Patterico's Pontifications

7/22/2009

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast (Updated x2)

Filed under: Government,Obama — DRJ @ 9:11 am



[Guest post by DRJ]

A fun quote from the AP on the status of the House healthcare bill:

No one wants to tell the speaker (Nancy Pelosi) that she’s moving too fast and they damn sure don’t want to tell the president,” Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., a key committee chairman, told a fellow lawmaker as the two walked into a closed-door meeting Tuesday. The remark was overheard by reporters.”

We need more of these eavesdropping reporters who’re willing to report what they hear.

UPDATE 1 — Another interesting behind-the-scenes quote:

“[Senate Finance ranking member Charles] Grassley said he spoke with a Democratic House member last week who shared Obama’s bleak reaction during a private meeting to reports that some factions of House Democrats were lining up to stall or even take down the overhaul unless leaders made major changes.

“Let’s just lay everything on the table,” Grassley said. “A Democrat congressman last week told me after a conversation with the president that the president had trouble in the House of Representatives, and it wasn’t going to pass if there weren’t some changes made … and the president says, ‘You’re going to destroy my presidency.’

Obama says it isn’t about him … but it is.

UPDATE 2 – Here’s a more encouraging quote:

“Budget chairmen are usually relegated to the background after Congress passes its annual budget resolution, but [North Dakota Senator Kent] Conrad has found a way to stay very relevant.

When asked about the question to Elmendorf, Conrad said he was concerned less about the prospect of derailing Obama’s vision for healthcare reform than about delivering a wake-up call.

“I didn’t have in my mind pleasing or displeasing the president. What I had in mind was getting an answer to a critically important question,” said Conrad. “I wanted to know what the truth is and to make sure that all of us who are working on this know what the truth is.”

— DRJ

41 Responses to “Slow Down, You Move Too Fast (Updated x2)”

  1. “We need more of these eavesdropping reporters who’re willing to report what they hear.”

    You mean like reporters actually doing their jobs? I’m not going to hold my breath. However, in the last week I have noticed a few articles in the Washington Post and NY Times that were actually fairly objective and critical of “the One.” So maybe there is some hope. But I’m still not holding my breath….

    J. Raymond Wright (d83ab3)

  2. I’ve updated the post with a Waterloo-related quote.

    DRJ (6f3f43)

  3. The shallowness of the Empty Suit(tm) redux.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  4. Haste is important when you’re exploiting a tasty crisis.

    happyfeet (71f55e)

  5. “We need more of these eavesdropping reporters who’re willing to report what they hear.”

    I would say that what we need are elected officials who have the taxpaying public’s best interest as their priority and not their own careers! What cowards.

    They’re afraid of Pelosi? (I guess we should expect this from Mr. Ethics himself, Charlie Rangel…)

    And the President is afraid of looking badly?

    Seriously. What are we, in jr. high school?

    Dana (a3e680)

  6. Yes, Dana, that is where we are with both the admin and Congress.

    SPQR (5811e9)

  7. Rangel’s got it wrong. Lots of people are trying to tell Pelosi and Obama they’re moving too fast, the problem is they won’t listen.

    Blue Dogs are telling them, House committee members are telling them, Republicans and Independents are telling them, newspaper reporters and TV talking heads are trying to tell them, taxpayers, Tea Party people, Doctors, the Mayo Clinic, you name it.

    No, Charlie, the problem isn’t that no one wants to tell them, the problem is no one wants to take the abuse they’ll get for their trouble.

    Ropelight (bb3af5)

  8. I don’t give a shit about Obama’s presidency. I care that he is going to destroy the country.

    I am not exaggerating, a multi trillion dollar entitlement expansion like this will kill any chance of economic recovery and put us on the road to collaspse and stagnation. That is destruction of wealth and prosperity on a massive scale.

    Joe (a32cff)

  9. “No, Charlie, the problem isn’t that no one wants to tell them, the problem is no one wants to take the abuse they’ll get for their trouble.”

    Just like the Middle Ages, when if you gave the king bad news, he had you thrown out of the tower window.

    ZZMike (4d15b9)

  10. the president says, ‘You’re going to destroy my presidency.‘”

    That reaction, even for Obama, has such a ludicrously self-absorbed quality about it that I wonder if Grassley may have quoted the Congressman and, in turn, the guy in the Oval Office, somewhat inaccurately. But after perusing a timeline biography of Obama, I have to say “nah.” Or, actually, I want to say that given the squirrelly, scroungy background of Obama, I’d expect something far more unhinged or extreme from him.

    Why we placed such a person into the presidency is beyond me. He is a major reason that this particular period in US history does have a rather surrealistic quality about it, sort of like a continuation of the bizarre, life-imitating-art nature of various events since the 1990s (OJ Simpson, Diana Windsor, Clinton/Lewinsky, 9-11).

    Mark (411533)

  11. Wasn’t it Teh One, just yesterday, telling us that this was not about him?

    Seems Sen. DeMint was spot on.

    JD (e4e95a)

  12. and the president says, ‘You’re going to destroy my presidency.’

    It’s also interesting to note that our President believes his presidency hinges upon this one issue. Perhaps he’s likening himself to Hillary and the bomb of a health care reform she attempted and failed at. If so, it would do him well to remember, the presidency is not a one-horse issue and that Hillary was not POTUS.

    Dana (a3e680)

  13. Well, as should be apparent to all: Obama = The Mad Hatter… Tea Parties, Alice and all!

    GM Roper (85dcd7)

  14. I updated the post again with a quote from Senator Kent Conrad.

    DRJ (6f3f43)

  15. Here’s the counterpoint from President Obama:

    Obama also took on his Republican opponents, incredulously citing South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint’s remark last week that a defeat on healthcare would be Obama’s “Waterloo” — undermining his presidency.

    “This isn’t about me, this isn’t about politics, this about a healthcare system that is breaking,” the president said

    He said the “politics of delay and defeat” should not be allowed to succeed — and the nation needs a healthcare overhaul this year.

    “Let’s fight our way through the politics of the moment,” he said.

    We’ve talked this problem to death,” he added.

    (emphasis mine)

    Dana (a3e680)

  16. Rahm says...we rescued the economy…

    Oooooo, mission accomplished. You know what’s next then. Starts with q and ends with mire. Same construct, but different combatants and a much, much, bigger price tag.

    political agnostic (d2aa4b)

  17. Note how he tried to strong-arm the CBO as well. Hope! Change!

    JD (19728f)

  18. After Waterloo, Napolean was exiled to Saint Helena in the South Atlantic;
    Where will we be able to send Obama?

    AD - RtR/OS! (94ba46)

  19. This is what we get when we elect a symbol.

    most Democrats on the Hill are looking for is for the president to weigh in and make decisions on outstanding issues. Instead of sending out his people and saying the president isn’t ruling anything out, members would like a little bit of clarity on what he would support – especially on how to pay for his health reform bill

    http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/21/senator-democrats-baffled-by-presidents-health-care-stance/

    Amphipolis (b120ce)

  20. A rush to introduce queueing? Now that’s hurry up and wait!

    ras (20bd5b)

  21. #10–Mark, I think this period of our history is more like a Three Stooges version of the French Revolution with Obama playing Marie Antoinette–“let them eat painkillers.”

    rochf (ae9c58)

  22. “Where will we be able to send Obama?”

    Kenya seemed to be proud of him. Maybe they will take him back.

    PatAZ (9d1bb3)

  23. […] Patterico guest blogger DRJ: Slow Down, You Move Too Fast (Updated x2) […]

    ObamaCare In The Gallows – Quick, Get A Rope | The Substratum (af9967)

  24. “The truth? You can’t handle the truth!”

    Dr. K (eca563)

  25. Is it asking too much for the Dems to put their actual plan out there, for all to see, and tell the public how much it will cost and how they plan on paying for it?

    JD (f4f0f3)

  26. Or is that just krazy talk ?

    JD (f4f0f3)

  27. In the past, who read these bills. They voted and everyone just marched on by. By now, maybe we have all figured out that won’t work anymore.

    Cliff’s notes version of government takeover of health care: Abort the unborn, kill the old, save money for redistribution to our Democrat voters. Be president for life.

    10ksnooker (365bd9)

  28. Has abyone seen how Obama paid off the AMA for their approval of his medicare scheme?

    I realize the AMA is a joke but I never thought they were as corrupt as this. Obama will buy the votes for this plan.

    I also note it has the usual lefty racist provisions. Note also that some minorities are more equal than others. This is how Obama sees America, one big treasury to be looted.

    Thomas Jackson (8ffd46)

  29. If anyone thinks these dolts are listening to we the people, just listen to one say, “the people want health care reform.”
    Well, we do, we just don’t want this crap sandwich stuffed down our throats. Of course, if it was stuffed down our throats, under Obiecare we’d freakin’ choke to death waiting for a Heimlich (sp) maneuver.

    Joseph Brown (c51f84)

  30. “You’re going to destroy my presidency.”

    OMG I have something to live for after all!

    Peg C. (48175e)

  31. “We need more of these eavesdropping reporters who’re willing to report what they hear.”

    You may get your wish. As Obama loses popularity, reporters are belatedly catching on. Few will want to be seen as behind the curve. If he drops below 50 percent approval — which is quite possible now — watch for the comparisons with Jimmy Carter to proliferate.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  32. Hey! I was the one behind the curve. The Carter/Obama comparisons are already proliferating.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  33. Problem with Opie is that he is a one trick pony.
    Every issue is a crisis and he must have his KULT back him at every turn.
    He’s a dimwit.

    gus (36e9a7)

  34. One of the things that used to honk me off so bad was how the media always managed to slip in the supposed unpopularity (from polls) of Pres. Bush at every opportunity.

    You know, such as: “up next, video of the unpopular president walking his dog, Barney” or like:

    “Jenna Bush, daughter of the unpopular president announces her engagement” or:

    “US funded Anti- AIDs program will save 13,000,000 lives in Africa claims the widely unpopular Bush.”

    How I live for the day when the term “unpopular President Obama” becomes used regularly. Hey, it could happen the way things are going and how his poll numbers are tanking!

    elizabeth (14c8e3)

  35. Going slowly to the edge of the cliff is only marginally better than going fast.

    This whole bill is an abortion and needs to be terminated.

    Our President is lying to us deliberately and must be stopped.

    This bill will kill Americans, kill innovation and kill our individual spirit.

    HeavenSent (641cde)

  36. Hey! I was the one behind the curve

    Nope – we’ve been discussing the eerie comparisons even before the election; it’s only the quislings in the MSM who are just figuring it out now.

    Dmac (e6d1c2)

  37. One of the most interesting things that is coming along now is Obama’s reaction to bad press and criticism. His only contested election was a defeat by Bobby Rush for Congress. His election to the Illinois Legislature and to the US Senate were largely by default. His election to the presidency was aided by the financial meltdown. Before the collapse of the banks, he was even with McCain or slightly behind (after Palin).

    Now, he will have to cope with failure and even with criticism from supporters. It will be interesting to see how he handles this. Most politicians have a hide like a rhino because of years of such criticism. He doesn’t and has shown a querulous side when he feels under attack. Giving the finger to Hillary during the debate, for example.

    Also, the nutroots will go apes**t when the agenda starts going down. They are already attacking other Democrats. I don’t know if the Republicans are up to the job of benefiting from all this but the best course may be to just get out of the way.

    MIke K (c818fc)

  38. ‘You’re going to destroy my presidency.’

    Too late. Already done.

    navyvet (c45bb5)

  39. Someone sent me this line, I’m not sure who wrote it: It took President Obama six months to pick a dog for the White House, but he wants Congress to pass a massive health care reform bill in two weeks!

    SPQR (5811e9)

  40. This is hilarious, evidently Obama’s staffers are more ignorant and naive than you’d guess.

    SPQR (26be8b)


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