General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: By Ditching the Public Option, Obama Gave His Enemies a Path to the Supreme Court [View all]slipslidingaway
(21,210 posts)Lieberman was voted out of office.
He does make a convenient scapegoat though
Interesting to remember who gets strong armed and who does not, again watch what is done and not done.
White House as helpless victim on healthcare
http://www.salon.com/2009/12/16/white_house_5/
"... The White House is playing hardball with Democrats who intend to vote against the supplemental war spending bill, threatening freshmen who oppose it that they wont get help with reelection and will be cut off from the White House, Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) said Friday. Were not going to help you. Youll never hear from us again, Woolsey said the White House is telling freshmen.
Thats what the White House can do when they actually care about pressuring someone to vote the way they want. Why didnt they do any of that to the centrists who were supposedly obstructing what they wanted on health care? Why didnt they tell Blanche Lincoln in a desperate fight for her political life that she would never hear from them again, and would lose DNC and other Democratic institutional support, if she filibustered the public option? Why havent they threatened to remove Joe Liebermans cherished Homeland Security Chairmanship if hes been sabotaging the Presidents agenda? Why hasnt the President been rhetorically pressuring Senators to support the public option and Medicare buy-in, or taking any of the other steps outlined here by Adam Green? Theres no guarantee that it would have worked Obama is not omnipotent and he cant always control Congressional outcomes but the lack of any such efforts is extremely telling about what the White House really wanted here ...
... UPDATE III: Over at Politico, Jane Hamsher documents how Joe Liebermans conduct on the health care bill provides the perfect vehicle to advance the agenda of the White House and Harry Reid. Consistent with that, she independently notes media reports that White House officials are privately expressing extreme irritation with Howard Dean for opposing the Senate bill as insufficient, but have nothing bad to say about Lieberman, who supposedly single-handedly sabotaged what the White House was hoping for in this bill.
"UPDATE IV: Immediately prior to the MSNBC segment I just did video for which I will post when its available an NBC reporter explained how Robert Gibbs used his Press Briefing today to harshly criticize Howard Dean for opposing the health care bill. Why did Gibbs never publicly criticize people like Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman and the like if they were supposedly obstructing and impeding the White Houses agenda on health care reform (this is a point Yglesias acknowledges as a fair one)? Having a Democratic White House publicly criticize a Democratic Senator can be a much more effective pressure tactic than doing so against a former Governor who no longer holds office..."
Compare and Contrast: How Obama Treated Dennis Kucinich vs. Blanche Lincoln
http://firedoglake.com/2010/03/17/compare-and-contrast-how-obama-treated-dennis-kucinich-vs-blanche-lincoln/
"In light of todays news, its worth revisiting a post about Obamas supposed powerlessness over Congress by Matt Yglesias.
I think theres something perverse in the very strong desire I see among liberals to make problems in congress be about anything other than congress. Its just not in the power of Barack Obama to make the senate anything other than what it is. [...] These are men and women who have amassed a great deal of power, and who ultimately need to decide on a daily basis what it is they want to do with that power. If they choose to use it for bad ends, then blame them for that, not Obama or his teams alleged lack of familiarity with the United States Senate.
Cue Blanche Lincoln.
President Barack Obama hasnt reached out to lobby Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) on healthcare, the senator said Wednesday.
I made it pretty clear that I didnt support reconciliation, Lincoln said during an appearance on MSNBC, by way of offering a reason as to why the president would let her be. I think he hates asking people to do things contrary to what their gut tells them to do"