Dem Rep: Rahm Said White House Backs Public Plan As “One Of The Options”
So where are we on the dust-up over whether Rahm Emanuel signaled that the White House would cave on the public plan?
Emanuel met with House Dems yesterday to reassure them that the President remains firmly behind the public option. But it’s still not quite clear what Rahm said or how strongly the White House remains committed to it.
Here’s how Rep. Henry Waxman, who says he was reassured by the meeting, characterized what Rahm said:
“He doesn’t stand by that trigger,” Waxman said. “He said the president and his administration and he are for a public plan as one of the options.”
The claim that Rahm “doesn’t stand by” the trigger is a bit opaque. If it means that Rahm took back his claim that the White House sees the “trigger,” which many see as a back-door way to kill a public plan, as a viable option, that will reassure many Dems.
However, if Rahm said that the President backs the public plan as “one of the options,” that doesn’t really go much further than what the President said yesterday, which left the White House plenty of wiggle room on this question.
In other words, it looks now like Rahm told House Dems that the President strongly backs the public option, but isn’t willing to draw a line in the sand over it. Which, of course, is what Obama has been saying all along.
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In that same RollCall post Rep Scott says the President hasn’t said how he will pay for it nor how much it will cost. Well first of all President Obama DID say how he wanted to pay for at least some of it and that was by limiting charitable deductions for wealthy people on their taxes. The feckless Dems balked at that imminently reasonable plan. And as for saying how much it will cost hell its HIS job to determine how much it costs, not the President. And what does it matter how much it costs if it ends up being deficit neutral? I know that Repubs play the how many zeros game rather than the outcomes game but that doesn’t mean we have to. If any of these people had spines they could be out there selling the damn thing themselves!
I’m a little irritated why, if health care is such a huge priority for this administration, the White House seems completely unwilling to use a bully pulpit or any sort of aggressive leadership on the issue. I understand the idea that they’re learning from the failures of the Clinton attempt at UHC, but doing nothing at all (as they seem to be doing, at least publicly) leaves these decisions in the hands of people like Baucus and Grassley, both of whom are far too tied to the healthcare industry to make decisions with the public interest in mind. Very disappointing. Is the President so worried about his day-to-day poll numbers that he won’t twist any arms at all?
Yeah I mean hell why aren’t they doing a 2 hour special on ABC about health care. Or for that matter why aren’t they doing a televised town hall about it? Why hasn’t President Obama told reporters how ridiculous the argument is that on the one hand the govt can’t run anything right but on the other a public option will run private insurers out of business? And why didn’t President Obama reaffirm his support for a public option yesterday after the WSJ story about Rahm came out?!
Oh wait…..
No one watched the two hour special.
I figure, bend over, cause here it comes. It’s going to cost you and me A LOT. There’s no escaping it.
I hope the public plan is as good as my private plan – then we can all jetison the one we pay for and get the gov’t one – hopefully that will offset the tax increases.
In all honesty, I think the Rahm flap was/is blown way out of proportion. I’m glad to see the outpouring of condemnation if he did indeed say what he supposedly said, but I doubt he said it. Also, there’s no reason any of this should be a matter for debate. The president ran his entire campaign on a reformation of our health care system including the public option. He has an entire congress overwhelmingly belonging to his Party. I really don’t see the hold up, and I used to work in DC.
The meaning of that quote depends entirely on its context. It’s quite possible, for example, that Rahm meant that a public plan should be “one of the options” available in the proposed Health Insurance Exchange, as Obama has frequently said. Or he could have meant something else. It’s unclear, and not worth speculating about.
We need the LINE IN THE SAND. If progressive Dems would take a 1/2 bucket of sand (so they could carry it . . .) and toss it out across the top of the Capitol steps and draw a line in it, it would make every tv show. It would be remembered for ever.
It would make people like me who can not sleep in fear of my Dem’crats jellyfishing up again — it would mean I could take a deep breath. A nap, a nap, my queendom for a nap. If Rahmbo gives away the store, I will spend the rest of my life casting vehement voodoo hexes upon him.
Just as I would honor anti-choice fervents if they would offer to adopt that specific child and raise it thru college, I would honor the healthcare quislings if they would forsake *their* health coverage until every American is covered.
It still rings in my ears: a Canadian entrepreneur and businessman showed me his Canada healthcard saying, “I can go anywhere in Canada and get fixed.” He shook his head in bewilderment and continued, “What the Hell is the matter with you people?” Indeed.