Saturday, September 5, 2009

The Wednesday Arm Twister - The Goal is Control

Photo: AP








Prez BO has scheduled a rare joint session of Congress to twist their arms into doing SOMETHING about health care. This farce is taking place at 8 PM ET on Wednesday, Sep. 9.
Apparently, he is going to tell them that they better do SOMETHING, because doing NOTHING will make him look bad, just like Clinton back in 1994. Well, he's probably not going to say it quite like that, but they'll get the gist of it.

And Politico has made the enlightened revelation that, since Obama is "such a gifted orator", he should be able to schmooze the public into believing that health care reform is gonna be great. But, if after hearing the great ONE's speech, the polls on health care don't go up, well the people really don't want his reform after all. You think?

What Obama will say in his address - by Mike Allen and Carrie Budoff Brown - POLITICO

Excerpts (my comments in red):

The contents of the speech were still being debated over the weekend. But here is what POLTIICO gleaned from conversations with top aides:

1) Obama will lay out a specific “President’s Plan,” even if he doesn’t call it that. He will make clear what’s on the table, and what he thinks warrants further debate, such as how to pay for the overhaul.

2) He will not confront or scold the left. “This is a case for bold action, not a stick in the eye to our supporters,” said an official involved in speech preparation. “That’s not how President Obama thinks. The politics of triangulation don’t live in this White House.”

3) He will make an overture to Republicans. “He will lay out his vision for
health reform – taking the best ideas from both parties, make the case for why as a nation we must act now, and dispel the myths and confusion that are affecting public opinion,” the aide said.

4) He will make it clear that it’s better to get something done than nothing done. White House aides are reminding fellow Democrats that the party lost Congress in 1994 by failing to do any health reforms at all after Congress balked at the original plan by President Bill Clinton. “The lesson of 1994 is not that tackling health reform is politically perilous. It’s that failing to act could be devastating,” said Dan Pfeiffer, the White House deputy communications director.

5) Obama will try to reassure the left about his commitment to a public option, or government insurance plan. Aides said they are rethinking what he will say about this. He wants to thread the needle of voicing support for a public option, without promising to kill health reform to get it. But liberal congressiona
l leaders were unyielding in their support for it on a conference call he held from Camp David yesterday, and he's going to meet with them at the White House early next week.

Obama is not sure how he is going to present his plan.

“He has not made any final decisions about the ultimate form of his package,” said a top official guiding speech preparation. “Anyone that tells you that he has is misinformed or extrapolating from conversations. He’s going to talk to a lot of people between now and next Wednesday (I bet none of them will be "right wing racist extremists" from the town halls). The president is in the process of deciding what his ultimate proposal will look like."

Also undecided: whether to follow up with nitty-gritty legislative language
(legislative double-talk). “He has not made decisions about how he’s going to move this thing forward,” said a top West Wing aide.

Of course, the Progressives are pressuring Obama to keep the public option in his plan.

Obama spoke by phone Friday with the leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
(What...no "white" caucus?)


“Caucus leaders expressed absolute commitment to the idea of a robust pu
blic option, and said they expect it to be part of any health care reform legislation,” the groups said in a statement. “The president listened, asked many questions, and suggested that the dialogue should continue.” (The goal is control.)

Now what really scares me is that Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) has been working with the democrats on a bi-partisan bill along with two other Republican senators (Grassley & Enzi). We all know Senator Snowe is one of the BIGGEST RINOs in the Senate. Look at what the Wall St. Journal has to say below.

Wall St. Journal:
Health Reform Update: Recalling Clinton, Snowe Reports

Politico also says the latest Democratic strategy for getting an overhaul through Congress will depend on at least two “wild cards” falling into place. One is getting Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine to join the 59 Senate Democrats in a filibuster-proof majority for the bill (that shouldn't be too difficult...she's another Arlen Specter). The other is the ability of President Obama to convince progressives to keep supporting reform efforts even if a public-insurance option isn’t part of the plan (BS - it will be part of the plan in some form...maybe as a trigger). (The White House says he still backs the option idea.)

Snowe comes in for additional attention today on a proposal that could help bridge the wide divisions over the public option. The New York Times reports she is backing a new government corporation that would offer health insurance in any states where fewer than 95% of the residents had access to affordable coverage. ( Why? For only 6% of the people???)

This does not give me a warm, fuzzy feeling. Snowe is one of the RINO turncoats who voted for the porkulous bill. She is a time bomb who goes off and falls in line with the Dems whenever it really counts for them. The NYT piece explains the "trigger mechanism" that Snowe supports.

...White House officials are investigating a possible compromise under which the government would offer its own health plan only if private insurers failed to provide affordable coverage. (And believe me...the government will make sure they fail.)

The idea of such a backup plan or “trigger mechanism” has emerged in negotiations between the White House and the one Republican willing to engage with them on the issue, Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, on whom the White House rests its hopes of finding a middle ground.
(The White House is depending on a RINO...swell.)

This is not good. This is just another way to get a government plan put in if for some reason the private companies don't live up to the reforms the government imposes on them. If the government says the private companies don't make the grade, it "triggers" the government plan. How convenient.

And so the saga continues.

I want to know why a RINO is ALWAYS involved in these things. It never fails.

I need a drink...
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

13 comments:

  1. I think, like many, that the dust healthcare reform--government-run--stirred up was a real turning point the likes of which we've never seen (at least I haven't).

    This was probably the first time since even campaigning for President that Obama truly felt he was in trouble and couldn't do whatever he wanted simply because people liked him. He was forced to face the reality that, despite the mainstream's grossly overstated leanings, not everyone was willing to pledge their loyalty.

    He forgot, along with Alexrod and Emanuel, that the entire country wasn't partisan and would not "play along" with right-vs.-left wars.

    This is the first time that Obama's caving for the sake of legacy and reelection over agenda. And that's a victory for America!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Leader has his ego in this thing and won't let go. He feels his cult of personality will pull him through. Who am I to suggest it won't? He crawled out from under a rock, scammed and slithered his way into the White House. He's a charlatan of no small ability.

    We simply have to be vigilant.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm with you, TCL: The trigger mechanism is what they will try to get in here and then make it so hard for the insurance industry to improve itself, the trigger will be destined to kick in.

    And still:

    No deregulation of the insurance industry to force competition and drive down premiums.

    No tort reform (like that done by the state of Texas, where the economy is "booming," in the sense that it's not shrinking as much as the national economy, and doctors are moving in droves).

    Without those two options...in the very least...there is no such thing as "reform" in Obugger's, or any Democrat's, plan.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So, it looks like Obama is getting ready to deliver his own health care bill to Congress. Atta boy, Present Ă˜bama! Cut to the chase, if no one wants it passed, get it passed yourself..
    Who needs the Congress when you have a White House to draft-and eventually pass- its own legislation. What's next, a take over of the Judiciary? (With all the shady characters in the WH, it would simplify things considerably, too) Constitution? We don' need no stinkin' Constitution. In other words when things are not going well... resort to the Communionist way.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My Collective Response to Josh, Dr. Dave, LL & BTJMO:

    Obama always plays both sides of the fence and tries to "seem" open to all ideas. Now he's between a rock and a hard place.

    The far left want the public option and they are his biggest contributors. The more moderate are willing to go with something like the "trigger mechanism" because they know it will eventually propel the government take over, so Obama still gets his way. And no matter how many times Obama says he is going to work with the Republicans and take their ideas and plans into consideration, he never will (tort reform, etc). Sure, he wants us to think it's a BIG DEAL that they are working with Republican Olympia Snowe...WOW...she is nothing but a RINO who should follow the steps of Arlen Specter and just join the Democrat party.

    Obama is realizing that his wonderful personality and messiah-like aura is wearing a bit thin. People are wising up to the "wise guy". But I don't think he's caving. He just wants us to think he is being open minded and flexible.

    I think he's realized that it may have been a mistake to leave it up to others to write the bill. Now maybe he thinks if HE writes the bill, everyone else will "cave" and go along with it because of who HE is...the most fair and generous ONE.

    I have news for Prez BO. The people who have been against a government takeover of health care and can see the writing on the wall, are not going to believe he is willing to give that up. The plan he puts forth may not have a government insurance option in force at the start (the trigger may be the answer), but once Obama gets his foot in the door of our health care, the game is over. He knows that and that is his goal...CONTROL...and he won't let the Constitution get in his way.

    We can't let our guard down for one minute.

    Thanks so much for reading the post and commenting.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Obama is a narcissist. He's going to say, this isn't about me, while in the next sentence make references to my health care bill. The man needs to start listening to what the American people want, instead of pleasing his ego and his lust for power by ramrodding this bill through congress. Snowe must be booted out next election. Let her join the Democrats too, like Specter did. She always seems to bite the Republicans in the butt anyways. She stands for nothing but opportunism, like Specter.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Teresa:
    It will be interesting to see the outcome of the Wednesday speech. It will probably sway the wimpy Dems who have been teetering on the fence, but they will have to go back and answer to their constituents.
    Snowe must GO.

    ReplyDelete
  8. If he ever had a chance with me, he would lose me at #4. It is not always best to do something rather than nothing.

    In this case, given public sentiment, it would seem he wishes to do something for the sake of his liberal legacy, at the expense of any rational thought process as well as the future of America.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sol:
    Getting the progressive agenda through is all he's worried about. He's the vehicle to get the work done that they've been planning to do for a very long time.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Minnesota Congressman Keith "Hakim" Ellsion (the Oath to the Qaran guy) was on TV this weekend speaking about how the various non-white caucuses, have teamed up support ObamaCare.

    "What...no "white" caucus?" was my reaction exactly.

    ReplyDelete
  11. BRTR:
    Could you imagine the outrage if they came up with a "white" caucus?

    ReplyDelete
  12. This idiot Van Jones is actually the Democrats' problem. Dems like Howard Dean are still defending him. Apparently, Van Jones mentioned the 9/11 Truther statement signing when he filled out the questionnaire for the czar position. Yet apparently no one in the Administration batted an eye enough to disqualify him on that basis.

    Dems have a big problem when they can't anticipate why anyone in the mainstream let alone on the right would see anything questionable in Van Jones' character. That's because so many on the left agree with Van Jones' world view. So they are blind to anything questionable about him, and baffled at "what's the big deal?"

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lone Voice:
    There are many zombies in this country who followed Obama not even realizing what the hell he was talking about. They wanted "change" and they didn't pay attention to what kind of "change" Obama was planning. And the state run media is on the same page as Obama, so the less they expose of his "real" agenda, the better.

    I don't think the Left ever believed that the Right would finally decide to fight back. Two can play at this game and the stakes are too high for us not to fight back.

    The Progressives have been working at this takeover for years...a little at a time. Too bad it's taken this long for the American people to wake up and take action. If it weren't for the alternative media (Beck, Limbaugh, etc.), we would still be in the dark.

    Thanks for commenting.

    ReplyDelete

Respectful comments are always welcomed and appreciated. Trolls will not be tolerated.