Obama Mobilizes on Health Care: Keep on Working
EmailFrom Sunlen Miller and Rachel Martin:
President Obama appeared at a pair of fundraisers for the DSCC/DCCC this evening in Miami, raking in $1.5 million for Democrats.
The president made no mention of Sen. Reid’s decision today to include a government-run health insurance option in the final health reform bill to be considered next month on the Senate floor. But he did briefly remind the audience that there were times during the health care debate — like back in August — when some said health care reform was dead.
“If you’ve have been following what has been happening in Washington, all the naysayers, you remember?" he said. "I mean back in August, ‘Oh, this thing is dead, it’s terrible.’ … And what do we do? We just keep on working.”
The president said he is confident — in part because Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is so confident — that health reform will be passed this year.
The message to Democrats in the crowd was to mobilize in the final push on health care.
“It’s not going to get easier here on out, it’s going to get harder,” the president said. “Now is the time when all the special interests say, ‘Oh, this is really going to happen and we might lose some of our profits,’ and they start paying big lobbyists, and they start twisting arms. And that is why all of you are so important.”
The president said they have to push and mobilize to make this a done deal, and intimated that mobilization has greater sway than his own voice on Capitol Hill.
“I promise you, members of Congress listen to you a lot more than they listen to me. And so the more that you guys are mobilizing and organizing and understanding our job is not done, it's barely begun, the better off we’re going to be,” Obama said.
Bringing back his fighting words of the 2008 presidential campaign, the president noted that he doesn’t rattle, and he may be skinny but he’s tough.
“I know that the battles out there seem bruising and you know people say mean things about me. And folks are worried, you know, and I try to explain to them … just because I’m skinny doesn’t mean that I’m not tough. I don’t rattle," he said. "You know, I’m not going to shrink back. Because now is the time for us to continue to push and follow through on those things that we know have to be done. And haven’t been done for decades.”
Echoing other campaign themes, the president said that hope is not just having “blind optimism, “ or wishing for things to “magically” happen — it’s having confidence that if you work hard, are willing to overcome setbacks and “stare at each other in the face,” that something is achievable.
– Sunlen Miller and Rachel Martin
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Not a single American has any idea what is in the Seanate bill that Harry Reid announced today. There have been no public hearings on it, nor any debate. Reid used terms such as “opt-out” of which no American today knows the meaning.
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 26, 2009, 10:50 pm 10:50 pm
Not a single American has any idea what is in the Seanate bill that Harry Reid announced today.
Fascist Hyena | Oct 26, 2009 10:50:36 PM
Speak for yourself. Many Americans have been paying attention to the Senate and House bills and have a very good idea of what is in the bill. It’s not like it was written from scratch in the last 5 days. And many of our duly elected representatives know exactly what is in the bill.
Shouting your willful ignorance from the hilltops doesn’t do much to support your argument.
Posted by: jhw539 | October 26, 2009, 11:01 pm 11:01 pm
The cost will easily exceed a trillion dollars. Medicare reimbursement rates to docs are cut by 25% and then left there forever.
Good luck finding someone to treat you for free.
Obama said that insurance companies were “wildly profitable” over the last ten years. It is an outright lie and yet no one in the lapdog media has bothered to note it or ask Obama about his lie.
jhw- would you mind paying for my health insurance next year?
Posted by: drjohn | October 26, 2009, 11:14 pm 11:14 pm
The most transparent administration ever promised to debate health care on C-Span.
Maybe they hoped we wouldn’t notice that most of it went on on behind closed doors.
If the Public Option is so great why hasn’t Obama fought for it?
Posted by: ollie | October 26, 2009, 11:18 pm 11:18 pm
jhw- would you mind paying for my health insurance next year?
drjohn | Oct 26, 2009 11:14:35 PM
I already have to pay for your ER treatment if you decide to freeload. It won’t be any different after healthcare reform, except a mandate would REQUIRE that you at least pay something.
Posted by: jhw539 | October 26, 2009, 11:22 pm 11:22 pm
Maybe they hoped we wouldn’t notice that most of it went on on behind closed doors.
ollie | Oct 26, 2009 11:18:59 PM
Were you out of the country over the summer? I cannot remember another bill that has received as much vigorous public debate as this one in decades.
Posted by: jhw539 | October 26, 2009, 11:23 pm 11:23 pm
jhw539
Why are you so angry?
Your guy won.
The Democrats have a supermajority.
That should make you happy.
Are you worried that it may not last long?
Sounds like you have no confidence in Obama. I can see why.
Posted by: kyle | October 26, 2009, 11:23 pm 11:23 pm
I agree with Fascist Hyena. The Worst Congress Ever put political timing calculations ahead of the nation’s interests and tried to cram down a dreadful bill. In doing so, they ejected the crucial first stage necessary for intelligent change: deliberation, hearings and review. Since then they have only continued to with the Frankenstein they first built in those back rooms, tweaking here and there.
I will be doing everything I can to rid my state of the “duly elected representatives” that vote to enslave my nation to this beast of a bill.
Posted by: Carol | October 26, 2009, 11:28 pm 11:28 pm
The Public Option, Trigger, Opt out.
It’s dead, it’s alive.
Pelosi must have Public Option–Obama will sign anything.
What a circus.
Posted by: millie | October 26, 2009, 11:29 pm 11:29 pm
Why are you so angry?
kyle | Oct 26, 2009 11:23:44 PM
Actually I’m usually pretty amused reading through these posts. When I want intelligent debate I’ll call my dad.
Posted by: jhw539 | October 26, 2009, 11:35 pm 11:35 pm
Obamacare will still leave millions without health care.
But Obama will declare victory and still call it universal health care.
I think he daydreams about the day he can sign that bill no matter what is really in it. His legacy is what really counts.
Posted by: hank | October 26, 2009, 11:40 pm 11:40 pm
“I cannot remember another bill that has received as much vigorous public debate as this one in decades.”
What bill? Neither you nor anyone else has seen the bill to which Reid referred today, and there has not been a single second of debate on it or hearings about it. Tou have no idea what is in it–if indeed it has been written–and neither does any other American.
If you disagree, tell us where to find it online, and at what page the description of the opt-out provision first appears.
Put up or shut up.
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 26, 2009, 11:41 pm 11:41 pm
What bill? Neither you nor anyone else has seen the bill to which Reid referred today, and there has not been a single second of debate on it or hearings about it. Tou have no idea what is in it–if indeed it has been written–and neither does any other American.
Fascist Hyena | Oct 26, 2009 11:41:06 PM
So not a single aspect of the bill has received a single second of debate. No one has heard any debate about the public option, Medicare Advantage, taxes on Cadillac plans, fines to mandate coverage, an insurance exchange, Congress using the exchange system, coverage with pre-existing conditions, etc.
We are a representative Democracy and our representatives will have all the time they need to read it – or at least a majority will or they can vote no. They have certainly received a generous helping of their constituents opinions on all the key issues. Sorry if I’m not swayed by your insinuation that the system that has worked for centuries in this country is suddenly nefarious and evil.
Posted by: jhw539 | October 26, 2009, 11:52 pm 11:52 pm
Read Robert J. Samuelson in the Washington Post today.
Posted by: tanarg | October 26, 2009, 11:57 pm 11:57 pm
“So not a single aspect of the bill has received a single second of debate. No one has heard any debate about the public option,”
You’re avoiding the issue–there is little doubt that some aspects of this bill (again, if it has even been written) have been discussed, but no one has a clue what has been agreed to, and that is precisely because the Democrats don’t want you to know.
Tell me, under what circumstances may a state opt out? If a state opts out, what are the consequences for its taxpayers?
Is there indeed a public option (Nancy Pelosi seems to want a different name for it)? How, exactly, will that option be structured? How will the premiums be determined? (Don’t bother to give me your answers, just refer me to the website where I can read Mr. Reid’s bill.)
How will the CBO know its cocts before it knows which states are in or out?
And when can we see it?
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 27, 2009, 12:19 am 12:19 am
It is time for a President who isn’t dirty.
It is time for Palin
Posted by: Obamacrat for Palin
best funny post of the day, thanks, got a really big chuckle out of it
will she quit again before her time tho’?
inquiring minds want to know
Posted by: Oh Yeah | October 27, 2009, 12:54 am 12:54 am
We can continue to delay any decision on help for our troops but health care is such a big emergency it really is what is to define Obamas presidency so we must push it thru before anybody can really read it or have true debate on what is actually in it behind closed doors
Posted by: earl | October 27, 2009, 7:30 am 7:30 am
It’s time to crush these evil Blue Dog Democrats who are standing in the way of HealthCare reform, which the people overwhelmingly voted for last November.
Posted by: Pete PUMA | October 27, 2009, 8:26 am 8:26 am
The President says he is skinny, but he is tough. now there are two great reasons to remember! Remember also that since day 1 of his administration..hell, maybe back to his campaign…we have heard about the great savings we can make in getting rid of the waste, fraud, and whatever in Medicare….why, there is enough money there to pay for a big chunk of the non-Medicare crowd’s “new” health insurance (.don’t call it health care…nobody’s spent much time on that) program. As a citizen…as a Taxpayer…as a voter, may I ask just one question (recognizing that I probably won’t get a straight answer out of Washingon), but here it goes:
FOR MONTHS WE HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE WASTE, FRAUD, AND GOD KNOWS WHAT ELSE WHICH EXISTS IN MEDICARE…AND PROBABLY MEDICAID, WHAT IN HELL HAVE WE BEEN DOING ABOUT IT IN ALL THIS TIME? MOST THINKING PEOPLE TRY TO C O R R E C T PROBLEMS WITH WHICH THEY ARE FACED. I guess we don’t do things like that in Washingon?!?!?!?
Posted by: justj joey | October 27, 2009, 10:34 am 10:34 am
The collapse of the Democratic campaign for governor of Virginia speaks volumes – chapters, anyway – about what the body politic is trying to tell Barack Obama’s Democrats.
They’re learning, painfully, that campaigning without George W. Bush is baffling, frustrating and scary. Worse, it offers a preview of what the congressional campaigning will be like next year. One Obama doorbell ringer, working neighborhoods in Northern Virginia for Creigh Deeds, says even the promise of free pizza can’t lure faithful Democrats to a rally.
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 27, 2009, 10:37 am 10:37 am
Remember when Republicans promised– swore!– not so very long ago, that the GOP would offer an actual real written out and caucus-supported alternative health reform plan (unlike the handful of Republican-backed “bills” sometimes mentioned here that have gained no widespread support or traction by the GOP as a whole or even the caucus in Congress) Didn’t they say their plan would prove beyond a doubt that the GOP is not only NOT the “Party of No” but also serious about legislating and governing. And remember how they claimed that voters would finally have an opportunity to see two clear approaches to the issue — one from each party — and could then decide which side offered the better solutions?
Yes, I remember that to and have to ask… WHAT SOLUTIONS?
132 days since the commitment was made and counting….
No wonder fewer and fewer conservatives call themselves Republicans and have taken to calling themselves independents or simply “conservatives.”
I’m glad I voted for folks who actually do something and try hard to deliver for the American people with the long range in view.
p.s. to Fascist, you’ll be able to study the Democrat’s bill and the opt-out public option after the CBO scoring.
Posted by: Alyson | October 27, 2009, 10:57 am 10:57 am
Interesting article.
Posted by: Mike | October 27, 2009, 11:13 am 11:13 am
speaks volumes – chapters, anyway – about what the body politic is trying to tell Barack Obama’s Democrats…
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | Oct 27, 2009 10:37:43 AM
Not really according to recent polling.
70% of likely voters say Obama is “not a factor” in ther choice. Only 15% say opposition to Obama is a factor, while 14%, say support for him is a factor.
71% percent say it makes “no difference” if the governor is from the same political party as the president.
Obama’s approval rating in Virginia is 54%, in line with most national polls.
Posted by: Alyson | October 27, 2009, 11:17 am 11:17 am
Dirty Harry Reid pushes Opt-Out provision…..seriously??
And again I say unto you, it is easier for Michael Moore to go through a needle’s eye, than for states to opt out of ObamaCare.
There will be countless additional funding measures attached so as to ensure that if states opt out, they’ll go even more broke than they already are.
Technically states can opt out of federal education guidelines and run their own public schools any way they see fit — as long as they don’t mind losing millions in federal funding that states have come to depend on.
Technically states can opt out of the federal drinking age and set their own legal age for the consumption of alcoholic beverages — as long as they don’t mind losing millions in federal highway funding.
Hospitals also receive plenty of federal money. Guess what’s going to disappear if your state “opts out” of ObamaCare?
Posted by: Health Czar | October 27, 2009, 11:41 am 11:41 am
Let’s see, which one polls better? Public option? Nope. Competitive option? Possibly. Consumer option. Bingo. People are dumb.
Posted by: Axey | October 27, 2009, 12:08 pm 12:08 pm
=== Neither you nor anyone else has seen the bill to which Reid referred today===
And whatever is in there, Schumer says Reid won’t let them talk about it. So anytime someone says “the bill”, they aren’t paying attention to their own party reps.
Posted by: Axey | October 27, 2009, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm
Just remember that Obama, Barney Frank, Russ Feingold, HHS Kathleen Sebelius and many other far left liberals are all ON RECORD stating a public option is just the first step towards single payer. Yet the deceit goes on.
Posted by: Woody | October 27, 2009, 12:59 pm 12:59 pm
Yet the deceit goes on.
Posted by: Woody
if you mean Republicans and the insurance cabal.. yep.. yer right on that ….
republicans are so desperate to win anything, or even be thought of as ‘normal’,.that a winning bingo card is now ‘proof’ that the Dems are ‘in trouble’ …
Posted by: Oh Yeah | October 27, 2009, 1:06 pm 1:06 pm
Oh Yeah:”republicans are so desperate to win anything, or even be thought of as ‘normal’,.that a winning bingo card is now ‘proof’ that the Dems are ‘in trouble’ …”
Could you decipher that one for me? I’m no Republican so you can slam them all you want.
BTW, I noticed you did not dispute my point that Obama, Frank, Feingold, et. al. are all ON RECORD stating a public option is just the first step towards single payer. You can throw in Jacob “The Architect” Hacker and the 90 cosponsors of H.R. 676. Yes indeed, the deceit goes on. There is no dispute here, the end game is single payer which polls below 20%, yet they have the audacity (yes, audacity) to call the public option bill a “competitve bill”.
Posted by: Woody | October 27, 2009, 1:27 pm 1:27 pm
Awesome! That evil racist rightwinger Joe Lieberman is up to no good again!
—Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday that HE’D BACK A GOP FILIBUSTER of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL.
Lieberman, who caucuses with Democrats and is positioning himself as a fiscal hawk on the issue, said he opposes any health care bill that includes a government-run insurance program — even if it includes a provision allowing states to opt out of the program, as Reid’s has said the Senate bill will.
“We’re trying to do too much at once,” Lieberman said. “To put this government-created insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt. I don’t think we need it now.”
Lieberman added that HE’D VOTE AGAINST A PUBLIC OPTION PLAN “EVEN WITH AN OPT-OUT because it still creates a whole new government entitlement program for which taxpayers will be on the line.”—
Heckuva job, Harry!
Posted by: Joementum | October 27, 2009, 2:58 pm 2:58 pm
September 9, 2009 Obama said,
“One more misunderstanding I want to clear up – under our plan, NO federal dollars will be used to fund abortions.”
OBAMA, YOU LIE!
October 27, 2009:
–Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said Speaker Pelosi is not pleased with his effort to change abortion-related provisions in the healthcare bill being crafted by the House.
During an interview on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” show, Stupak said he is undeterred in trying to ENSURE THAT TAXPAYER DOLLARS DO NOT PAY FOR ABORTIONS. Stupak, who opposes abortion rights, acknowledged that some in his party are upset with his public campaign to change the bill.
“The Speaker is not happy with me,” Stupak said.—
Posted by: Health Czar | October 27, 2009, 3:44 pm 3:44 pm
Kathleen Sebelius and many other far left liberals
Posted by: Woody | Oct 27, 2009 12:59:21 PM
Sebelius is a “far left liberal” now.
You peeps don’t understand what a far left liberal is. Too funny. And what an out of whack sense of the continuum.
Posted by: GwenTenn | October 27, 2009, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday that HE’D BACK A GOP FILIBUSTER of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL.
***
Lieberman, Lieberman, Lieberman … who gave that guy the gavel. LOL. Steve Benen goes through the dude’s positions on this since June– they are ever-evolving and change every month. No worries, they’ll change again next week as it will be November.
In fact, look at this… an update. What Lieberman actually means is he won’t filibuster on the front end– getting the bill to the floor for debate– but he might on the back end–as he’d rather strip the public option out of the bill if possible.
Posted by: Alyson | October 27, 2009, 5:36 pm 5:36 pm
“In fact, look at this… an update. What Lieberman actually means is he won’t filibuster on the front end– getting the bill to the floor for debate– but he might on the back end–as he’d rather strip the public option out of the bill if possible.”
Posted by: Alyson | Oct 27, 2009 5:36:57 PM
ROTFLMAO! You pathetic little Obama internet community organizers are spinning like Iranian centrifuges.
Posted by: Joementum | October 27, 2009, 8:52 pm 8:52 pm
The public option with the state opt-out provision is the best way to implement this. We need affordable health insurance for the working poor and a lot of the middle class, as the premiums go up faster than wages do!
Posted by: Lydia | October 27, 2009, 9:14 pm 9:14 pm
I loved this delightful description by the left-winger Dana Milbank in the WaPo:
“Then there was the small matter of lacking the votes to pass the public option. ‘Do you feel 100 percent sure right now that you have the 60 votes?’ CNN’s Dana Bash inquired. Reid looked down at the lectern. He looked up at the ceiling. He chuckled. He put his palms t’gether as if in prayer. Then he spoke. “My caucus believes strongly there should be health-care reform’ was the non sequitur he offered. … Of course, everybody knew that Reid didn’t have the votes. That’s why he was standing there alone, a Gang of One. As Democratic aides described it, the moment had less to do with health-care policy than with Nevada politics — and one vulnerable senator’s justifiable fear of liberal anger.”
It’s all so much fun to watch…
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | October 27, 2009, 10:23 pm 10:23 pm
ofcourse they arent goingt o pass it if they have to ave anything substantial in it that actually helps people… the way they talk about the bill now you think it might work “but” they say it wont go into effect till the out years of 2013… unacceptaqble!
Posted by: JG | October 28, 2009, 12:01 am 12:01 am
Maybe Fascist and Joementum will like this too–
According to the latest WSJ/NBC poll
48% say they favor a public health plan administered by the federal government that would compete with private insurers, compared with 42% who oppose it.
When asked a different way — is it important to give people a choice of a public option? — 72% answered that it was either “extremely important” or “quite important,” while just 23% said it was “not that important” or “not at all important.”
Posted by: Alyson | October 28, 2009, 1:19 am 1:19 am
ALYSON…ALYSON….You must enroll in my American Government class…I am sure it would help you comprehend what’s going on………………
Posted by: justj joey | October 28, 2009, 9:59 am 9:59 am