We probably weren't going to get single payer, but the reason we didn't get anything close to it? Obama said it wasn't on the table. The Public Option was just within our grasp, but the reason we didn't get it? Obama traded it away to insurance companies. We could have had a great tax bill by the end of this year that protected social security better, and helped the rich less in their time of LEAST need, but the reason we didn't is that Obama had secret negotiations with Republicans.
I'm down with it. All of it. You're absolutely right.
I know what he says his motivations were, and I'm inclined to believe him. But none of that matters. Results matter, and we didn't get the results we wanted. It's as clear as day, and we can all see it. What matters is that we learn from this experience, and we make sure this doesn't happen again. And we can. It's EASY.
Here's how. From now on, we say: "Fuck that."
The scene: The beginning of the Healthcare discussion. After previously stating that he believed Single Payer was the most effective solution, he's now talking about more practical solutions, and how there's all these other factors to consider, and how there might not be enough votes....
You know what we do? Fuck that. We've got one of our biggest majorities ever. Get a bill out of committee and onto the floor. You know how we find out if there's enough votes? We vote. We read the constitution. We know what it says. It says WE write the laws. We invite the President's input. We welcome the President's input. We take into consideration the President's input. And then we pass the fucking bill.
Later: Single payer didn't work out. Maybe there weren't enough votes in the Senate... maybe public opinion turned on it for some reason. Who knows. But one thing we do know: We all want a Public Option. But stories start to come to our ears about meetings in the Roosevelt Room... something about lobbyists and executives, prescription drug imports...
You know what we do? Fuck that. We have our OWN meeting. WE call the executives and the lobbyists. We say, "We'd love to hear what you have to say, since we write the bills and all. Come talk to us, it will be on TV and EVERYTHING." And since we know we have the votes for the Public Option in the House, it passes in the house. And since we know we have the votes to get it (or close to it) through reconciliation in the Senate, we do that too. "Oh sorry lobbyists, did you make a deal with someone who can't write the bills? Well maybe he'll veto it. But this is the bill he's getting."
December, 2010. We still lost the election, who knows why (or maybe we didn't, maybe our new strategy would have saved it, I'm not speculating) but let's say we did, and we're about to lose the House. One of our top priorities for the past two years has been first REPEALING, or at least allowing to EXPIRE, Bush's tax cuts for the top two percent. But for one reason or another, we haven't done it. Obviously other stuff took up a bunch of our time, and in any event we didn't think we were going to take this much of a beating. But what's this we hear? Slurpee Summit? Back room meetings? Social Security Holiday?
Are we on the same page yet? FUCK THAT. If these tax cuts need to die, let's kill them. And if the Senate doesn't go along, we need to tweak. And tweak. And tweak. Until we find the bill that DOES get the Senate to go along. Because we have the power to do it. The constitution says we do. We make Republicans in the Senate vote against middle class tax cuts fifty times a day if that's what it takes to find the right combination of pork and who knows what else to remind Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and/or Scott Brown that they are currently voting WELL to the right of their electorate, and that they're filming our campaign commercials for us right there on C-SPAN.
Am I talking about making the President irrelevant? No.
In fact, in case you've never read a single thing I've ever written: I happen to like the President very much, even now.
But here's what I am saying. Tradition dictates that he's the head of the party, and I'm fine with that. In all matters political he will have the final say. And when it comes to the bills we pass, obviously since it's our party caucusing, I want his input. According to the constitution, he's the leader of the free world and all that... so when we're passing these bills, we need to be conscious of what he will sign and what he will veto. BUT... and here's the thing... it's only according to the 24 hours news MSM endless bullshitathon that we think of the President as "The Leader of the House and the Senate," and I say we all take an hour, read our copies of the Constitution, and say: "Fuck that."
And... while we are limited in what we can accomplish in the time we have left, we STILL have time. And we can start thinking this way RIGHT now. We can start acting this way RIGHT now.
There is not one scintilla, or one iota, or one drop of sarcasm, snark, or satire in this diary. Fuck that. We're going to be doing half the "governing" for the next two years at least. Let's fucking govern. I've got a great old document that tells us how to do it. We wonder what Obama's role is? It's right there. We wonder what the Speaker should be doing? I know. The Senate? They have a place too. The President is an extremely intelligent man, and I want to know what he thinks about the legislation of the day. But writing it? Not his job. Voting on it? He gave that up voluntarily. Signing it or Vetoing it? His constitutional right and duty, and I expect him to exercise it with appropriate caution and maturity. But the puppet-master stuff? Fuck that. The eleven dimensional chess? Fuck that. Whether you think Obama is a weak centrist, or a brilliant strategist, a Manchurian Candidate style GOP splinter cell who pulled off the greatest hoax of all time, the right man at the wrong time, or whatever we think about him: There is one thing I know about him. He is no more and no less than the President of the United States.... and I'm not going to let the media, or the Republicans, or hell... even Democrats, tell me any differently. Because no matter what they say on TV, the constitution, the rules, and the LAW say what we can DO.
Since I don't feel like updating, let me address in advance the suggestion that I'm trying to somehow elevate the President above Criticism, or rehash the old "The President is weak and can't do anything," meme: That is not the case. The President can do lots. The President did do lots. Clearly for "us" it was not enough... but he's operating within a frame that the media defines, and that the House and Senate (not just now but for a long time) enable. And it's a complete bullshit frame, so let's break it. Let's have the congress be the congress, and the President be the President, and see what actually happens. And let's communicate to the parties involved (including the President) that this is their role now, and this is what we expect now.
Because whatever our frame was before, it clearly wasn't working. So are we going to expect something different? Are we going to demand something different? And it doesn't have to be what I'm suggesting either. I just chose it out of convenience because it seems like expecting people to do what the constitution tells them to do is sort of "Low hanging fruit."
Who knows, maybe in a year, or six months, or whenever, we primary Obama. But speaking only for myself--when I make the decision to support something like that--it's going to be because he was a bad President. Not because he didn't exert some kind of Machiavellian control to get me what I want. I even think that--given the parameters I have defined--he hasn't been that great of a President. But until voters, and ESPECIALLY congress start TREATING him like what the President is supposed to be, how can we know how well he's doing. Great news. We can start today. Who's with me?