Dem Senators: White House Open To Dropping Public Option
Updated below with denial from Senator Conrad.
Did Rahm Emanuel privately signal to Democratic Senators that the White House is prepared to drop the public insurance option from health care reform in order to get a bill passed? Two Dem Senators now say Emanuel is signaling exactly that:
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel met last night at the U.S. Capitol with Senate Democrats and told them Obama is “open to alternatives” to a new government insurance program in order to get legislation overhauling the health-care system to his desk, said Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota.
“His message was, it’s critical that you do this,” Conrad said.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana said Emanuel urged the senators to seek Republican support and didn’t discourage them from pursuing the use of non-profit cooperatives, an idea Conrad has proposed.
That last line is key: The White House may be signaling that getting a public option is less important than winning bipartisan support. This would undercut Dems who want to bypass the GOP, arguing that bipartisanship as an end in itself isn’t as important as a public option.
Yesterday at his press conference, Obama didn’t rule out supporting a reform bill without a public option. But Emanuel seems to be going considerably farther, actively suggesting that Senators seek an alternative if necessary.
Update: Senator Conrad is denying that Rahm ever said this.
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I think, Greg, that’s as pessimistic a reading of the comments made and what sort of parameters/options/probabilities we might assume were intended or planned.
It seems clear that gathering up a maximal range of opinions and ideas (and not closing off options) is the way Obama initially goes about finding best policies and routes to achieving them.
I am not buying Bloomberg’s framing of the story even if I believe key elements of it. Basically the whole crux of their framing comes from Kent Conrad who is the person pushing the compromise in the first place. And even he doesn’t give a quote that should engender some major concern trolling.
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“Open to alternatives” is supposed to signal he isn’t going to push for a public plan?! Seriously?! Hell he said he is open to listening to ideas about taxing benefits too but I doubt if that happens.
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The next bit of proof is Max Bauchus who is also no great friend of the public option and his strongest statement is they weren’t discouraged from looking at alternatives. Not that they were ENcouraged but that they weren’t DIScouraged. Seems like much ado about nothing if you ask me. Holla at me when Chuck Schumer says something about the Pres being open to dropping the public option and then you might have me.
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But its hard for me to must up any concern over this non story story.
Bernie
Great minds!
Greg
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Now html code isn’t working nor is the dot page breaks. Whiskey Tango Fire?!
Well, if that’s the way the compromise turns out, this is one Democrat who will be registering as an independent and holding onto my hard-earned dollars during the next election cycle. And I say that as someone who HAS pretty good health insurance. Given the public support for meaningful change, there is no excuse for Democrats not passing this.
Now, it may be that Obama is practicing political jujitsu here by saying that, “Look, we tried to compromise, we even offered to drop the public plan, but the Republicans still stood in the way of reform…” That’s what I hope is happening.
Jack Russell. Funny you should mention that, dday put up a post the other day making somewhat of a prediction that it would all play out that way. But he didn’t say it was some plan of Pres Obama’s but just reality finally kicking the Dems in the teeth that the Republicans are not going to come on board no matter what kind of concessions they are given. http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/learn-damn-you-learn-by-dday-something.html
Did they learn nothing fromthe stimulus bill? If they give up real reform to get Republican votes, and then Republicans vote against it anyway, what exactly have they accomplished? It’s time we elected people with spines who are willing to stand up for the people rather than cave in every time the Republicans start to whine about not getting their way. If we wanted them to have their way we would have kept them in the majority!
Now links don’t work either? Greg maybe you should just tell your web folks to put everything back like it was. Like they say you don’t appreciate something until its gone1
Agreed with SGWhite and Bernie. I thought Obama’s response was pretty savvy yesterday. If some other mechanism besides a public option can achieve the ultimate goals of lowering costs and covering uninsured Americans, then the administration is willing to hear about it. Just as with the stimulus, they’re open to other ideas, but those ideas have to be as effective as the public option is. So, no lines in the sand other than evidence of equal effectiveness. “Sure, you can look at a sailboat as a means of crossing the Atlantic Ocean–we’re not discouraging you from examining that method. But if it doesn’t get us there as quickly as an Airbus, then we’re sticking with the Airbus.”
sg and company — again, apologies for the difficulties. I swear we’re hard at work on fixing them. Thanks for your patience.
Greg,
I don’t know if that is true exactly. The coop appears to be losing support, as republicans seem to be against any strong versions of it. It seems that this is similar to Obama’s approach with Iran, extend your hand long enough, but republicans are going to snap it anyways, leaving you with greater leverage, not less.
Bernie and Chris, I get what you’re both saying but it seems to me that these Senators are clearly saying that Emanuel went further than Obama. Emanuel is saying, “get it done, and drop the public option if you have to.”
Greg,
The Bloomberg story you link to has changed their text.
It no longer mentions Baucus at all and cuts WAY BACK on it’s graph on Conrad.
Greg
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I disagree. There is nothing that either Conrad or Bauchus said to give that impression other than the fact that a lot of people cough*JaneHamsher*cough don’t trust Rahm on ANYTHING. Read the characterizations (they aren’t really quotes) of what both Conrad and Bauchus told them again.
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“open to alternatives” and “didn’t discourage” are pretty weak words to build a “he’s tossing the public option overboard” story on.
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And don’t you think its even the slightest bit suspect that this story runs in Bloomberg, whom I doubt supports a public option, just a day after Pres Obama comes out very strong in his defense of a public option?
Great catch I Kant! They sure did change the framing of that story almost totally. Must not have been much fire to that smoke they were blowing.
Greg, with respect, this is a red herring. The use of Rahm’s name conjures all kinds of responses. My first oen was “too clever by half”. Both Baucus and Conrad have zero credibility with me. There is going to be a lot of false stories out there and I hope you don’t become a conduit for some.
On Morning Joe I saw a surprising exchange between Joe and Chris. They were going out it, with the hapless Mike trying to be “wise”. Joe gave his standard spiel about affordability/budget crises/spending. Chris came back with one line: if the President wants it it will get done. All the rest is smoke funneled up the stacks by the insurance industry. Maybe, Greg, you should not send some of this smoke our way.
foster, that was a CLASSIC throw down. I loved how Chris Matthews didn’t let Joe keep bloviating about the deficit and asked him to say flat out that he wanted healthcare reform by the end of the year. He had him speechless and about to blow a gasket. It almost seemed like Tweety had been waiting on that standoff for a long time. When Joe asked him to let him talk Tweety talked over him AGAIN like “f*ck you and your show punk!” I was dying laughing. It comes down to what Matthews said really though, are we going to ***** foot around or are we going to get sh*t done?
That was good on Morning Joe. Chris Matthews also basically said that the Republicans will do anything to whip up fear (big guvmint!) so nothing gets done. It’s broke but don’t fix it.
foster, did you mean hapless Mike or hapless Mika? Cuz Mika is always hapless. Unless the boys are making her “uncomfortable” (Gibbs’s college-era earring and ensuing discussion).
KHinM: Sorry, I meant Mika who is just as annoying and cloying when sucking up to Joe. Stockholm syndrome, anyone? Mike Barnicle is no better. He was a good journalist in his pre-plag days; but he never recovered his mojo. I have had issues with Matthews but today he decided to be “difficult” and Joe blew a gasket. Good for Chris.
I do worry about how to pay for it – and I haven’t yet seen how they’re going to do it.
re: the public option.. isn’t that the whole point? To get the 50million un-insured insured?
Also – I hope to enroll in it, and save the money I pay now. Any details available.. ?
Anyone else planning on using it?
I would really hate to see that happen.
I really hope this is not the case. I think Obama can risk taking a stand on the public option. Maybe not yet. But I think the public is behind him…in the past, that’s been enough.
This is unacceptable. I will not support President Obama in 2012 if a public option isn’t included in health care reform.
You might be interested in knowing that Bloomberg seems to have significantly changed the story at the same link. There is no reference to even White House now.
Let’stop playing politics, forget the bipartisanship, and get this done (with a strong public option) with or without the repubs and Conrad and Baucus. The magic # is 51.
AMERICA’S NATIONAL HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY!
It’s official. America and the World are now in a GLOBAL PANDEMIC. A World EPIDEMIC with potential catastrophic consequences for ALL of the American people. The first PANDEMIC in 41 years. And WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES will have to face this PANDEMIC with the 37th worst quality of healthcare in the developed World.
STAND READY AMERICA TO SEIZE CONTROL OF YOUR NATIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.
We spend over twice as much of our GDP on healthcare as any other country in the World. And Individual American spend about ten times as much out of pocket on healthcare as any other people in the World. All because of GREED! And the PRIVATE FOR PROFIT healthcare system in America.
And while all this is going on, some members of congress seem mostly concern about how to protect the corporate PROFITS! of our GREED DRIVEN, PRIVATE FOR PROFIT NATIONAL DISGRACE. A PRIVATE FOR PROFIT DISGRACE that is in fact, totally valueless to the public health. And a detriment to national security, public safety, and the public health.
Progressive democrats and others should stand firm in their demand for a robust public option for all Americans, with all of the minimum requirements progressive democrats demanded. If congress can not pass a robust public option with at least 51 votes and all robust minimum requirements, congress should immediately move to scrap healthcare reform and demand that President Obama declare a state of NATIONAL HEALTHCARE EMERGENCY! Seizing and replacing all PRIVATE FOR PROFIT health insurance plans with the immediate implementation of National Healthcare for all Americans under the provisions of HR676 (A Single-payer National Healthcare Plan For All).
Coverage can begin immediately through our current medicare system. With immediate expansion through recruitment of displaced workers from the canceled private sector insurance industry. Funding can also begin immediately by substitution of payroll deductions for private insurance plans with payroll deductions for the national healthcare plan. This is what the vast majority of the American people want. And this is what all objective experts unanimously agree would be the best, and most cost effective for the American people and our economy.
In Mexico on average people who received medical care for A-H1N1 (Swine Flu) with in 3 days survived. People who did not receive medical care until 7 days or more died. This has been the same results in the US. But 50 million Americans don’t even have any healthcare coverage. And at least 200 million of you with insurance could not get in to see your private insurance plans doctors in 2 or 3 days, even if your life depended on it. WHICH IT DOES!
Contact congress and your representatives NOW! AND SPREAD THE WORD!
God Bless You
Jacksmith – WORKING CLASS
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