This just in from Violet: The lid has been blown on Obama's secret deal with Big Pharma (doubtless one of many, many secret deals in this whole mess): the White House promised that healthcare reform would specifically exclude any option for Medicare to negotiate lower prices on prescriptions or import cheaper drugs from Canada.
Yes, the media is partially to blame for the healthcare clusterfuck, but not entirely. Not even mostly. Obama himself has run this thing into the ground with rookie mistakes, including keeping secrets from his own damn party. You know, there's something to be said for electing political veterans with experience in shepherding complex legislation through Congress. LBJ was that kind of president, and Hillary would have been as well. Obama? Very good at speeches, astroturfing, and making sure everything is printed in Gotham font. Actual government? Not so much. In a meeting on healthcare reform, Rahm Emanuel calls progressive Democrats "fucking stupid" for advocating, uh, healthcare reform. Okay, you know what I just said about rookie mistakes and thinking you're still on the campaign trail? Times a billion, dude. Times a billion. http://tinyurl.com/mn2qlv http://www.reclusiveleftist.com/2009/08/08/welcome-charlie-foxtrot/ --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jst...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "raunchydog" <raunchydog@> wrote: > > > > Lots of rhetoric and diddly squat about a public option. > > I think he's describing what he's pretty sure he's > going to get, and not promising anything he's > uncertain about. The provisions he lists are > just crucially important. > > He's said over and over again that he would like a > public option. I don't see any reason to think that > he really *doesn't* want it. But there's *huge* > opposition to it, and he'd rather get what he > outlines here than have the whole thing go down in > flames because he's insisted on a public option. > > I don't know whether he could have gotten a public > option if he'd been more forceful, but I seriously > doubt it. > > I don't know whether it would have been better had > he put together a bill, handed it to Congress, and > told them to pass it, a la the Clintons, but he > obviously thought that wasn't the way to go, that > he'd be able to get more of what he wanted if he > instead told Congress what he wanted and had them > draft the bill. > > I think he's doing the best he can against very, > very tough odds. Whether it's good enough, whether > it's the best that *can* be done, isn't clear yet, > at least not to me. >
