tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6762928.post4829327114054988554..comments2024-01-03T05:23:36.046-08:00Comments on The Citizens: Health Care Reform UpdateUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6762928.post-1509058759972795232010-03-26T07:05:30.389-07:002010-03-26T07:05:30.389-07:00Obama said "this is my proposal." Then ...Obama said "this is my proposal." Then he put it up on whitehouse.gov. That was a crucial step in moving forward. He had to spend political capital - couldn't just ask the Dems in Congress to do it all. You are correct that he didn't craft the proposal, but no matter, the point was that he had to claim one.The Law Talking Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886791396468512490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6762928.post-19227520669445728682010-03-23T04:32:27.433-07:002010-03-23T04:32:27.433-07:00LTG,
With respect you are overstating the Presid...LTG, <br /><br />With respect you are overstating the President's role here. He did not "make his proposal." Rather he endorsed the Senate version and endorsed a series of "fixes" (to be made by the Senate soon) already proposed in various House versions. He did not make his own proposal. <br /><br />You are 100% correct that the US is not a parliamentary system. If Obama had been the Prime Minister, he would have done exactly what you say, that is make a proposal to a captive legislature and whip the votes. <br /><br />All that said, Obama's clear and unambiguous support for the bill in its current form played a big role in getting intransigent liberals in the House to come around and vote for what they thought was a watered down bill. It is with the liberal wing that Obama probably has the most leverage. <br /><br />In the grand scheme of things, I think Obama has to share A LOT of the credit with Speaker Pelosi. And of course the content of the bill was determined almost entirely by compromises made in the Senate.Raised By Republicanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03461006522141969925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6762928.post-38712228290805505552010-03-22T21:03:19.813-07:002010-03-22T21:03:19.813-07:00Democrats finally got their shit together and real...Democrats finally got their shit together and realized that to have had 15 months of debate, but no accomplishment at all, would have been a total disaster. Now they can sell the plan, shore up the base support and restore some of the lost independent support. And the economic recovery will begin to turn the tide also. <br /><br />The other lesson also is that the President must lead. Only when Obama made his proposal, got the summit together, then put the full weight of his office on each house member was it possible to move forward. It was crucial to have the President delaying his trip, to have a (naked?) Rahm Emanuel saying to the wavering Dems, "do you really want to be the one responsible for embarrassing the President like this?" I suspect we'll see Obama leading legislation more in the coming three years. He's learned his lesson that the USA is not a parliamentary system.The Law Talking Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17886791396468512490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6762928.post-59460855635571318712010-03-22T04:43:03.091-07:002010-03-22T04:43:03.091-07:00The House passed the Senate version of the bill la...The House passed the Senate version of the bill last night. It was close but not as close as the vote count might have looked. Pelosi was confident enough to let a few of the more nervous Democrats vote against the bill on the core vote. The counts on the more arcane (but nevertheless critical) procedural votes showed the Democrats winning by much more comfortable margins. <br /><br />Now it's back to the Senate.Raised By Republicanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03461006522141969925noreply@blogger.com