Hoyer: ‘I’m for a public option, but I’m also for passing a bill.’
Hoyer: ‘I’m for a public option, but I’m also for passing a bill.’
Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said at a news conference that “there’s no way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option.” But Pelosi’s refusal to back down on the issue was undermined a bit today by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who said that while he supports the public option, he was open to abandoning it to get a bill passed:
Hoyer (D-Md.) emphasized his support for a public option in a teleconference call with reporters, but also said he wants to ensure Congress sends a bill to the president.
“I’m for a public option, but I’m also for passing a bill,” he said. Democrats believe the public option is necessary, he said, “but we’ll have to see.”
He added that there are many other important parts of healthcare legislation approved by three committees in the House.
Hoyer’s comment echoes HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ recent claim that the public option is “not essential,” which the Obama administration has aggressively sought to walk back.
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I hate to be nit-picky, but Pelosi isn’t from Pennsylvania, folks.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:01 pm
It’s as if the Dems stay off-message on purpose!
August 21st, 2009 at 4:02 pmDo you guys want to keep your jobs and your healthcare come next election?
Better do what those pesky voters want then.
Dems are being sooooo weak on this, WTF is going on?
They are letting the Fascists control the debate, control the MSM, this is insane.
How many Dems to Fascists do you see on Shows and the News…what a ratio of like 1 dem to 10 Fascist Pigs?
Better step it up Dems, or I will be voting Green in the future.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:05 pmBUDGET RECONCILIATION, Steny!!!
August 21st, 2009 at 4:06 pmA familiar pattern has re-emerged. The Republicans in Congress are ruthless, and the Congressional Democrats are gutless.
Our system of creating legislation is a double-edged sword. All too often, in order to accommodate enough people to support a bill, it becomes bloated with amendments and neutered by the need to compromise.
This can also impact the leaders of the cause — the danger in trying to be all things to all people is that, more often than not, you end up being nothing to no one.
With respect to the GOP’s position on reform legislation, it’s not about the living will provision, or co-ops, or even about the public option. It never was.
It’s about finding ways to stir up fear and hatred for everything and anything with Obama’s stamp on it. If the Congress removes or separates these items from the current health care reform proposals (out of sheer cowardice), the health insurance lobbyists and the GOP will simply find some other passage in the reform legislation to distort and exploit.
The Democrats in Congress need to grow a spine and stop trying to kiss the GOP’s butts. All that they will attain from their endeavors will be a case of bad breath.
No public option? No single-payer proposal? Big mistake.
Since single-payer appears to be off the table, with respect to calling this health care REFORM, without the public option there’s no there there.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:07 pmPutting aside that a strong public option is what 77% of the PEOPLE want——
You are an extremely lousy negotiator if you tell the opposition what you are willing to give up, when you are only just beginning the negotiating.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:08 pmIf you just want to pass a bill, then pass one that changes the name of my local post office.
If you want to reform health care, then reform health care.
Coward!!
August 21st, 2009 at 4:10 pmOne can only conclude that the Democrats are totally incompetent, lacking in backbone or already corrupt and in bed with the special interests. This is just pathetic. I am tired of hearing certain progressives saying that this is just a plan to have the Republicans hang themselves.
Go look at the polls. Obama and the Democrats are on a fairly consistent downwards track. Is it any wonder when they put up such a gutless performance. At this rate, the Republicans will make substantial gains in 2010 because the Democrats have caved on every issue. The President contributes his own distasteful lack of passion in defending his position.
Seeking bipartisanship is one thing. Rolling over while the other side mocks you and obstructs every policy initiative just demonstrates a lack of leadership and competence to govern.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:10 pmA bill without a public option hasn’t got a prayer — progressive Democrats will jump ship in droves, and the Republicans wouldn’t vote for it anyway, no matter what was in it. Their objective (as they’ve made very clear) is to make sure that NO health care reform of any kind sees the light of day, because they believe this failure would be the “Waterloo” that will destroy Obama’s presidency.
The only hope is to cut off the Republicans as if they’re gangrene (which they are), and focus on a bill that will get all the Dems (including as many Blue Dogs as necessary to get something meaningful passed) on board. Eliminating the public option will destroy any hope of meeting this goal.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:12 pmThere are bills being passed every day.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:14 pmFrom the healthcare lobbys to politician campaign coffers.
Well, I guess he had better hear from us that it IS essential!
August 21st, 2009 at 4:15 pmI’m afraid this is more than just gutlessness on the part of the Dems. I’m posting this link from Glenn Greenwald, and to be honest (and it saddens me tremendously), I’m beginning to believe that his analysis is what progressives are really dealing with.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/08/21/obama/index.html
August 21st, 2009 at 4:16 pmSurrender monkey!
August 21st, 2009 at 4:19 pmWhy must everything be the way the repiggies want?
I didn’t vote for the repiggies, and they lost so heavily in November.
Why are the repiggies calling the shots?
August 21st, 2009 at 4:22 pmQuit screwing the pooch, Hoyer. Just bring HR 676 up and ram it through. If the Republicans don’t like it, they can always repeal it the next time they have a majority.
Just like they did Medicare.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:24 pminteresting nexus-
rahm will give away everything meaningful for reform in order to have corporate money flow to dems instead of repubs, thinking that will boost races in 2010
but, by hollowing out real reform, the voters won’t be voting for dems in 2010, regardless of the size of the war chest.
what kind of crazy strategy is this?
August 21st, 2009 at 4:24 pmWell i have been on this roller coaster ride now>>>>> so i have decided to wait until the summer break is over and see what is being worked on. As right now there really isn’t a bill just purposeful s, i am also hoping that this is all smoke and its a ploy to drive the wing nuts to beat there chest and think they are still running things.
key is the words I Hope
August 21st, 2009 at 4:25 pmuh oh… if you’re gonna use quotation marks, you better have it correct…
that’s not what sebelius said, exactly…
“What’s important is choice and competition,” Sebelius said today on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The public option itself “is not the essential element.”
and, while i don’t completely agree with that, i think she was trying to calm the waters of socialist fear by claiming that the public option was only a small part of the total plan of reform…
but it IS a most important, essential element of that plan…
August 21st, 2009 at 4:25 pmIf health care reform does not include at least a public option, then it is not health care reform.
If you do not pass real reform, you have passed nothing. If you were complicit in the collapse of the Democratic Party in the face of laughable opposition, it will be remembered in the upcoming midterms. If you cannot do the job, we will find someone who will.
Might as well pass a non-binding resolution declaring today to be national “well we sorta tried but it was hard” day.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:26 pm“but we’ll have to see.”
i just don’t get the lack of spine…
the people are for it… they will back the congress dems who pass it…
and they will abandon them if not.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:26 pmMiss Molly, sorry for the late response in the Foxx thread!
August 21st, 2009 at 4:29 pmA note to all members of Congress and the present administration who were elected.
The best way to keep your job is to do it and do it well.
And a side note to the President…fire Rahm.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:30 pmThe insurance companies want favorable regulation and subsidies for reform. A bill without a public option is a bill that insurance companies can have their legal departments interpret loopholes and get around over time.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:32 pmweasel words…nuff said…
August 21st, 2009 at 4:32 pmYo! Steny! 75 – 80% of America wants you to make damned sure a strong public plan option is part of whatever passes in Congress.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:32 pmListen UP!
The corporate masters have squealed every time a law was called for that would benefit the general public.
Social Security…evil. It will destroy America and bankrupt us!
Medicare…ditto.
Medicaid…ditto.
Veterans Benefits…ditto.
When the Republicans say ‘we’ can’t afford something it means the corprocrats will lose profits. They haven’t been right on any piece of legislation they have opposed that was designed to help the vast majority of Americans.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:35 pmI love it when demos implode.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:38 pmHoyer wants to pass a bill because doing nothing is not an option.
Washington is the place where people DO SOMETHING.
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/08/20/war-what-war/
August 21st, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Is it just me, or is Steny starting to look like Herman Munster??
August 21st, 2009 at 4:43 pmIf you haven’t followed the link provided below yet, I recommend reading it.
@ #12 winddancer says:
I’m afraid this is more than just gutlessness on the part of the Dems. I’m posting this link from Glenn Greenwald, and to be honest (and it saddens me tremendously), I’m beginning to believe that his analysis is what progressives are really dealing with.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/08/21/obama/index.html
August 21st, 2009 at 4:43 pm.
Q U E S T I O N:
Why would Hoyer favor passing a bill that is NOT strong?
.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:47 pmThis says it all.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:48 pmI bet, since it’s your only hope.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:51 pm#14 evangenital,
Because if the Democrats didn’t defer to the Republicans, who could the Democratic Leadership say is leading the way?
.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:51 pmIf you think that Republicans (or Democrats) really call any shots, you’re not looking closely enough.
George Carlin? You still up there? Tell this person how it really is.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:53 pm
We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph!
– Mell Brooks
August 21st, 2009 at 4:56 pmWell, thank you very much Mr. Hoyer. It’s good to know that if passing a meaningful piece of legislation gets too tough for you, you are willing to pass something completely meaningless and useless simply so you can say you did something. Because clearly, the point of all this is simply to pass a bill…who cares about reforming health care? Really all that matters is saying you passed something. What that something IS is apprantly irrelevant.
August 21st, 2009 at 4:59 pmThis will fill in the blanks. That explains what is happening with the public option and why.
Now, regarding Hoyer: I don’t think the Democrats understand how important the base is during a midterm election. They never have! We’ve seen this game played in the 90’s. The Repubs and DLC convinced Clinton to throw his base under the bus, while they riled up their base with a lot of lies about Clinton. Then, when the midterms rolled around the Dem base stayed home and the Republican gun-toters went to the polls and run the Dems out of town. This is just more of the same. The Repubs and DLC conning Obama into pitching his base under the bus, while telling their people that Obama is a socialist, Nazi (failing to understand one can’t be the other), illegal alien unqualified to be president. Just the same old same old stupid Democratic BS. And, guess what? The party of 20% approval will totally cream the Dems in 2010—the media will then claim we are, pretending 20% suddenly became something more, a center-right nation. Round and round we go.
August 21st, 2009 at 5:11 pm#35,
August 21st, 2009 at 5:18 pmDoesn’t this link work?
Funny, that didn’t happen after you were exposed in the 20’s after hoover. You didn’t regain power for 60 years and you had to lie, cheat and steal to do it then.
There are bigger cycles than just the last few rev’s fella and you guys have screwed the pooch for a long time.
August 21st, 2009 at 5:26 pmYou’re not helping, Steny.
Be quiet.
August 21st, 2009 at 5:27 pmHoyer rolled over on FISA, and now he’s bending over on health care reform. If the dems cave on the public option, they’ve seen the last vote from me. And that includes Obama.
August 21st, 2009 at 5:29 pmAlejandro says:
George Carlin? You still up there? Tell this person how it really is.
“Forget the politicians…. It’s called the American Dream cause you have to be asleep to believe it . . .”
One of the only posts of yours that I can agree with.
August 21st, 2009 at 5:35 pmAt the risk of sounding ghoulish and inane…
resurrect Tip O’Neil!
He was the last GOOD speaker of the house, and he’d make a fine majority leader, too.
RIP, Tip…
August 21st, 2009 at 6:01 pmHoyer: “I’m for a public option, but I’m also for passing a bill,” he said.
Translation: A bacon, lettuce and sh!t sandwich is better than a plain ol’ sh!t sandwich.
Just saying . . .
August 21st, 2009 at 6:13 pmWind dancer thanx for the link , as always greenwald is right on the money .I quote ,
August 21st, 2009 at 6:28 pm“Even for those of you who are willing to justify anything and everything in the name of “political pragmatism,” betraying clear campaign commitments and constantly exhibiting contempt for core progressive values doesn’t seem to be working very well as a political strategy, to put that mildly.”
How about LBJ? He was so good at arm twisting that most Democrats and some Republicans in the House during the 50’s could not hitchhike.
August 21st, 2009 at 6:33 pmRahm Emmanuel is likely to turn out to be a boon for a 3rd party challenge in the mid term elections . Wise up democrats your losing the progressive vote !
August 21st, 2009 at 6:41 pmIf the Democrats pass a bad bill just so they can say they passed a health care bill, it will come back to haunt them big time. If they can’t pass a good bill with a robust public option, they need to stop now and leave it up to “we the people” to have our say in 2010. If that results in our getting rid of the Blue Dog Democrats and electing more progressive Democrats in Republican seats, then come back and pass a good bill.
August 21st, 2009 at 7:04 pmconservative guy says:
I love it when demos implode.
You mean like the number of people who call themselves Republican falling from 31% to 20% in a little more than 6 months?
August 21st, 2009 at 7:08 pmNo, the Regressive Repiggies are not calling the shots. It just appears like that. It is the corporate masters that are calling the shots. And since the Regressive Repiggies are more loyal to the corporate masters than the Dems are, it seems as if the Dems are afraid of the Regressives.
Democrats have nothing to fear from the Regressive Repiggies, because the latter have approval ratings very close to single-digits. The corporate masters however, are a different beast altogether.
August 21st, 2009 at 7:22 pmThat is like a teacher saying, “I’m for the correct answer, but I will also accept any shlt that the student writes”.
August 21st, 2009 at 7:26 pmwhirlaway says:
——————————————————————————–
evangenital says:
Why are the repiggies calling the shots?
No, the Regressive Repiggies are not calling the shots. It just appears like that. It is the corporate masters that are calling the shots.
August 21st, 2009 at 7:31 pmBINGO !!
Here’s the thing – I’d rather have honest government. Believe what you believe, but quit playing shadow games about what that is vs. what you think is expedient.
Sure, I’d like “something to pass” as compared to nothing. But more importantly I want D’s to actually try to pass what they say they believe in. If it fails then it fails, but at least that puts everyone on record regarding whether they are willing to fix health care, and that in turn allows us to make a better-informed vote in 2010.
I want R’s to actually use their brains and quit pretending to be ignorant faith-based dogmatic followers of an economic philosophy that has never existed, does not exist, and would never work: anarchy. The ones who have brains lie to the ones who don’t, and it leaves them simply being unreasonable, useless and irrelevant to any rational political process.
Finally, I want to trade the DINO’s for the RINO’s and have an honest count of where that leaves us.
Democracy only works when the information is out there. The average voter can’t vote their conscience if the people they’re voting for misrepresent theirs.
August 21st, 2009 at 7:56 pmAlejandro at 35, thank you for that Carlin gem.
It felt good to give you an up vote.
August 21st, 2009 at 9:39 pmSteny needs to pass a stone. His donors are showing.
August 21st, 2009 at 9:53 pmAnd I just sent an e-mail to the White House that said:
So, now we have Steny Hoyer going out on his own, contradicting Nancy Pelosi? Should I retract my e-mail?
August 22nd, 2009 at 4:38 amIf the Dems don’t get the public option in the bill, then they can kiss goodbye to the progressive base.
They will have lost any shred of credibility if they cave to the repiggies.
Progressives will not tolerate a surrender to the repiggie beast.
If we had wanted to continue all the repiggie crap, we would have voted for the repiggies.
We didn’t.
Screw the repiggies, and screw the teabagger trash.
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:21 amA LEADER MUST SUPPORT THE TEAM AT LEAST AS MUCH AS THE TEAM SUPPORTS HIM
Please forgive me for using a sports analogy. If the head coach of FC Barcelona deferred to the opposing players and or malcontents on his own team as much as President Obama is pointlessly/counterproductively deferring to obstructionist Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats, he would be fired on the spot for undermining the loyalty, hard work and morale of the players on his team who would run through walls for him if he asked them to. The “players” most willing to run through walls for President Obama are the progressive/liberal Democrats.
If President Obama doesn’t STOP talking about people like Grassley and Bacchus as if they were revered members of HIS TEAM, he’ll lose the respect of the players who played their hearts out to win his presidency.
President Obama’s polling numbers have fallen because HE isn’t being as loyal or as aggressive in trying to WIN the fight for legitimate health care/insurance reform as the CORE players on HIS REAL TEAM are!
If he fails to get AT LEAST a STRONG PUBLIC OPTION passed, HE will have squandered the opportunity of our lifetime to make a “genuine improvement” in the quality of life of millions of struggling American families in a foolish attempt to “persuade” corporatists to grow a conscience, and teabaggers, birthers and deathers will take credit for defeating what they will describe as a “weak-kneed Socialist Democrat”.
August 22nd, 2009 at 12:43 pmSteny-Do your job. No more B.S.,start making people follow the mandate. Did we or did we not win the election. Live up to the mandate from the people. Be the people making policy. Enough of the excuses,get the votes for health care.If not you can go be a lobbyist with Tom Delay.
August 22nd, 2009 at 2:11 pmBut those pesky blue dogs will have none of it. The democraps can’t close the deal. With Caspar Milquetoast, I mean, Obama in charge forget it. If Dick Cheney and Bush had Obama’s majority, I guarantee they would sell anything they want. LOL.
August 22nd, 2009 at 4:14 pmwhatizz says, “Steny-Do your job. No more B.S.,start making people follow the mandate”.
That’s a good idea. Maybe we should put some pressure on Barack Obama as well. Obama said that the public option isn’t necessary any more. Is Obama selling us out?
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:36 pmkwsventures says:
Is there an echo in here? No th echo comes from between Kpunkass’ ears. KPunk you are astonishingly stupid. Rush told you to vomit that so you pushed the same thing in every thread. Why dont you just STFU and stop embarassing yourself. Your ignorance is monumental. We all know that what it really is. You CANCERvatives HATE America and just LOVE to see Americans DIE. Since healthcare reform could save American lives you want none of it. YOU want to party when you know you helped to KILL Americans. That is the kind of un-American piece of garbage you are.
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:24 pmHoyer, you sound like a damn idiot. Like you just want to sign anything, no matter WTF is in it. Fight for the right thing, screw the republicans.
August 22nd, 2009 at 10:47 pmSteny Hoyer would be for passing gas if it didn’t offend anyone.
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:47 pmIn other words, Mr. Hoyer is all for stinking up the place.
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:49 pm