President Obama was FORCED, by Democratic grass-roots and progressive activists, to say AT LEAST A FEW words in support for "the public option" in speeches and public appearances he gave across the country over the past few months... but Senator Lieberman, the Obama administration's PARTNER in SABOTAGE of genuine health care reform, just spilled the beans:
Senator Lieberman:President Obama and his Emanuel/GoddamnSachs "economics" team were SABOTAGING BOTH public option & expanded Medicare, from DAY ONE after their inauguration back in January, but only inside the clubby confines of the "Democratic" White House, and "Democratic" (not!) Senate, where they hoped no one would be able to hold them accountable for their CLEAR & PRESENT DUPLICITY.
"Obama Never Pressed Me On Public Option"
by Ryan Grimm, HuffingtonPost.com 12-21-09
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/21/lieberman-obama-never-pre_n_399355.html
Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) insists that the [Obama] White House DID NOT PRESSURE HIM to get behind _either_ a PUBLIC HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION, or a MEDICARE BUY-IN compromise during the health care debate this year.
Ryan Grimm's excellent Huffington Post interview of "Traitor Joe" Lieberman continues, Mr. Grimm caught up with the Senator who White House Chief of Staff (head skullcrusher) Rahm Emanuel turned to, to DRIVE A SPIKE into the heart of GENUINE health care reform, after TWELVE LONG MONTHS of Emanuel's bloody, relentless, duplicitous, bribe-and-bully, anti-democratic health care reform obstruction:
"Well, no. I think I got pressure from the president to be for health care reform," [in the most generalist, insurance-industry approved terms] Lieberman said when asked by HuffPost about any pressure from the administration to support either the public option or the Medicare buy-in. "I'd have to think about this, but I DIDN'T REALLY HAVE DIRECT INPUT FROM the White House on this. He [Senator Lieberman] added that Nancy-Ann DeParle, a top administration health care aide, DOWNPLAYED the public option's significance EARLY in the debate.
Most of my dealings were with Senator Reid until the very end, that Sunday, when I went in to his office and Rahm Emanuel was there," said Lieberman. Rahm, said Lieberman, "was relatively quiet."In this video, former Democratic National Committee Chairman, former MD, and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean echoes Lieberman's main contention as reported in the HuffPost article: AT NOT TIME in the past dozen months did President Obama, or his lead henchman/Rasputin co-president Rahm Emanuel, EVER urge senators on the Democratic side of the aisle to SUPPORT either a public option or expanded Medicare... much less did Emanuel or Obama IMPLORE Senators to FIGHT for the Public Option or Expanded Medicare.
Reid and Emanuel met privately before Lieberman arrived at Reid's office; HuffPost previously reported that sources familiar with the meeting said that EMANUEL [NOT Lieberman!] PRESSURED Reid TO DROP the MEDICARE BUY-IN. Regardless of whose decision it was, by the time Lieberman got to Reid's office, Reid was ready to drop the Medicare compromise, said Lieberman.
THE FIX WAS IN, from day one, of the bloody, duplicitous Emanuel/Obama presidency!
FireDogLake.com: "Ten Reasons to KILL Obama's Health Care 'Reform'" ATROCITY:
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/12/21/10-reasons-to-kill-the-senate-bill/
By: Jane Hamsher Monday
December 21, 2009 7:22 am
FDL has become the go-to place for coverage of the health care bill due to the work of our incredible team. So, I asked them to help make it simple: how do we let people know what's going to happen to them if the Senate bill passes? Everyone put their heads together and came up with a list: Top 10 Reasons to Kill Senate Health Care Bill
1.Forces you to pay up to 8% of your income to private insurance corporations -- whether you want to or not.
2.If you refuse to buy the insurance, you'll have to pay penalties of up to 2% of your annual income to the IRS.
3.Many will be forced to buy poor-quality insurance they can't afford to use, with $11,900 in annual out-of-pocket expenses over and above their annual premiums.
4.Massive restriction on a woman's right to choose, designed to trigger a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court.
5.Paid for by taxes on the middle class insurance plan you have right now through your employer, causing them to cut back benefits and increase co-pays.
6.Many of the taxes to pay for the bill start now, but most Americans won't see any benefits -- like an end to discrimination against those with preexisting conditions -- until 2014 when the program begins.
7.Allows insurance companies to charge people who are older 300% more than others.
8.Grants monopolies to drug companies that will keep generic versions of expensive biotech drugs from ever coming to market.
9.No re-importation of prescription drugs, which would save consumers $100 billion over 10 years.
10.The cost of medical care will continue to rise, and insurance premiums for a family of four will rise an average of $1,000 a year -- meaning in 10 years, your family's insurance premium will be $10,000 more annually than it is right now
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And, finally, FireDogLake.com also posted a comment similar to our own rant, that FAR from being an "OFF THE RESERVATION" out-of-control-of-Democrats obstructionist, Senator Joe Lieberman WAS ACTUALLY a PARTNER in OBSTRUCTION - a PARTNER in SABOTAGE of genuine health-care reform, WITH President Obama and the Emanuel/GoddamnSachs White House, as we've been saying for months:
Lieberman, Obama on the Same Team
By: Gregg Levine, FDL,
Monday December 21, 2009
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/12/21/lieberman-obama-on-the-same-team/
< Lieberman takes great pains to describe a situation where he received almost no pressure from the White House or leadership, except to eventually pass some bill. The president did not lean on Joe to agree to include some form or public option or Medicare buy-in. >
