're willing to toss in the towel before stepping into the ring, we're already fucked.

[Enrique]

3. you have to put limits on what those conservative dems get away with

some consequences for screwing the party too much.

[polichick]

4. Honestly, I don't think Obama has tried to whip those Senators into shape...

Doesn't look like he disagrees with them.

But if he's willing to listen to Republicans, he should be willing to listen to the left - people who actually voted for him.

[bvar22]

38. No. "The Left" was arrested and jailed...

..when they tried to get a seat at the table.

[NorthCarolina]

5. I seriously doubt this Pres. has any interest at all

in whatever the Left has to say. He won't entertain their ideas of single payer because they know full well that if that cat were to be let out of the bag, the people would DEMAND it.

[polichick]

9. Yeah, funny how Congress hasn't asked the CBO to score single payer...

I'll bet the prez has never asked to see those numbers either.

[NorthCarolina]

16. I have no doubt that he knows full well it would be the first best plan for America

and solve the looming "Medicare" insolvency. Anthony Weiner knows it, Kucinich knows it, Bernie Sanders knows it, and I have little doubt that all in Congress "know it" too. There is little, if any, doubt that "socialized medicine" is the best solution for offering Health Care to the public, as evidenced by the indisputable fact those nations that have such programs enjoy a significantly higher ranking than the USA by the World Health Organization. Unfortunately the reality of the situation is that enacting a similar approach here in the US is not in the best interest of Politicians who depend on Corporate favor for the greater bulk of their income. Remember, the public can't "buy votes", only Corporations can. For most politicians it isn't about you, me, Aunt Sally, or good ol' John Doe next door, it's about them...it's ALL about them, and doing what it takes to preserve their little niche in a cushy job with outrageous financial benefits to those who conform to the Corporatist agenda. What can you or I offer them that would earn their favor over say a United Healthcare or CIGNA? Your vote? :rofl:

[polichick]

17. Maybe they actually love the Supreme Court's recent decision. nt

[NorthCarolina]

19. Their public offering of disdain is little more than "face time".

An opportunity to draw attention, and ire, away from two wars and a Health Insurance windfall BONANZA looming on the horizon.

[boppers]

29. The single payer problem: "If you like your plan, you can keep it" (Obama, too many quotes to count)

Single payer would eliminate every existing health care plan, running directly contrary to this campaign promise.

[dflprincess]

30. That's supposedly his reason for getting Pelosi to take the Kucinich Amendment out of the House bill

that would have allowed states to develop actual solutions (like single payer) to the health care mess on their own.

He also said we should have the choice of a public option - it was suppose to keep the insurance companies "honest" but he didn't have any problem dropping that idea.

The only bill Obama will support is one that protects the status quo and keeps us sending money to the health insurance companies for "coverage". He doesn't give a damn if we actually have access to care of not.

[freddie mertz]

34. He's broken many of these promises already.

Public option, no taxing HC benefits, etc.

Maybe it's time to rethink and "break" a bad promise, for once.

If he wants ideas, it's progressives who have them.

[bvar22]

39. No. Thats false.

Expanding Medicare would simply offer all Americans one more choice.
No one is forced into Medicare.

[Phx_Dem]

6. No one has ignored the left. Some of their ideas, like single payer,

simply do not have enough support to be competitive.

Weiner also seems to forget that the White House is not writing the bill -- that's his job. He should complaints to Pelosi.

[Enrique]

7. not enough support

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/SunMo_poll_0209.pdf

HEALTH INSURANCE

Americans are more likely today to embrace the idea of the government providing health insurance than they were 30 years ago. 59% say the government should provide national health insurance, including 49% who say such insurance should cover all medical problems.

In January 1979, four in 10 thought the federal government should provide national insurance. Back then, more Americans thought health insurance should be left to private enterprise.

[jsamuel]

8. Medicare expansion has like 80% support

I am tired of the meme that progressive ideas aren't supported. When they are, people continue to deride them like they are unpopular for what is obviously the lack of strength of will.

[NorthCarolina]

21. I think the poster was talking about No Support in Congress, not Public Support for single payer. nt

[Phx_Dem]

36. Don't think so. Where's that poll?

[saracat]

11. Pelos would be likely to support it ,The ones who do not are the Blue dogs and Obama.

[Sebastian Doyle]

24. Not enough support from who?

The PEOPLE overwhelmingly support single payer. And the ones who claim not to, probably would, if they understood what it actually was. Which they certainly will never hear from the whore media, though they are more than willing to push the "commie soshialized medicun" bullshit.

[jefferson_dem]

26. +1

n/t

[freddie mertz]

35. How much public support does the mandate to buy private insurance have?

Not much, according to the polls.

The public option, on the other hand, was and is broadly popular.

And if single-payer was to be openly debated and evaluated by CBO et al, my guess is that that public support would grow quite quickly for it.

But then, we have to remember one thing: Popular support is not really the issue.

It is the control and corruption of our politics by monied interests.

[saracat]

10. He has no intention of listening to the left. he made that clear by hiring Zeke Emmanuel

as Senior Health Care Adviser and by adamantly stating that he refuses to go back to the beginning and will consider only those plans that are on the table so he has no intention of considering even the Public Option let alone single payer.This is political theater to make dems in conservative areas look more like the GOP in order to get them reelected.That is ALL this is. And BTW, when they are reelected, if they are, they will vote like the GOP canceling out any gains we might make.

[polichick]

12. That's an interesting take - I didn't think about the Blue Dog reelection angle...

Just that it seemed like a political ploy.

[ChiciB1]

22. Maybe All They're Trying To Do Is Just PUSH Something Through Just To Say they Did!

For so many of us, trying to follow this HCR is like playing musical chairs. The music starts, everyone runs around, then stops and someone loses their seat. Every time the issue gets re-visited it seems SOMETHING gets lost! What was told and sold to us doesn't look like anything we are seeing now. I fear in the end "we the people" will end up paying MORE rather then LESS. Already people are seeing their premiums being raised, denials are coming down on claims, people are being dropped, and THIS even BEFORE any bill has been passed!!

It's almost a joke what is happening, but unfortunately people are dying because others are playing with their lives! Where's the HOPE?? And the CHANGE looks like it just might cost more than it's worth! I KNOW two couples who have had to drop their coverage because they told me they could no longer afford to pay the price! My own sister who is divorced is paying $800.00 for her insurance now and she's the only one on it! Hard to fathom! My son got a prescription from his doctor for his back pain called skelaxin, not a narcotic, but it cost $302.00 for one month! He couldn't pay for it. So now, instead of the doctor prescribing something else, he has to go back in before the doctor will! It's CRAZY! My husband has sinus problems and his doctor gave him a prescription that our policy doesn't cover, so we either pay out of pocket or just get OTC meds! So I go and buy him medication that I have to sign for and can only get 12 tablets at a time because it has ingredients in them that are used to make meth!

I honestly, and I mean honestly believe they don't really care that much about the citizens of the country as much as they do about whether "something" gets passed! Just get something, and say you did, and that's the gist of it to me!

And then there are the people who won't even KNOW what happened until it actually takes place! I THOUGHT I might have been missing something in the beginning, but I don't think so now.

It REALLY shouldn't be this hard and we shouldn't have to be jumping through hoops for medical care all the time! Actually, I think it's CRIMINAL what some people have to do for medical care, and then they wonder WHY so many people are upset! No, they probably don't wonder WHY!

[dflprincess]

31. He also hired Zeke to help with "reforming"* Medicare and Social Security

The DLC has had both those programs on their hit list for some time now.

*"reform" - a term used by DLCers and Blue Dogs to indicate they are about to screw the working and middle classes again.

[Clio the Leo]

13. I've got an idea FOR the left....

... pass the FLIPPIN' bill. Last I checked, Anthony (whom I adore!) had ONE more vote in Congress than Barack Obama did.

[polichick]

14. Weiner is one of many who thinks Obama hasn't helped the process...

...by coddling Blue Dogs.

[ProSense]

15. Why?

Obama is the entire government, don't you know.

Congress' job is to whine about what Obama isn't doing, not doing their own jobs.

[Clio the Leo]

20. And ask him to hold their hands and do the dirty work...

.... so they can get elected again in November (and that's not directed at Weiner btw.)

[saracat]

32. But Obama is responsible for promoting people like Zeke whose HCR is below

http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/potus-notes/2009... /


In fact, Emanuel's reform ideas are fairly conservative and oriented toward the free market. Mr. Obama is pushing for universal and affordable coverage but does not want to take people off of their employer-based plans. His plan essentially offers a government-run alternative for those who do not have insurance, funded in part by increased taxes on those making $250,000 or more as well as by about $600 billion in cuts (the administration calls them “savings”) to Medicare.

Emanuel thinks the best option would be to abolish the employer-based system and go to a voucher system providing all Americans with insurance paid for through a value-added tax. Dr. Emanuel also proposes phasing out Medicare and Medicaid, arguing that the voucher system will cover the elderly and the poor sufficiently.

“The universal voucher approach does have many elements that ought to appeal to conservatives: fiscal balance, choice, competition, freedom to buy more with your own after-tax dollars and more,” said Victor R. Fuchs, the Stanford professor who co-authored a book with Emanuel in 2008 called “Healthcare, Guaranteed: A Simple, Secure Solution for America.”Jon Gruber, a leading health care economist at MIT, called it “ridiculous and unfair for anyone, least of all conservatives, to criticize Zeke Emanuel on this topic.”

Much of the concern about Emanuel stems from things he's written in the past. The pertinent lines are in my story, but here are links to the 1996 Hastings article, and here is a link to the January 2009 Lancet article. If you want to go in depth on this stuff, read Jake Tapper's two blog posts here and here.The line Emanuel wrote in 1996 stating that those with dementia may not be given the same care as other more productive citizens is certainly alarming, but Emanuel told me yesterday he was not representing his opinion there but was only stating the implications of political philosophies for health care.

[w4rma]

18. He's got Rahm, he doesn't want the "Left" (just our votes). (nt)

[niceypoo]

23. Continue courting sociopaths who want to destroy you

...while ignoring those who put you into office.

Sounds like a winning plan.

[Dinger]

25. K & Rec # 13 (nt)

[branders seine]

27. but that's not bipartisanship.

Listening to the left would be dealing with "assholes" and "fucking retards," according to the administration.

[NorthCarolina]

28. Congress needs more Weiners and fewer Asses. eom

[Mass]

33. K+R - How many times will the White House listen to the GOP who is not interested in solving the

problem?

[pleah]

37. K&R