Did We Elect Rahm Emanuel President Or Barack Obama? Or Are They The Same Animal?

Obama might as well take advice from Chuck Grassley or Jim DeMint

If you missed me on Air America last night, you missed one disheartened and confused Howie. Nicole Sandler and I were both still reeling from the barrage of information seeping out of Rahm Emanuel's office that appears to indicate that Obama is toying with the idea of throwing in the towel on genuine health care reform and just accepting something that will please corporate donors in the Insurance Industry, on Wall Street and in the Medical-Industrial Complex. (Remember, that between them, these sectors have donated $62,333,062 to Obama's short political career-- more than to any other person who has ever served in Congress... ever... and that even includes John McCain, who started serving somewhat after a right-wing lunatic murdered Abraham Lincoln.) Emanuel is counting on these same big money special interests to underwrite Obama's re-election bid in 2012. He doesn't want any nasty progressive legislation to hurt their feelings.

And so, yesterday afternoon, Rahm's little elves started reaching out to progressive advocacy groups Inside the Beltway with a new message: "tamp down on the public option stuff." They, and their superiors, may have been shocked by the unanimity and vehemence of the response, a verbal expression equivalent to that finger of Emanuel's that he lost heroically fighting off a Syrian tank on the Golan Heights in a pastrami-slicing accident at a Chicago deli after a strenuous ballet lesson.

Today's NY Times, however, highlighted Administration officials insisting that Obama "had not given up on the provision that has attracted the most fire from the right, a proposal for a government-run competitor to private insurers, although many Democrats say the proposal may eventually be jettisoned."

Pushback from progressives started with a broadside from House Energy & Commerce Committee member and Progressive Caucus health care chair, Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) who, once again, expressed her unequivocal support for a robust public option.

"Many Members of Congress-- including myself-- will not support a health insurance reform bill that does not break the strangle hold of private insurance companies on our health care system. That requires that consumers have a choice of a robust public health insurance plan. I will support nothing short of a robust public health insurance plan upon implementation, no triggers. I believe Congress will pass and the President will sign such a bill this Fall."

Right on the heels of Schakowsky's statement the Progressive Change Campaign Committee started a petition drive among Obama's most dedicated supporters. And MoveOn.org sent their 5 million members petitions to sign that read: "President Obama, we're counting on you to fight for bold change on health care-- including a strong public health insurance option. It's the key to breaking the stranglehold that private insurers have over our health care system.

Making good on his campaign commitment to bring real change to Washington is the most difficult as well as the most necessary part of reforming our health care system.

HMOs and health insurance companies are fighting to kill the public health insurance option. Republicans have made it clear that they don't intend to help reform health care. And some conservative Democrats are so afraid of standing up to special interests that they are pushing for the weakest version of reform.

But the worst thing would be to pass a big reform bill that doesn't really change things. There's only one thing that's really going to cut costs, provide real security and peace of mind to the millions of Americans who are suffering, and take on the big insurance companies who have complete control of our system. That is the public health insurance option.

During his campaign, President Obama often said that he believed that change had to come from the bottom up-- not from the top down.

So right now, at this critical moment, it is up to all of us to speak out and let President Obama know what millions of Americans across the country want.

Speaker Pelosi was pretty firm late today too: "Any real change requires the inclusion of a strong public option to promote competition and bring down costs. If a vigorous public option is not included, it would be a major victory for the health insurance industry... A bill without a strong public option will not pass the House. Eliminating the public option would be a major victory for the insurance companies who have rationed care, increased premiums and denied coverage."

This afternoon the co-chairs of the Progressive Caucus, Lynn Woolsey and Raul Grijalva sent Obama another letter, on behalf of their 83-member caucus, reiterating that without a robust public auction, there is no health care reform. "We continue to support the robust public option that was reported out of the Committees on Ways and Means and Education and Labor ad will not vote for a weakened bill on the House Floor or returning from a Conference with the Senate. Any bill that does not provide, at minimum, a public option on the Medicare provider system with reimbursement based on Medicare rates-- not negotiated rates-- is unacceptable..."

So far so good, right? Maybe. Not all Democrats seem to be holding as firm. Even some of the ones in the safest Democrat districts who have vowed to back the public option seem to feel a need to start wriggling out of their commitments. This afternoon The Hill carried a cautiously worded message from Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra (CA) that seems to indicate that he's already contemplating the possibility of throwing in the towel.

“I think when the president next week addresses a joint session of the Congress, we’ll have a good idea of the direction this country can go on healthcare reform. When the president gives us a good outline and a clear path on where to go, I think all members, senators and House members alike, will try to work within that framework. Every one of us has our goals, every one of us has our bottom line. But at the end of the day, what the president would like us to do is the most influential comment here, because we have to try to get something done, and the president is the most powerful voice on trying to get us somewhere."

Let's hope other progressive members are made of sterner stuff and take their commitments more seriously. Anthony Weiner sounded better on MSNBC this afternoon. Maybe it's why netroots donors thanked him with over $10,000 last week.




And over on the Senate side, where many view the conservative operating majority of all the Republicans and a dozen DLC reactionaries as the biggest roadblock to reform, Sherrod Brown says he is still confident that in the end a real reform bill can pass. "The most important thing is the public option. I don't know for sure if I would support it with out a public option but it would be hard to get there.... We're not going through this to write some namby pamby bill so we can check a box and say we did health care reform.... If the insurance companies are satisfied with this bill it's not a good bill. It's clear that if the major interest groups line up for this bill it's not doing what it's supposed to go."