Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

FrenchieCat

(68,867 posts)
Thu Jan 19, 2012, 03:39 PM Jan 2012

Obama never secretly killed the public option. It’s a myth.

(just thought I would park this article somewhere.....although it has a Nov 2011 dateline)

Did Obama secretly kill the public option?
The question is still an important one for many liberals. The claim lives on to this day, and is still seen as perhaps the clearest evidence from Obama’s first term that liberals ultimately can’t trust him on their core priorities, and won’t be able to trust him going forward.
<>
The background: There were certainly two significant deals that the White House made with interest groups. One was with the drug companies, to leave re-importation out of health care reform. The second, with the hospitals, limited how much ACA would cost them. But some liberals believed that the White House was also out to get the public option from the beginning. This first arose when problem comes when one HuffPo blogger decided that a David Kirkpatrick story in the New York Times and a later Kirkpatrick interview on MSNBC proved it.....
<>
However, Kirkpatrick, as I read it, only confirmed that there was a deal (on costs) with the hospitals, not that it included the public option. He wrote in the original story that there was a belief that a public option would not wind up in the bill. But that was more an assessment of where the votes were going to fall than part of any agreement. There was nothing there to confirm a deal on the public option.
<>
There simply was no reported deal to kill the public option. If you want to blame someone for killing the public option, blame marginal Democrats, who opposed it, and marginal Republicans (especially Olympia Snowe), who initially backed a version of the bill with the public option before deciding that pretty much all of Obamacare was unconstitutional. There’s no reason to believe that Barack Obama sold out liberals on this one.




2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Obama never secretly killed the public option. It’s a myth. (Original Post) FrenchieCat Jan 2012 OP
Have you posted this in the BOG? Number23 Jan 2012 #1
thank you very much for posting that, FrenchieCat! nofurylike Jan 2012 #2

Number23

(24,544 posts)
1. Have you posted this in the BOG?
Thu Jan 19, 2012, 07:41 PM
Jan 2012

That would be great there too.

There’s no reason to believe that Barack Obama sold out liberals on this one.

Shame this will have NO IMPACT on those who are insisting on whining about this years after the fact.

nofurylike

(8,775 posts)
2. thank you very much for posting that, FrenchieCat!
Fri Jan 20, 2012, 05:53 AM
Jan 2012

it can't be repeated strongly enough often enough.

uh ... did i put that correctly? thing is, it can not be said 'too much' or too late.

rec'd



edit to ask if i put it correctly

Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»African American»Obama never secretly kill...