Key Obama advisers indicate openness to pushing health care reform through with just Democratic votes.
Key Obama advisers indicate openness to pushing health care reform through with just Democratic votes.
Bloomberg’s Ed Chen reports that two of Obama’s top advisers — Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod – “may rely only on Democrats to push health-care legislation through the U.S. Congress if Republican resistance doesn’t eventually give way.” For months, the White House has underscored its interest in achieving bipartisan health care reform. But as conservatives remained wedded to an obstructionist agenda, the White House is now conceding that it may have to rely on Democratic votes to pass reform:
“Ultimately, this is not about a process, it’s about results,” David Axelrod, Obama’s senior political strategist, said during an interview yesterday in his White House office. “If we’re going to get this thing done, obviously time is a- wasting.” […]
“We’d like to do it with the votes of members of both parties,” Axelrod said. “But the worst result would be to not get health-care reform done.” […]
“That’s a test of bipartisanship — whether you took ideas from both parties,” Emanuel said. “At the end of the day, the test isn’t whether they voted for it,” he said, referring to Republicans. “The test is whether the final product represented some of their ideas. And I think it will.”
As former Gov. Howard Dean has been arguing, “If Republicans want to shill for insurance companies, then we should do it with 51 votes.” In the interview, Emanuel left the door open to using reconciliation “as an alternative vehicle.”
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Key Obama advisers indicate openness to pushing health care reform through with just Democratic votes.
– - This bipartisanship crap is overrated. Just do it.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:03 amThe test is whether the final product represented some of their ideas.
The only “ideas” the GOP has are to screw everybody and do nothing. Therefore it’s not possible to pass meaningful health care reform whil “representing their ideas.”
July 15th, 2009 at 10:04 amIt is About Time!
July 15th, 2009 at 10:05 amThey should have done this 4 months ago. Screw the obstructionists.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:08 amIt’s about frickin’ time!
July 15th, 2009 at 10:09 amDrudge clearly doesn’t mind lying to his readers, and that’s fine. His readers clearly don’t mind being lied to.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:12 amLOL, that’s sensationalized for anyone else, but actually pretty tame for Drudge.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:13 amDrudge’s dumbass hat seems a bit too tight…
July 15th, 2009 at 10:14 amMan, if we would all just follow the moral and fair example that the Republicans have set we could be in good shape. They always have the best interest of our country in mind.
/snark
By the way, this will happen this way only because the Congressional Republicans have shown that they have no interest in making a good bill or solving problems – they are pinning their hopes on failure and then pointing out that they opposed every possible piece of legislation. President Obama has done more than I hoped to get Republicans on board and to contribute and the (R) leaders (like Boehner), insist on baseless attacks at every turn.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:15 amDo people really pay attention to anything that Drudge spews?
July 15th, 2009 at 10:16 amThe entire bill could be their idea and the Republicans would still vote against it. So why bother including their ideas? In case you haven’t been paying attention, Mr. “Axelrahm”, their ideas are the ones that will bring the bill down. Their ideas are the ones that maintain the status quo. Their ideas are the ones the insurance and pharmaceutical companies want. Their ideas are the ones that bring absolutely no meaningful reform to the problem of rising health care charges in this country.
Stop listening to the Republicans’ ideas and do it the right way. Anything less is a waste of time.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:18 amThe REICH only has the Audacity of Nope, so why bother with them and their OBSTRUCTIONISM……
July 15th, 2009 at 10:20 amI’ve said before: look at what the other industrialized nations are doing (there’s 36 of them with better ranked and lower cost health care than the U.S.); take the best of what they’re doing – i.e. take what works; and put together a plan by and for American citizens.
A well-drafted plan will likely save more than it costs. I say that with one caveat: the retail price of goods manufactured in America should drop commensurate with the fact that health insurance would no longer have to be factored into the cost of manufacture.
Still, the savings realized by eliminating the cost and profits of the insurance industry will be tremendous. (why do you think they’re fighting Universal Health Care so hard – it’s a matter of their survival as an industry) But industries that have outlived their usefullness must change or disappear.
If free market capitalism worked in the health industry, the U.S. would not have a worse health care system than 36 other non-free market industrialized nations.
Think about it.
Now — FIX IT!!!
July 15th, 2009 at 10:20 amWayne A. Schneider,
I agree wholeheartedly. The administration is bending over backwards, watering down the healthcare proposals in an attempt to get some Republican support, and they continue to spit in his eye. Let’s put some real change through the process and get a plan will solve the problems, have every Republican vote against it, and when it becomes a huge success, throw it in their faces.
Then maybe we can get an “opposition” party that is actually interested in good legislation instead of grandstanding.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:22 amactually, i love the drudge headline…
GOBAMA!
just get it done…
July 15th, 2009 at 10:22 amConcur. Screw the Insurance companies, big pharma, and their Republican and Blue Dog butt boys. Get it done. The people demand it.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:27 amRegrettably, only a couple of Republicans in the Senate might realistically support health care. Giving up the public option to gain Republican votes is not worth the tradeoff.
As Former Cigna Exec, Wendell Porter concludes, we need a public option because of market failure.
http://axisofreason.com/2009/07/15/former-private-health-insurance-executive-concludes-appropriate-role-for-government-in-health-insurance/
July 15th, 2009 at 10:31 amThe repiggies are all liars and scum.
Their boy Drudge is a living, breathing lie. He is a deeply closeted gay man,
who has been covered extensively in the past several years on BlogActive.Com.
Check out their archives:
http://www.blogactive.com/
There are quite a number of other deeply closeted gay men in the repiggie ranks, who are outed on that blog because of their intense and deep hostility
July 15th, 2009 at 10:32 amto full civil rights for gay men and women who live openly.
Should this come to pass with solely Democratic support, no one can say that Repugniscum were not given the opportunity to write their own bill, to debate the bill, to suggest, argue and say “no.”
July 15th, 2009 at 10:36 amThey object to everything right down the line, in favor of their campaign donors over the public who elected them.
If it means that the only way this can pass is to ram it through with no repugs on board, so be it. They sealed their own fate.
Why is it the Party of “NO” can take OUR country into a Trillion dollar War of choice in Iraq and not blink, but to INVEST a Trillion dollars over ten years to help ALL Americans they scream like they were castrated?
INVEST in Universal Single Payer Health Care, it lasts a lifetime!
Without a PUBLIC OPTION, there is NO health care reform!
July 15th, 2009 at 10:37 amPlease don’t vote for any of these repiggies. They are all obstructing the possibility of a public option in health care for our fellow citizens.
Those repiggies are not patriots. Their behavior amounts to treason, as they would allow an increasing number of our citizens to exist without any sort of access to health care. Our society will face a major catastrophe should that occur.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:40 amBlue Dogs are the key. The question is hard they bargain for their corporate for-profit healthcare sponsors. Repugnican’ts are a pitiful sideshow.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:45 amObstructionism is alive & well in the Republic Party.
Lead, follow or get the Hell out of our way!
America has important work to do, the leadership to get it done and the clock is ticking.
Bipartisanship assumes some level of cooperation. To date, we’ve seen absolutely none from the Neocan’ts.
Those defending corporations are paid well…by corporations.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:46 amEnough with this bipartisan nonsense! Just get health care reform done now! Rethuglicans do not care about Americans. They’re too busy with extra-marital affairs and such!
July 15th, 2009 at 10:46 amIt’s party first country later for the GOPers. Democrats need to use reconciliation and MOVE ON!
There is no point to attempts at bipartizanship. Republicans are fascists, and fascists cannot be reasoned with. Fascists must be removed from power at all levels of government.
Obama, stop wasting your time with Republicans. We have given you a super majority, and your majority will only be increasing over the next few years. No more bipartisanship!
July 15th, 2009 at 10:49 amThe GOP is NOT going to support health care reform.
Once everyone accepts this law of nature (at least for this year, at this time, at this moment in history), getting health care reform passed will be much less traumatic. We won’t have to listen to this or that bad idea being floated in the hopes 1 or 2 might do the right thing.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:51 amNote that Democrats with 60 seats in the Senate are talking reconciliation to pass with 51 votes. The problem isn’t Repugnican’ts. It’s within the Blue team, specifically “moderate Democrats”. I like to call them Corporacrats.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:55 amI don’t think trying to work with Republicans is a bad thing. Trying is the keyword here… in an argument, if someone shows themselves willing to allow a few concessions, they’re going to look a lot more reasonable and I think the average person will pick up on that.
This whole thing makes the Democrats look smarter and more “mature” than the Republicans and I imagine that’s part of the long-term goal here.
I guess the key is not working in concessions that defeat the original purpose. It seems like after attempting to work together, the Democrats are now moving to “we’ll do what we think is best” mode… and even that still makes Republicans look ridiculous and shallow and greedy because of the Democrats’ previous actions.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:55 amThe Dems should move ahead on repealing DADT, no matter how much opposition comes from the holy roller repiggies.
Who granted the holy rollers the property deed to this nation?
Since when does it belong to them?
July 15th, 2009 at 10:58 amGit her done! Screw the rethugs.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:00 amTo quote Judas Priest:
Ram it down, ram it down
Straight through the heart of this town
Ram it down, ram it down
Razing the place to the ground
Ram it down
Also, anyone catch Coburn being a complete jackass during the hearing today? And Sotomayor hinting that she’d shoot him? :-D
Seriously. Coburn refuses to believe in an inherent right to privacy in the constitution (4th Amendment), but believes in an undeniable right to self-defense.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:02 amHopefully, this is a sign that the Dems are starting to feel their power. There seems to be a different mood now that so many of the “stars” of the Republican party have crashed and burned. The resignation of Bible Spice may have been the last straw.
The poor GOoPers really have nothing left. They are turning on each other and cracking under pressure. And, even though the Dems numbers have slipped a bit under the strain of the weak economy, the numbers for the GOP are catastrophic.
The remaining GOoPers are not a smart bunch but one would think that some of them may break ranks in an attempt to save their political careers.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:08 amCoburn is a toady for the holy roller dominionists. He works to subvert our open society.
Coburn wants an evangelical theocracy in this nation.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:08 amAnd why does TP’s headline state that relying on Democrats alone is “pushing health care reform through” – THE DEMOCRATS ARE THE MAJORITY and in a democratic republic, majority rules (within certain limits). Get health care done and move on to the next problem.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:10 amDear President Obama,
you have made a noble effort to gain bipartisanship. In return, the repubs would stall, demand concessions (which you would then give), and ultimately still vote against the bill which had everything they asked for.
In the meantime, the importance of healthcare for all is imperative – both from a moral standpoint but also as an economic boon to the USA; imagine the improved bottom lines of companies when healthcare is already provided – not to mention the fact that those with insurance subsidize healthcare for those without insurance.
So, like Nike, please “Just do it!”
July 15th, 2009 at 11:15 amThe Republic Fascist Party does not have any good ideas, so why bother with caring what the fcuk they think about anything?
Name one good thing any Repuke has done for the country in the last 30 years…I give you time to think it over.
Fcuk the Republic Fascist Party
July 15th, 2009 at 11:16 am60 Blue seats is nine more than 51. The problem isn’t with Repugs. You’re being “framed” by Axelrod & Emanuel. They think the public is stupid.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:33 amThe experiment with bipartisanship has been completed. The repukes have proven yet again that they have no interest in what’s good for this country, but are only interested in protecting their corporate fat-cat bankrollers in the conspiracy to bleed dry the American worker.
End of experiment. Time for action. Move forward without the repukes, and let them eat our dust while we put back together the country that they and their facsist corporate controllers have destroyed over the last 8 years.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:40 amThe Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has just passed health care reform legislation that contains a public plan option.
Which puts the lie to certain TP posters’ assertions, that the Senate dems were overwhelmingly in the pocket of the healthcare industry, and that the single payer option was dead, for that very reason. They should offer an apology to the rest of us who have had to listen to them smear democrats, and for their chicken-little attitude.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:52 amDear Dems:
Don’t let the Republicans bully you into some false “bipartisan” compromise. 73% of the American public wants this. The other 27% still think Bush was a good President. They never let you play in the sandbox when they were in charge. As Rush Limbaugh used to like to say when the Republicans were in charge: Elections have consequences. America voted you in to get this done. It has been 15 years since Health Care Reform failed in 1994 due to pressure from the insurance agencies and the fear tactics of the right. Now is the time.
Sincerely,
July 15th, 2009 at 11:53 amThe American Public
This is ‘DEMOCRACY’, at it’s worse. The Party of “NO”, are doing every thing they can to STALL the Health Care Bill.
Yet, they claim, nothing is being done…(HYPOCRITES)
There is no “BIPARTISANSHIP” with these Clowns.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:55 amCOProgressive says:
Why is it the Party of “NO” can take OUR country into a Trillion dollar War of choice in Iraq and not blink, but to INVEST a Trillion dollars over ten years to help ALL Americans they scream like they were castrated?
INVEST in Universal Single Payer Health Care, it lasts a lifetime!
———————————————————–
I thought that this comment needed to be repeated.
It is quite hypocritical, convenient and telling that those on the right choose to attack “costly” health care reform which would not only benefit all Americans, but also small and large businesses, who without the added cost of health care for their employees could better compete on the global stage, BUT these same morons remain silent to the COST of the Iraq war.
I am not just talking about the $1 trillion dollar price tag of the war today, but also the estimated $1 trillion it will cost in the future for rebuilding our military, caring for our injured soldiers that nobody seems to want to talk about.
The question to be asked is simple: What would you want your children and grand children to be paying for in the future the cost of two failed wars and a perpetual failed war on terrorism or health care for all Americans?
July 15th, 2009 at 12:21 pmThe Republics are running scared right now in the wake of the upcoming CBO report that is going to show that including a public option in health care reform not only lowers the cost but may actually make it “revenue neutral”.
To hell with the obstructionist Republics. When 72% of Americans want something and that includes 50% of Republics, then Congress needs to git it done!
July 15th, 2009 at 12:28 pmBriseadh na Faire says:
A well-drafted plan will likely save more than it costs. I say that with one caveat: the retail price of goods manufactured in America should drop commensurate with the fact that health insurance would no longer have to be factored into the cost of manufacture.
That’s one thing that I will never understand. Why in the hell are not the corporations in this country screaming for a nationalized health care system? Having it would make them so much more competitive it boggles the mind that they are fighting tooth and nail to stop something that would help their bottom line.
July 15th, 2009 at 12:31 pmpete says:
Hopefully, this is a sign that the Dems are starting to feel their power.
I think it’s more a sign that they are starting to feel the wrath of their constituents. But WTH, whatever works is fine by me.
July 15th, 2009 at 12:34 pmstateofthedivision says:
Note that Democrats with 60 seats in the Senate are talking reconciliation to pass with 51 votes. The problem isn’t Repugnican’ts. It’s within the Blue team, specifically “moderate Democrats”. I like to call them Corporacrats.
So, you would rather the Democrats act just like the Republics where they threaten their members who don’t follow the party line? I’m sorry, I would rather have the messy Democrats who think for themselves than become the Borg like the Republics. If we don’t like the way the Blue Dog Democrats think, we can vote them out of office.
July 15th, 2009 at 12:36 pmBilbo, I, too, have been questioning that for years. Business should have been on board with this a long time ago.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:03 pmHow come this healthcare post hasn’t drawn the attention of Star M?
July 15th, 2009 at 1:40 pmDuh. The Dems just had an epiphany that the Republicans are obstructionists? If the Dems had pushed through the health care legislation and told the Republicans they will not be allowed to delay the bill, the health care bill would have been done. The Dems need to stop trying for bipartisan support. They should craft the legislation and if the Republicans want to have a part, they have to play along with the Dems rules. The Republicans have been stalling the health care bill while the insurance companies were gearing up their PR campaign. Now Obama is engaged in the health care bill again and the Dems need to keep up the pressure on the bill. The Senators who are going to vote against the bill because they are taking money from the insurance companies can be pressured with targeted ads in their states.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:52 pmGreat idea. Shitcan the Publican amendments, shitcan the Publicans, and the Elephant they rode in on.
July 15th, 2009 at 2:56 pmBilbo, who said anything about threatening? Blue Corporacrats act like Repugnican’ts. Evan Bayh, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Kent Conrad, etc.
Don’t worry Dirty Max Baucus is leading the charge on the Senate Finance Committee bill. Blue Corporacrats might hold their nose and vote for it.
July 15th, 2009 at 4:01 pmRight now, the federal deficit is $1 trillion and may end up being $2 Trillion by the end of the fiscal year. Can we afford all of this debt an health care?
July 15th, 2009 at 9:32 pmDo you really trust the people who handle AMTRAK, DMV and social security to handle your health care?
It can take 9 months to get treatment in the UK for arthritis. Do you think the government can do better?
HAHAHAHAHA
You said Drudge.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:36 pmScrew the republicans. Get the job done, get Americans health care and if the republicans DARE to attempt to take it away the public will be up in arms. The republicans are down, it is time to kick them until they never get up again.
July 16th, 2009 at 3:05 pm