A whole lot of us aren't remotely happy with what has become of the so-called Health Care Reform bill in the Senate or the House, especially considering the time and effort spent on it. We can easily point at the Republicans as the villains for total obstruction but that isn't real satisfying - somebody had to have failed. Here is where the hunt starts for the incompetent hack on our side.
I mentioned the left bashing previously as one incarnation of that, lately it seems Rahm Emmanuel is a target. A lot of people on the left or even progressive side heartily dislike Rahm for his disdain for anything not DLC. Some don't like him for being rude or raucous. No, I don't like his version of Democratic politics. Rahm Emmanuel is Chief of Staff to the POTUS - he has a BOSS. Even more than that, the executive branch does not run Congress.
Real frankly, I don't think there is anyone in particular to blame. I think the failures have been on the part of darn near every Federal elected Democrat. Taking a run at passing health care legislation has proved damn near impossible at the Federal level and this Party went at it like a collection of monkeys trying to do the deed to a football. Not one of the pieces is exempt from this, not the White House, not the House, not the Senate, and for good measure throw in Governors and the higher regarded State legislators and the damn Party organizations.
The first damn thing you have to do when you have a bunch of disparate views and competing interests is to get the confounded public on your side. When you are not going to win the big money powerhouse interests your lever is public opinion. You create a situation where the voters are going to remember who screwed the pooch where their interests were concerned. Considering that the ability to connect with the public is President Obama's great strength, this lack is mind boggling.
I'm not going to address the Congress, I don't want spit all over my monitor. In very short terms, knowing the votes, knowing the negotiators, knowing the honesty, and keeping some sort of discipline and consequences in place did not happen. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are not dictators, that part is up to their Caucuses but getting blind-sided by Nelson, Baucus, LIEberman, and the House wankers is inexcusable.
The pols who are close to their voters geographically are strong voices and frequently more popular and well regarded than the Federal legislators - crickets chirping. Where was the vaunted OFA and the DNC? How in the world did we have the spectacle of Cabinet officials being all over the map? Whose opinion on what was supposed to be important?
I'm not sure it makes squat difference now in regard to the end product or that it can be passed. What I am sure of is that if Democrats want to get anything at all done from here on out, they'd better figure this one out. All I can say to the rank and file is that if you want to throw rocks at anyone responsible, you'd better get a lot of them.
1 comment:
I think there are many people to blame, several to blame prominently. But I won't bother; pointless exercise. What I will do is keep pushing them to do something--anything--and not allow the threats of filibuster to cow them. Figure out what you can pass in both houses then force a floor fight to get it through the senate, change the rules if needed but above all quite farting around. I expect people I elected to work at least as hard in office as the volunteers did to put them there.
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