"So ..... what would YOU suggest should have been done?"

[Stinky The Clown]

I hear this often. It has been asked of me. What would you have done? How was he supposed to overcome a senate that didn't have the votes?

First off, it should never have come to this.

Here's a little thought to chew on: George Bush, a man inferior in EVERY CONCEIVABLE WAY to Barack Obama, got his agenda done. He shouldn't have had the votes. But he got them when they mattered. Surely a man as smart as Barack Obama could do the same.

So here's **my** six step plan:

1. Make a clear and unambiguous statement of what you want a health care reform bill to look like. No weasel words. Be specific. Use every rhetorical skill you possess to sell it to the people.

2. Take to the bully pulpit and use it to counter every opposition lie. Every one of them. Immediately. Stand for something and don't back down.

3. Be willing to point to certain people and tell the country they're corrupt and beholden to people who have interests different from the Common Weal. No need to start off by doing it. But make it crystal clear that you will if you need to. You need sixty votes? Then get them by any means necessary. Hoyle applies only to card games. This will also help you, later, with anything else you want to get done.

4. Manage the message. Treat it is as seriously as you treated the campaign to get yourself elected.

5. Make it ABSOLUTELY about "them" and "us". Populism is powerful. You're not "bipartisan". You're "non partisan".

6. Spend whatever political capital it takes, even if you have to borrow. And don't worry about reelection. Get this done and you'll be declared a saint by popular acclaim. NOTHING we have EVER done affects each of us so immediately as health care. It is bigger than Medicare and bigger than Social Security. Get this done and reelection is automatic.

[polichick]

1. Happy to K&R your excellent plan. nt

[roguevalley]

20. Stinky, you read my mind. awesome post.

[MrCoffee]

2. Invite Lieberman over for a friendly LBJ-style chat

Reid is a useless bastard.

[tridim]

3. Bush had the benefit of a scared shitless population and political blackmail

He could do anything he wanted by just raising the terra-lert level.

That's the difference.

[NNN0LHI]

14. And anyone who didn't go along with his shit was compared to bin Laden like they did to Max Cleland

Dems would never resort to those kinds of tactics to get their way. Republicans do it but they are pond scum.

Don

[varelse]

4. That is the script for leadership

I find it really difficult to believe our intelligent, eloquent, charming President is not aware of what needs to be done. There has to be some other reason it's not being done.

[mrs_p]

5. agreed - sensible and practical advice stinky....

after all, he said he would stake his presidency on this issue. and i still believe him, even if the majority on this board don't

[branders seine]

6. Start negotiations by demanding full-on single payer.

Pressure Reid to use Reconciliation at the first hint of oppowition.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. You're absolutely right

Starting negotiations in the middle was stupid.

[branders seine]

13. never give away your position, much less your potential goals

before negotiation even starts. Obama is not stupid. This capitulation was by design.

[mike_c]

7. rec'd, with pleasure....

The circumstance that BUSH slid his agenda through like silk has been burning in my brain all afternoon. He was an idiot son with his thumb permanently up his ass, and so far he's been ten times more successful than Obama.

[gleaner]

8. Excellent plan!

The only thing I would have added was some back room muscling of recalcitrant Democrats the way Johnson used to do. He got things done and whatever persuasion he used sure worked. He wasn't a likable man and I never thought I would wish he was back, but I miss his magic touch now. Also expose every overture made to you by a special interest and let the public see who is running over them. By name. Stand up with courage for what you believe in. That should have gone without saying but it didn't. I'm not terribly surprised. I knew from the beginning when Obama began courting Republicans that it was not going to end well. I hope there is a viable candidate running against him in the Democratic primary next election. That is where my efforts are going to go.

[Stinky The Clown]

17. That would be encompassed in point number three

But here's the difference. Johnson had been a congressional powerhouse for years and years, and knew where *all* the bodies were buried. Obama is a neophyte.

[gleaner]

21. True ..

But Biden is not. If he had let Biden pitch in it could have helped immensely. Did Biden ever express an opinion on this fiasco? I don't remember hearing anything from him. Tonight when I saw a bit of Obama's speech he actually looked concerned. I wonder if he has any idea of the whole world of crap he has just plunged into? Before he was always calm and grinning like a fool.

I got what you're saying about Johnson. In the 60s it was said that he and Andre Gromyko knew where everyone kept the ducks they were making love to and that Gromyko probably had the pictures.

[valerief]

9. Leaders make offers that others can't refuse. That's what the prez should do.

But he apparently doesn't want to. He's apparently getting exactly what he wants. Exploding war and more shifting of wealth from the middle class to the 1%.

[Jakes Progress]

10. Excellent. nt

[WeDidIt]

12. Keep going full steam ahead with this bill, let the progressives bitch and moan

Then on January 7, open up Medicare for anybody who'll pay the premiums via reconciliation.

Progressives would then cheer.

[tridim]

18. Maybe that's what is actually happening?

Unless the bill is killed I bet we'll have a real PO by this time next year.

[Jamastiene]

15. Another step would be to use basic bargaining principles

The idea of bargaining is to ask for more than you expect to get, so you can get what you really want. That is what we should always do. It is what the Republicans have been doing for years to incrementally shift the country further and further to the right and it has worked.

[Edweird]

16. Single Payer. Whatever it would take.

Whisper sweet nothings to those on board. Give those opposed a 'come to jesus' speech. For those still being dicks, I'd hire tom-fucking-delay (everybody has their price) and sic that bastard of unimaginable proportions on them. You don't have to like it, but you are damn well gonna pass it.
Of course, all of this is exactly why nobody in their right mind would make me president of anything.

[LooseWilly]

19. My contribution to your plan: Kill the current bill, follow Stinky's plan & try again.

Just kill this bill, and start again asking for Single Payer (and threatening to use reconciliation to extend Medicare to everyone if things stall).

:+

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Here's another one: Before presenting the bill to the public AT ALL

take out all the minefields and anything that's a favor to the corporations or any other special interest group.

Don't put in ANYTHING that more properly belongs under administrative rules.

Make sure that your proposal can be described in five sentences. For example, if you must work through the private sector, here's how you summarize the German program:

1. All people must enroll in health insurance.

2. Benefits are defined and the premiums charged cannot exceed a certain percentage of a person's income.

3. No exclusions, rescissions, pre-existing conditions, or deductibles.

4. Insurers must pay immediately upon receipt of the provider's bill unless they have absolutely proof of fraud (not just suspicion).

5. The insured person may have a modest co-pay but never sees any additional bills.

Or here's the Japanese system in five sentences:

1. Everyone is covered, either through their professional association or company or through a public option, both of which offer the same benefits.

2. Both systems charge premiums based on income.

3. No exclusions, rescissions, pre-existing conditions, or deductibles.

4. There are no deductibles but there are co-pays.

5. For certain catastrophic conditions, the government picks up the entire tab.

See?

There was no official executive summary of either bill that I could find, so the public didn't really understand what was in the bill, and as the details leaked out, the bill looked less and less attractive.

The complexity of the bill and the poor PR job were two reasons why the wingnuts found it so easy to demagogue.

When I lived in Oregon and attended information sessions on the various initiatives that appeared on the ballot every year, presenters always mentioned at least one initiative that was unlikely to pass because it was difficult to understand. Research had shown that most voters automatically rejected any initiative that they didn't understand.

[ljm2002]

23. Spot on!

Sadly, President Obama is showing himself to be more of a corporate centrist than the agent of change he billed himself as during the campaign.