“Because I’m the President”
[Guest post by DRJ]
There will be many quotes from today’s health care summit that will get attention. This one may be at the top of several lists:
“Almost two hours into the summit, President Obama says “we’re running over” because opening statements took too long.
“There was an imbalance on the opening statements because I’m the president,” he says as participants laugh, and he adds that he didn’t count his own time.”
And this one:
“With the summit, McCain said, Obama was finally making good on his promise as a candidate to put health care overhaul negotiations on television so the U.S. public could see the process.
“Both of us during the campaign promised change in Washington,” McCain said. “In fact, eight times [as a candidate] you said that negotiations on health care reform would be broadcast on C-SPAN cameras,” he said. “I’m glad that more than a year later they are, here. Unfortunately, this product was not produced in that fashion, it was produced behind closed doors.
“Special deals for the special interests and favored few” should be removed from the health care legislation, McCain said.
Obama said in response, “Let me just make this point, John, because we’re not campaigning anymore. The election’s over.”
“I am reminded of that every day,” McCain said, forcing a smile.”
I also noticed this quote that probably won’t get much, if any, attention:
“We can have a debate about process, or we can have a debate about how we’re going to help the American people,” Obama told McCain. “The latter debate is the one they care about more.'”
I’m not sure I agree with Obama’s statement, although on the surface it sounds like something most people would agree with. I think Obama’s quote shows he has finally abandoned the pretense of being all things to all people by appealing to process and substance. Instead, he returned to his Democratic roots and is focusing on substance — that is, he returned to promising just results instead of a fair and equal process. The problem with this is that someone has to decide what “just” results are. Whether it’s Sarah Palin’s ‘death panel’ or Keith Olbermann’s ‘life panel’, government is ultimately the decider under ObamaCare and that will lead to inconsistent and difficult-to-appeal results.
I think Americans believe in fair and equal process and are instinctively leery of promises to give everyone the results they want. That’s one of many reasons why Americans are questioning Obama’s health care legislation and why they believe it’s the Democrats, not the Republicans, who have the burden to convince us they’re right in today’s health care summit.
— DRJ
“The problem with this is that someone has to decide what “just” results are”
I think he’s getting at that — that people care more about the results than what the process is to achieve those results. People prefer a bill that has better results that passes via reconciliation than a shitty bill that passes filibuster and makes all the bipartisan fetishists preen.
imdw (b86997) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:32 pmI’m not talking about process vs substance in how the bill is passed. I’m talking about health care itself. In other words, that people would rather have health care rules that apply equally to everyone instead of a vague promise that everyone will get health care results they want. I know I’d rather have a system that applies equally to everyone than one that says some people “deserve” better results than others.
DRJ (6a8003) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:41 pmI think neither Democrats nor Republican can help the American people right now. I think they’re praying feverishly that the American people don’t take it into their heads to turn the whole worthless bunch of drones into rose bush food.
nk (db4a41) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:41 pmI don’t know about rose food but I think a lot of people in Congress will be looking for work next year.
DRJ (6a8003) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:45 pm“We can have a debate about process, or we can have a debate about how we’re going to help the American people,” Obama told McCain. “The latter debate is the one they care about more.’”
Never mind that the above statement is a false dilemma –If there was ever a statement that revealed Obama’s low expectations of the electorate, it’s that one. He’s arguing that Americans care only about getting their sweets and treats, and how it’s accomplished or whether it’s even sustainable over the long run is irrelevant to them.
The thing is, if he’s right, that’s pretty sad. A country with an electorate devoted to nothing but instant gratification is going to find itself in a damn poor spot sooner or later. Given the poll numbers on the bills, though, it looks like people may be actually stopping to think how this is going to affect them.
Another Chris (2d8013) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:47 pmYou said it better than I did, Another Chris.
DRJ (6a8003) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:50 pmAmerica is waking up to lying candidates … It takes them a while but when they do look out.
And then there was this:
McCain: “There have been reconciliations but not at the level of the issue of this magnitude, I think it could harm the future of our country and our institution which I love a great deal for a long, long time”
Obama: “This issue of reconciliation has been brought up, again, I think the American people aren’t always all that interested in procedures inside the Senate, I do think they want a vote…I think that most Americans think a majority vote makes sense”
If I had been there, I would have walked out. I have said it before and I will say it again, Obama thinks he is speaking to a bunch of ignorant shoeless Kenyans — It’s who he is.
bill-tb (541ea9) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:52 pm“I know I’d rather have a system that applies equally to everyone than one that says some people “deserve” better results than others.”
Oh I see. So for example, prohibiting denial for pre-existing conditions, that would be making a system that ‘applies equally to everyone’ ?
imdw (63ee00) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:53 pmIs there any basis in reality for this asspull?
JD (b537f4) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:54 pmI’m with you, imdw. If innocent people stay out of prison, guilty people should, too. That is real equality under the law.
nk (db4a41) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:56 pmWhat happened to those stodgy old republicans the press like to talk about? The republicans looked quite young and vital and smart to me, compared to the stumbling talking point fossils the dems had on stage today.
elissa (58be1e) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:56 pmI like the idea of a debate where the moderator is partial to one side, and tells the other side that they should not talk about certain topics.
JD (b537f4) — 2/25/2010 @ 1:59 pm“Is there any basis in reality for this asspull?”
It makes more sense than the opposite. I think people will care more about the results than whether 60 or 51 votes were for something. Polls about how little people know about the filibuster help to bolster this idea. You think otherwise? that people would prefer our laws to be worse for them but more bipartisan or a result of process that gives more control to the minority? I think that’s kind of ridiculous.
“I like the idea of a debate where the moderator is partial to one side, and tells the other side that they should not talk about certain topics.”
Who thought this was a debate?
imdw (50eb29) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:09 pmHis attitude is mind – numbingly consistent with his “I won” jackass statement.
Dmac (799abd) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:10 pmOMG, Barry’s 10 minute closing statement has turned into a 26 minute droning yawner. What a mess.
elissa (58be1e) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:16 pm“His attitude is mind – numbingly consistent with his “I won” jackass statement.”
It’s like he thinks he’s in charge of the venue or a branch of government that’s equal to everyone else there.
“OMG, Barry’s 10 minute closing statement has turned into a 26 minute droning yawner. What a mess.”
Lecturing the GOP is what got him his job. He should remember how much people like this.
imdw (1af0fd) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:18 pmYou just ran around with the goalposts there. You originally claimed that the American people prefer a bill with good results that passes via reconciliation. When do you plan on presenting that bill? And most, if not all of the polling I have seen recently shows that public opinion is more strongly in favor of scrapping the monstrosity setting on the table than in moving forward, regardless of process.
JD (b537f4) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:18 pm“You just ran around with the goalposts there. You originally claimed that the American people prefer a bill with good results that passes via reconciliation”
I think they prefer that over a worse bill with more votes. For example, I think people would prefer if the senate bill had passed with 58 votes, and we lost the cornhusker kickback and the louisiana purchase, if I may borrow the GOP terms.
imdw (2c1194) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:29 pmI just wish the republicans had ganged up on him and mugged his sorry ass just like he has been mugging the American taxpayers.
peedoffamerican (2478c9) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:32 pmActually, the polls — most recently Gallup/USA Today — show most Americans don’t want ObamaCare rammed through via reconciliation (The Rasmussen numbers for likely voters are even more brutal). Which is exactly why Obama wanted to steer clear of questions about the process. He called the meeting in an effor to look bipartisan, so he certainly doesn’t want to discuss his plans to move in an even more partisan direction.
Karl (f07e38) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:39 pmJust a hunch, imdw, you didn’t really watch the summit did you? Or else you would not be running around the internet posting silly comments.
elissa (58be1e) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:40 pmimdw makes s**t up and hijacks threads. But he is good as a foil/strawman once in a while and also for laughs on occasion.
nk (db4a41) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:51 pmIs there a transcript posted somewhere? I can’t waste 6 hours of my life listening to idiots jawboning, but I can waste 45 minutes or so of my life skimming the transcript of six hours of idiot jawboning.
rtrski (c69273) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:51 pmObama: “This issue of reconciliation has been brought up, again, I think the American people aren’t always all that interested in procedures inside the Senate, I do think they want a vote…I think that most Americans think a majority vote makes sense”
It would be sad if not so brazenly degenerate and hypocritical to say so. This is the same after-birth who spoke to minority rights (and process and democracy) when GWB wanted to push through SS reform as well as judicial nominations.
Frankly, Barack Hussein Obama is a piece of excrement with a dash of urine. I wish him the very worst life may deliver. He deserves it.
Alluh Akbar.
HeavenSent (c3c032) — 2/25/2010 @ 2:58 pmKarl – It would be interesting to see Barcky’s words about the necessity of the filibuster for judicial nominees, and compare that to his I won majority rules comment today.
I think I read something at Hot Air about how Sen KKK Byrd’s position has “evolved” on this.
JD (b537f4) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:03 pmActually, the polls — most recently Gallup/USA Today — show most Americans don’t want ObamaCare rammed through via reconciliation
You mean a poll should determine how a President should lead on an issue?
Comment by imadouchebag
Dmac (799abd) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:09 pmOnly when the sample is skewed and the end result what the leftists want to hear, Dmac. Then, polls matter.
JD (b537f4) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:12 pmPeople prefer a bill that has better results that passes via reconciliation
You cannot pass a bill via reconciliation. You can alter a bill which has already passed Congress and been signed into law, but you can’t pass one. Even the few remaining sensible Democrats have said as much.
Subotai (bda015) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:20 pm“just” results are”
El Duce made the trains run on time, that was a result supported by the Italian people.
They would have been better served if they had paid more attention to the process, the operation of a democratic form of government,
than seeking a petty result through the imposition of an authoritarian tyranny.
We have a choice today to muddle through in our messy democratic Republic that protects individual rights, or, we can accede to the acquisition of immense power by a distant imperial government, and be content with the small scraps that it throws down from the table.
I suppose it depends on whether one would prefer to die a free man, on his feet; or survive as a slave, on his knees.
AD - RtR/OS! (116c8a) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:21 pmI dunno if Byrd has flipped on reconciliation yet (pretty sure his health issues keep him out of the public eye). But the flip-flops you’re looking for are at http://hotair.com/archives/2010/02/24/video-god-doesnt-listen-to-joe-biden/
Karl (f07e38) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:23 pmThat was incredibly racist and homophobic, AD.
JD (b537f4) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:23 pmThanks, Karl. I was actually thinking about O’Barcky’s words when he was bemoaning the nuclear option, that was never going to happen, as compared to his majority rules nonsense today. It is though he never spent a day in the Senate.
JD (b537f4) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:26 pmThe Senate Democrats’ top budget guy told reporters today that the Senate can’t pass a reconciliation package tweaking a comprehensive health care bill unless the House passes the Senate bill first. And if the House won’t do that, he says health care reform is “dead.”
“The only way this works is for the House to pass the Senate bill and then, depending on what the package is, the reconciliation provision that moves first through the House and then comes here,” said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) outside the upper chamber this morning. “That’s the only way that works.”
Subotai (bda015) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:30 pmOff topic, but wow.
Saying he had questions about the original investigation, Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating today requested an inquest into the death of Seth Bishop, who was killed by his sister, Amy, in 1986 in Braintree.
if the Republicans had any keen political strategists, they could assemble a pretty good “culture of corruption” narrative against the Democrats using this and other stories.
Subotai (bda015) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:34 pmComment by JD — 2/25/2010 @ 3:23 pm
I denounce myself for my arrogant bigotry.
AD - RtR/OS! (116c8a) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:37 pmI saw that, Subotai. I don’t know how long an investigation like that would take. Given the age of the incident, it may take a while but it will still be interesting to see if a report is released before or after Delahunt’s campaign for re-election this November.
DRJ (6a8003) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:39 pmComment by Subotai — 2/25/2010 @ 3:34 pm
Forget it Subotai, it’s just Massachusetts.
AD - RtR/OS! (116c8a) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:39 pm“Oh I see. So for example, prohibiting denial for pre-existing conditions, that would be making a system that ‘applies equally to everyone’ ?”
imdw – Doesn’t it sort of depend on who is taking pipe to pay for it? That’s part of the applying equally part as well.
daleyrocks (718861) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:40 pmEven the few remaining sensible Democrats have said as much.
Funniest thing was watching Chrissy Matthews rip FLA Uber – Lib screecher Grayson on why the congressional rules won’t allow the Dems to pass this thing via reconciliation. Watching Grayson’s face as Matthews attempts to educate him on the actual rules of the Senate and the House was priceless.
Dmac (799abd) — 2/25/2010 @ 3:41 pmI found it implausible that B. Hussein Obama attended a racist church for twenty years and never heard the preacher say anything bigoted.
Watching his reaction today, I now believe he can not hear anything except his own voice in his head repeating ” Me, me, me, me, me,”.
Stalin and Mao had gently souls compared to what our little progressive Barry wants to do.
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That’s a dumb analogy nk. I think you can figure out why.
“Just a hunch, imdw, you didn’t really watch the summit did you? Or else you would not be running around the internet posting silly comments.”
I could catch parts at work. I caught the end with obama wrapping up.
“Actually, the polls — most recently Gallup/USA Today — show most Americans don’t want ObamaCare rammed through via reconciliation (The Rasmussen numbers for likely voters are even more brutal).”
Did the poll question actually say “rammed through” ? I mean, instead of “by a majority vote”
“McCain: “There have been reconciliations but not at the level of the issue of this magnitude, I think it could harm the future of our country and our institution which I love a great deal for a long, long time””
Another point on this is how much would come in via reconciliation? The senate bill as is, and not via reconciliation, carries a lot of the magnitude. The part passed under majority rule would only have changes to this to reconcile with the House demands. That’s not going to that huge.
“You cannot pass a bill via reconciliation. ”
Oh. So when the tax cuts were passed via reconciliation, those weren’t bills passing via reconciliation?
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