For those who still believe that President Obama acted in good faith toward progressive elements of HCR, particularly the PO, please read this.
It reads like a Surrender document. Or worse, a royal decree.
Read this and ask yourself the following question: Was the Dog and Lieberman Show really that necessary in the end?
Some tidbits from the instrument of surrender:
Executive Summary
Washington is consumed by a spirited debate about whether our revamped health care system should include a so-called "public plan," a government-run health plan that will compete with private insurers to deliver health care to some small businesses and individuals. While the fate of the public plan grabs all the headlines, three potent but less controversial reforms merit the most attention:
• Overhauling insurance rules while requiring all individuals to be part of the system;
• Assuring that health care is affordable through sufficient tax credits and robust measures to contain costs;
• Putting in place an effective insurance exchange that will create a real health care marketplace.
If Congress and the administration get these issues wrong, the health reform effort will come up short, no matter what happens to the public plan.
"No matter what happens to the public plan". Translation: There ain't gonna be no Public Option, suckers.
More, and no, I did not make this part up:
Conclusion
In the childhood fairy tale, Goldilocks, after wandering in the woods aimlessly and lost, found a home and, once inside, spent a lot of time trying out porridges of different temperatures, chairs of different sizes, and mattresses of different softness – all things, by the way, that mattered a lot to a tired, little girl. It’s time we emerge from our policy wilderness and spend what time remains thinking about and testing the core issues – access to quality coverage, making health care affordable, and more choices and responsibilities for individuals and employers and insurers alike – that will determine whether health care reform succeeds.
Translation: Shut up, little girl, and eat your oatmeal.
Or, worse still: Progressives are creatures who exist only in childhood fairytales and they wander about aimlessly and lost. Its time to wake up, little children, and listen to your DLC daddy... 'cause he knows best...or something completely condescending like that.
How many NAFTAs, GATTS, Telecoms, Graham Leach Blileys, Patriot Acts, AUMF-Iraqs, Bancruptcy Bills, TARPs and now HRC, are we going to have to endure before we realize that these guys (DLC) do not have our back. When will we realize that this steaming pile of DLC inspired or supported legislation has done more to ruin the Middle Class than Republicans could ever dream of. It is anathema to traditional Democratic Party politics. It is the New Coke of the Democratic Brand.
Most importantly, when will we realize that winning without results is not winning.
Worse, that winning that produces the systematic rollback of the New Deal in a way that makes Republicans red with envy is not winning... but a kind of Progressive Ground Hog Day.
When will we wake up and see that the real adversary is much, much closer than we are comfortable of admitting.