Weblog.sun-sentinel
Appearing on MSNBC, Arlen Specter was asked a pointed question about health care reform: having been a Republican in the senate for 30 years and part of their caucus, and knowing what goes on inside, knowing their thinking, are the Republicans opposed to the healthcare reform bill because they really think it wont work and is bad for the country or is it pure politics in opposing the Democrats?
Specters answer? Pure politics. He pointed out, what had been written about here many times before, that Senator Jim DeMint had been expossed for telling Republicans behind closed doors that they should make healthcare reform Obama's Waterloo, that defeating healthcare reform would be equal to breaking Obama's presidency. And Specter reiterated that fact as a former Republican insider.
I cannot think of anything that is bigger news in the healthcare debate and yet the news media has largely ignored it, taking a "well this is politics as usual" approach, showing just how jaded and useless the news media really is.
both DeMint's statement and Specters reaffirming It should be more than enough to completely discredit the Republicans not just on healthcare, but on everything. And yet the media treats it like this isn't news.
It's news. It makes every town hall meeting, every Republican or conservative sign, every objection, every criticism, every word out of John Boehner's mouth, exposed for exactly what it is -- a political sham.
Obama himself is partly to blame. He is one of the weakest presidents the country has ever had politically. He has shown no backbone in fighting back against Republican attacks, instead trying to fend them off by capitulation. The public option on health care is the best example.
Instead of turning DeMint's remarks into the Republicans Waterloo, hammering them on their willingness to sacrifice what is best for 300 million Americans in order to further their own political ambitions, something that could have turned the tide in the health care debate a long time ago, Obama was weak and dropped, supported, dropped, then supported then dropped the public option countless times depending from which direction the criticism was coming at any given time
Maybe its because there are so many examples of Obama, during his drive for the presidency, willing to do the same thing -- sacrifice what he knows is right and true to further his own political ambitions ( his reneging on his pledge to filibuster and vote against the FISA bill after receiving campaign contributions from Verizon and AT&T immediately comes to mind) that he is not willing to stand up to it.
It's been obvious from the beginning that Republican opposition was purely political. If the Republicans really believed the health care bill was so bad, and wanted to use it to further their own political ambitions, they wouldn't be trying to stop it. They'd let it pass and if was a fiasco could say "I told you so". Their worst nightmare is that it passes, its successful, and it further buries the Republicans politically.
Its time for Reid and the Democrats to hold up both Specter's statement and the one made by Jim DeMint months ago as the best reason to use budget reconciliation to pass the health care bill with the public option. It's proof enough that the Republicans have only been interested in stopping the bill for their own political reasons and the same can be said about Joe LIeberman. And Reid can make it clear he wont let that happen.
Right now the two biggest problems the Democrats have is Obama himself and Joe Lieberman. Lieberman has proved his dishonesty over health care when a video surfaced showing Lieberman supporting a Medicare buy in for people 55 and up something he now opposes along with anything that might hurt the insurance companies He is also enjoying the role of kingmaker.
For Obama's part he is fast becoming known as The Capitulation President. He has told Reid to make a deal with Lieberman when its Obama who should be twisting Lieberman's arm in order to get him on board.
This is what Hillary Clinton meant when she said Obama was not ready to be president. He isnt. And with friends like Joe Lieberman and Obama's weakness, the Republicans dont have to do much of anything now except sit back and see if Obama and Reid do their work for them.
Comments
I'm afraid you are right .
How can you believe anything Specter says? He's given new meaning to the term "expediency". The reason this bill is being opposed is because it is a 2000 page boondoggle that will cost $2.5 trillion (if you remove the accounting gimmicks of the CBO) and will result in higher taxes and higher premiums -- and will still leave 10 million people uninsured! Harry Reid won't even allow for time to read the thing in its entirety -- this is not what republican government is supposed to be about. Let's take time to get this right -- there are less destructive ways to get people insured. And for the record -- this has nothing to do with Obama, other than the fact that he appears willing to sign any bill he gets, regardless of what's in it.
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