Abandon bipartisanship, all ye who enter here — Part II
Finally, the Obama administration has begun to voice what has been obvious for months now: If there is to be health care reform, it will probably pass with only Democratic votes. Perhaps one or two Republicans will vote for it. Perhaps not.
After President Obama angered liberal Democrats by wavering on a proposed public insurance plan — which Republicans have derided as a “government takeover” of health care — he still could not get the GOP on board. While moderate Democrats have proposed member-owned health care coops as acceptable alternatives to a public option, Republicans have already signaled that they won’t support coops, either.
Calling coops a “trojan horse” that’s nearly identical to the public option, GOP Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona said, “It doesn’t matter what you call it, they want to accomplish something Republicans are opposed to,” according to The Washington Post.
Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s chief of staff, finally got the message. He told the New York Times: “The Republican leadership has a made a strategic decision that defeating President Obama’s health care proposal is more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that Americans face everyday.”
Why did it take them so long to figure that out?
The Republicans had already announced their intentions. Last month, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), announced, “If we are to stop Obama on (health care reform), it would be his Waterloo. It will break him.”
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Guides
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2011 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
38 comments Add your comment
Carter is a Fool
August 19th, 2009
1:45 pm
Yes, the Demoncrats never tried bi-partisanship. To them it means accept what we say when we say it. No dialogue needed. Princess Nancy surely will not let Republicans participate in the debate over the issues. Look at how them rammed TARP down our throats along with Cap and Tax.
This Government take over of health care is bad for America and Americans, but great for illegals and those who do not plan but wish the government to take care of them from cradle to grave. They are even willing to let the government decide when it is time for them to go to the grave.
mike
August 19th, 2009
2:00 pm
LOL. Cynthia Tucker bemoaning the lack of bi-partisanship. This is almost as good as Tucker decrying hypocrisy. LOL
At some point the reform’s supporters are going to have to make the case for their preferred policy instead of whining about the Republicans. The majority of folks who oppose this particular reform are not going to be swayed that Republicans are not nice enough to Obama and Pelosi.
ray23
August 19th, 2009
2:28 pm
I say pass this damn public health plan, ram it down the throats of the republicans, take the flack and move on. Nobody lives forever Obama. Do the right thing. We should at least go down fighting.
Turd Ferguson
August 19th, 2009
3:04 pm
NO…its a case of govt intrustion. Its a case of a few commies like pelosi, reid, frank and other who intend on forcing the workers to fork over more to the lazy, the bums and the mother who decided to have 5 kids by 5 different fathers.
I dont want your stinking OboboCare. Let the dems proceed on this suicidal path and just be prepared when the 2010 elections yield nationwide republican victories.
Either way…Obobo and the dems lose. Its a no win situation.
Get Real
August 19th, 2009
3:15 pm
Yo Carter, which TARP are you speaking of? Bush signed that. Stop listening to Fox.
Was Medicare Part 2, touted by republicans and signed by Bush, a case of government intrusion Turd?
You two are perfect examples of misinformed individuals. Or its only ok when your party does it. The teabaggers were chilling while a republican-led government put everything on a credit card, passed tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 through reconcilication, yet no job creation came from that. Go sit in the corner and let the adults get some work done. With a name like turd, maybe you should go sit in the bathroom.
Sunshine and Thunder
August 19th, 2009
3:28 pm
GET REAL
You wrote:
“The teabaggers were chilling while a republican-led government put everything on a credit card, passed tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 through reconcilication, yet no job creation came from that.”
You want to look that up? The final tally was about 8 million jobs. Even government schools can add that up.
Jackie
August 19th, 2009
3:57 pm
Let the Dems create a bill and require the Repubs to vote yes or no.
No reconcilliation, no worry about a veto.
Let the public see what the bill does for their health care, then watch the Repubs try to extropolate when it is found the bill actually helps EVERYONE!
Shawny
August 19th, 2009
3:58 pm
If the liberals forge foward with govt healthcare, which the citizens of the US do not want, then it is they that have abandoned bipartisanship. There is no real need to ram this one in currently. We want cheaper healthcare, not govt healthcare.
statusquo
August 19th, 2009
4:08 pm
Turd Ferguson August 19th, 2009 3:04 pm
“NO…its a case of govt intrustion.”
I agree with Turd. If some type of healthcare reform is passed there is a great chance that the both citizens & non-citizens now receiving free healthcare under our present system will be forced out of their god given right to health care. If we keep things exactly like they are now, then all the unfortunate souls in this country can continue get medical care when they are most in need. Remember this is a Christian nation founded on Christian principles. We will care for the needy.
Get Real
August 19th, 2009
4:29 pm
Sunshine. Where are they now, and please provide a link as well.
Dave R.
August 19th, 2009
4:38 pm
You know, it’s funny. No matter how many times Cynthia Tucker, Rahm Emanuel, or any of the “leadership” in Congress keeps saying things like “the Republicans have no plan” or “They don’t want to solve our health care problems” it doesn’t make those statements any more true.
In fact, Republicans have put forth many solutions to health care, but guess what? Those bills never see the light of day because the supposedly “bipartisan” Democrats never allow them to come out of the committees they run.
I guess bipartisanship is defined by Democrats as “do as I want you to do”.
I never realized they gave out Pulitzer prizes for “blathering inaccuracies”.
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator :-) You Whine :-(
August 19th, 2009
4:50 pm
Lashing out at the town hall protesters, playing the race card, whining about angry white men and whispering ominously about right-wing militias is almost always a sign of liberalism’s weakness — a failure of the imagination.-Jonah Goldberg
Whining from the dimocrats tinged with propaganda.
Lovely course you’ve charted.
Sheffield
August 19th, 2009
7:02 pm
Have the members of Congress decided to take the same plan or will they keep their cushy health care?
Momcat
August 19th, 2009
7:08 pm
Hopefully President Obama has now accepted the fact that the R’s only objective is to destroy the Health Care reform bill. The President needs to pull a Harry Truman and tell them (R’s) where to go. The bill should be passed now, and not a ‘watered down’ version. We don’t need more of the same! Affordable health care should be available to all U.S. citizens.
TDone
August 19th, 2009
7:49 pm
For all you folks who want a public option, be careful what you ask for. You might just get it.
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
August 19th, 2009
8:56 pm
One, if possessed with a single shred of intellectual integrity, must lie the blame for today’s highly polarized political environment at the feet of our ineffective President Obama. Not only has he shown no leadership, he set up a game where he did not solicit Republican input and set up a game of chicken thinking his popularity would cow weak Republicans into votingt for his risky healthcare scheme. Too bad, he blinked and lost. Wish we had a courageous man of character like President Bush back in office.
Algonquin J. Calhoun
August 19th, 2009
9:24 pm
Bush should be in prison for war crimes! It’s time for Obama and the Democrats to bring the hammer down and pass health care reform. Like it or lump it, who gives a damn?
Pat Phelps
August 19th, 2009
9:27 pm
Cynthia…Last time I checked the Obamacrats had a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. If I’m not mistaken the Obamacrats have a voting majority in the House.
How is it the fault of the Rebublicans, or Bi-partisanship, that this bill has not passed.
Face it, the Prez doesn’t even have his own party in his back pocket and now you and the Obamacrats are once again being dishonest to the public by blaming partisanship and the Republicans.
I have no problem with us agreeing to disagree, but at least be honest about what is really going on.
Emory Eagle
August 19th, 2009
9:31 pm
Cynthia,
Funny you mention Rahm Emanuel when talking about bipartisanship. Was it not Rahm who once threw a fit about other democrats not toeing the party line, stabbing a table with a knife and yelling, “Dead! Dead! Dead!”? Granted, this may be a matter of hearsay, but I think you know darn well that man is the antithesis of bipartisanship. Your hypocrisy is breathtaking.
Pat Phelps
August 19th, 2009
9:42 pm
Hey Al J. Calhoun…what did Bush do to be tried for war crimes. Are you also prepared to try your precious Obama for the same thing. Why don’t you make an intelligent remark instead of the same old tired crap that you libs spill. Next you’ll be saying that Bush lied and people died. Give it a rest.
Now on to health care. Why should I be responsible for providing health care to America? Where in the Constitution does it say that every American is entitled to health care? Why should someone who doesn’t contribute be given free health care? That is all government health care is, entitlement. I believe everyone should have health care but you have to work for it. The public option is another way of saying we want everyone to be on this so we can control their lives. Sorry the government is already in too much of my life. Don’t want them in more of my life. If you do, more power to you. You can have them.
Bill
August 19th, 2009
9:42 pm
The Democrats are not even willing to listen to the people. MSNBC calls us “nazi’s”. If the Rat’s want government run healthcare, they will have to own it 100%. We will all know who to balme when it falls flat on its face.
Eve
August 19th, 2009
10:56 pm
Whoever said the majority of Americans don’t want health care reform? The polls say differently. If government run health care is so bad, why don’t you get your parents and granny to give up their Medicare? Instead of killing off granny (like a bunch of idiots are saying) they actually put in a feeding tube when she’s in a dying coma so the hospitals can get another couple days of Medicare.
DeborahinAthens
August 20th, 2009
6:06 am
After being a life long Republican, I became a Democrat over eight years ago when the Republican party decided it was more interested in micro managing peoples personal lives than in getting anything of substance done. They wasted more than a decade blathering about same sex marriages, a woman’s right to decide what she can and cannot do with her body (irony, there, now that they are raging against government control of our healthcare, isn’t it?), they spent more hours on making sure that Terry Schiavo stay hooked up to life support, even though her physicians and autopsy eventually showed that she was a vegetable, than they spent on finding out the real cost of Medicare Part D. Bush lied about the true cost and rammed it down our throats anyway. Now we are left with it. It was, and still is, to my knowledge, the largest entitlement bill ever passed in Congress. Where oh where were these ranting, pious Republicans when all of this was happening? You are the worst of hypocrites! If you don”t believe in government control of healthcare, why were you mucking about in Terry Schiavo’s life. Why do you think it’s right for the government to let pharmacists refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control? HYPOCRITES each and every one of you. My fear, after voting for Obama, is that the Democrats who have the backing of the majority of the American people will buckle under to this minority (yes, you slimy hypocrites–you are the MINORITY) and not get done what it was that we the people elected them to do. Cyntthia, you have the ear of the President and the representatives in Washington. Spread the word! Don’t give up. The Democrats finally have enough power to get it done, without the hypocrites. The next election, we will vote for the Dems again–if they get done what we voted for them to do. At least they are morally honest. At least, they put the cost of all of the programs into the budget. Bush had a coy way of leaving the big ticket items out of the budget. And THAT is the major reason we are where we are today. Go back under your rocks HYPOCRITES!
Dave R.
August 20th, 2009
7:31 am
DeborahinAthens, you might wish to study a bit of history before you rant about a subject.
The Senate resolution in support of continuing to feed Terry Schiavo passed unanimously, including future President Hope & Change’s vote.
And as far as leaving cost accounting out of legislation, you might wish to consult section 2002 (I believe) of House Bill 3200. The language specifically exempts accounting of funds for a particular program from being counted in the budget. That would be the legislation your precious Dems have proposed, sweetie.
Hypocrisy is not limited to Republicans.
bob
August 20th, 2009
7:37 am
Most gov employees do not pay Social Security and have their own private plan with many investment options. They have no confidence in Social Security, why should people with good healthcare have confidence in Gov.
Donovan
August 20th, 2009
7:52 am
Tucker is indeed just another shill for the Democrat Party and robotic voice doing the bidding of her master. Bi-partisanship is a propaganda tool used by liberals when they don’t get their way. The term is a twisted device used to validate any liberal effort. If the proposed effort works then the liberals validate the passage with “we all wanted it”. If the effort fails then the failed passage is blamed on the Republicans for refusing a bi-partisan vote. The problem with liberals is that they think the rest of us are stupid. Here’s a new flash, Tucker…85% of this country does not want your health plan.
What They Are Saying: 08.20.09 | AnnotatedOpinions.com
August 20th, 2009
8:20 am
[...] Abandon bipartisanship, all ye who enter here [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] [...]
Sam S.
August 20th, 2009
8:27 am
Still blowing smoke and still stupid, huh Dave R.?
Bob
August 20th, 2009
8:28 am
Once again Cynthia, your call for bipartisanship is laughable coming from some one who never strays from your unilateral viewpoints.
GWB
August 20th, 2009
8:33 am
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
August 19th, 2009
8:56 pm
One, if possessed with a single shred of intellectual integrity, must lie the blame for today’s highly polarized political environment at the feet of our ineffective President Obama. Not only has he shown no leadership, he set up a game where he did not solicit Republican input and set up a game of chicken thinking his popularity would cow weak Republicans into votingt for his risky healthcare scheme. Too bad, he blinked and lost. Wish we had a courageous man of character like President Bush back in office
Au contraire Wylld Bill! The Republican Party with which Democrats could make deals no longer exists. The GOP is too narrow; the gap between the parties, too wide. Our politics are not those of the mid-20th century, when bipartisanship was fairly common. If anything, they’re more like those of the mid-19th century, before the Civil War, when North and South combined only to make a house divided against itself — a conflict resolved not by compromise, but, as Lincoln predicted, by a nation then half-slave and half-free becoming “all one thing or all the other.”
Davo
August 20th, 2009
8:42 am
I hope the dems do take the go-it-alone strategy. Win or lose on Obamacare it will resurrect the GOP and opposition to the rest of Obama’s utopian ideas. I’ll be keenly interested to see what happens when immigration reform comes up and how the dems plan to appease their lowest common denominator base.
Better start looking for volunteers to bus in your constitutents.
Roscoe
August 20th, 2009
9:05 am
Davo…you are the lowest common denominator. And you are also a distinct…soon to be extinct, angry minority on the outside looking in. Obama will get HC reform and immigration reform. And that will be the end of the you wingnuts forever.
GWB
August 20th, 2009
9:08 am
On the contrary Davo. Lincoln’s prophecy still holds. Our current conflicts may be resolved only as the South becomes traditionally less Southern and more diverse — home to more Northern transplants and immigrants. That process was already at work in the 2008 elections, when Obama carried Virginia, North Carolina and Florida on the strength of those demographic shifts. As that process continues — perhaps only as it continues — the course of reform in America may run more smoothly.
And it will when cretins on the right fringe are put away once and for all. You’re gone Davo. Nationally the Republican party is a black smoking hole.
GWB
August 20th, 2009
9:21 am
You are the lowest common denominator Davo. And when HC reform passes next comes immigration reform. And that Davo will be the end of the right wing of the republican party forever. Enjoy the view from the outside Davo.
Turd Ferguson
August 20th, 2009
9:50 am
News for you kiddies…Obobo is in a no win situation. Sqawk all ya want about OboboCare and the House. The Senate will be the killer.
Pat
August 20th, 2009
11:29 am
Right wing nutjobs dominate Cynthia and Jay’s forums, as well as Georgia politics –
but until very recently, they didn’t speak for the majority in this nation. For decades, most voters have favored universal coverage. Sure, now that the lies have taken center stage in the media, support has fallen. But a well-placed lie can always run a mile down the road while the truth is still pulling on its pants.
_____ the Republicans. Since when have they given a rat’s ___ about “reaching out” to the Dems? They wouldn’t reach out to moderates in their own party. They drove out the moderates, let the crazies take over, and now are a regional party with nutjob radio shock jocks as their spokesmen.
But to Cynthia’s point – (it’s pathetic, but unsurprising, that the wingnuts who regularly post here would flunk a basic reading comprehension test) …
Cynthia wasn’t castigating the GOP for not being “bi-partisan.” She’s wondering why, in the name of all things holy, did it take Obama and his crew so long to figure out that trying to compromise with the GOP was pointless? You’ve been told Obama refused to compromise?
Bad news – you’re another typical Faux News robo-voter, and you’ve been played.
Barry’s Mr. Compromise – that’s his problem.
Obama started this process with starry-eyed idealistic fantasies of bipartisanship – and when he got reamed, proceeded to make MORE concessions. Why do you think liberals are pissed off at him?
You’d think he’d have had the sense to talk strategy with Clinton – he’d at least have been prepped for the Lying Olympics and Smear-a-thon in store for him.
News flash Barry – we elected you to make these reforms. You have a majority. If you and the Democrats in Congress don’t act now, then you’re as gutless as the GOP has always said.
Why’d you bother to run for office if you were going to throw up white flags at what should have been expected from the usual suspects on the right? If we’re too timid to pull the trigger on healthcare reform when we’re a majority, it shouldn’t surprise us that the kooks at the rallies feel emboldened enough to threaten pulling the trigger for real – or when it actually happens.
Progressives, it’s way past time to grow a pair. Talk back, to friends, family and at the rallies.
Answer every hysterical lying email someone sends you with backup and evidence.
Show everyone you know who funds Americans for Prosperity, Freedomworks and other front organizations organizing the rallies. Connect the dots. It’s not that hard – when you’re trying to figure out who’s lying to you, always follow the money. Massive insurance profits are at stake here.
Did Obama really think they’d just lay down for him?
Pat Phelps
August 20th, 2009
12:30 pm
Pat – did you really say, “trying to compromise with the GOP was pointless”, as opposed to the way the Obamacrats rushed across the aisle to confirm every judge that President Bush nominated. Give me a break!!! Don’t you libs dare talk about partisonship. Man, if that is not height of hypocrisy I don’t know what is.
Ralph
August 20th, 2009
8:49 pm
Cynthia Tucker writing a blog on health care is like Attila the Hun writing a book on etiquette. As soon as the uninsured hit the health care system the party will be over.