Recently, Barney Frank could be seen on MSNBC lobbying quite heroically on the behalf of Elizabeth Warren for director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He made a great and cogent case that is hard to argue with. What I noticed in each of those appearances was something that he said about President Obama.
He addressed the meme, that some now cite as known fact, that Obama bargained away the public option.
Here he is on Countdown on July 22nd. (14 seconds)
Frank: Look, I sympathize with President Obama. He`s been criticized by some of my liberal friends. We didn`t get a public option and we didn`t get the other things we wanted. That wasn`t his fault. The economic recovery bill, the stimulus -- it wasn`t as big as it should have been. That wasn`t his fault. He couldn`t get the votes.
Well, that was pretty clear. What he went on to say was that unlike the public option and stimulus bills, in the case of Elizabeth Warren it is Obama's choice. And I agree 100% and hope he does select her. But that's another diary...
The next clip is from Rachel Maddow. (19 seconds)
Frank: let me say this about the president, in defense of him in general. It`s not his fault that we didn`t get a public option. We just couldn`t have gotten the votes. Many of us try very hard. The stimulus bill was smaller than it should have been. That was not his fault. Republicans in the Senate blocked him. There have been other things where he`s been on our side and we`ve been on the same side and he hasn`t been able to do it.
Now, we all love Barney Frank. Why would he lie about this? The fact is, he wouldn't and didn't. The majority of the blame lies with the Senate and the majority of that lies with Republicans.
The next video is a good illustration of one of the "He never pushed for the public option" memes... (Now, before you get upset, I love Darcy Burner. It's just that she's about to say the wrong thing to the wrong journalist... And apologies for Nate Silvers face dominating the screen, the poor guy barely got a word in edgewise...) (1 minute 58 seconds)
(Sorry, no transcript available for that last video...)
Now, in defense of Matthews, he was pretty gracious to Ms. Burner for most of the interview and I think he is far more sympathetic to progressive views than to the hard right wingnuts. He respects intelligence and ideals but is firmly inside the beltway and a pretty cut and dried "did you have the votes or not" kind of guy. So he called bullshit when she pulled out the Lieberman card. It may not have been polite, but it was the truth. If you want to blame Obama for not pushing the public option, bring a whole lot more than a Joe Lieberman quote...
What is truly amazing is that like all memes, this one has spread and been accepted as fact by those inclined to believe it. I use the word "meme" rather than lie only to avoid absolutes. Because the truth is, no one knows exactly what went into all the sausage making. One mans compromise is another mans "giving it all away in advance" and yet anothers "count the votes in the Senate"....
So while reasonable people can disagree as to what spelled the end of the public option or the size of the stimulus bill, it can hardly be considered a hard fact that Obama gave it away. In fact, Barney Frank says it didn't happen at all...
Update- edited title a little. To be clear, I'm in agreement with what Barney Frank says, that the votes were not there in the Senate for the public option and that is the reality.