Kucinich explains his vote, Nader explains his concerns : Democracy Now

[Mari333]

Democracy Now:

Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio announced on Wednesday he would switch his vote on the Democrat-led healthcare reform bill and support the legislation even though it does not create a public option. Kucinich’s decision came two days after he spoke with President Obama aboard Air Force One on their way to a rally in his district. In a Democracy Now! exclusive, we spend the hour with Kucinich and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader for an in-depth discussion on healthcare, the Obama administration, the Iraq


http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/18/dennis_kucinich_and_ralph_nader_a

[Mari333]

1. k

this is a new video

[Mari333]

2. shameless kick

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. K&R Thanks for posting, Mari333.

[Mari333]

4. its the grey areas...Dennis is still pissed off about this bill

and he agrees with Nader

[Romulox]

5. Can anyone distill it into a few sentences? Kucinich's press release was almost contentless

:shrug:

[Mari333]

6. he said he voted yes merely to force single payer into the system

and will push relentlessly for it. he still thinks the bill SUCKS

[Romulox]

8. That doesn't make ANY sense to me. But thank you for the help. nt

[Mari333]

9. he says he basically voted yes to get something started

and wants to vigilantly force single payer or public option into the system. he said he wants to try working in the system, and nader basically told him, if he does that, be ready to work hard for it, for the next few years.

whats hard to understand?

I wish Dennis had said this at his press conference. that he still thinks the bill is shitty as is.

[Romulox]

10. Wonder if he's making any headways on those NAFTA "side agreements"

"whats hard to understand?"

The fact that if we don't have the votes today, we're not likely to have the votes tomorrow, for a start. :hi:

[Mari333]

12. oh I heartily agree

I think Dennis will be spinning in the wind for years, now. no one, after this bill is passed, will ever 'fix ' it to apply a PO or universal health care.

He will try, knowing him, but he wont be able to do it.

[Individualist]

15. Excellent point

:thumbsup:

[laughingliberal]

11. I was really hoping, by some miracle, he had been able to get some concession or other in return

for his 'yes' vote. Guess that's only for Blue Dogs.

[Mari333]

13. thats what I thought too...

that maybe, as he sat on AF one, he was told that a PO was on the ledger to be brought up and they promised that..

looks like he just decided to work inside the corrupt system, and hope for something.

[ProSense]

7. "it would be impossible to start a serious healthcare discussion...if this bill goes down"

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH: Well, first of all, I appreciate that you covered that part where I said that I don’t retract anything that I said before. I had taken the effort to put a public option into the bill and also to create an opportunity for states to have their right protected to pursue single payer. I took it all the way down to the line with the President, the Speaker of the House, Democratic leaders. And it became clear to me that, despite my best efforts, I wasn’t going to be able to get it in the bill and that I was going to inevitably be looking at a bill that—where I was a decisive vote and that I was basically, by virtue of circumstances, being put in a position where I could either kill the bill or let it go forward and—in the hopes that we could build something from the ruins of this bill.

I think that—you know, I mean, I can just tell you, it was a very tough decision. But I believe that now we need to look to support the efforts at the state level for single payer, to really jump over this debate and not have all those who want to see transformative change in healthcare be blamed for this bill going down. I think that really it’s a dangerous moment. You know, the Clinton healthcare reforms, which I thought were very weak, it’s been sixteen years since we’ve had a discussion about healthcare reform because of the experience of the political maelstrom that hit Washington. And I saw—I came to the conclusion, Amy, that it was going to—it would be impossible to start a serious healthcare discussion in Washington if this bill goes down, despite the fact that I don’t like it at all. And every criticism I made still stands.

I want to see this as a step. It’s not the step that I wanted to take, but a step so that after it passes, we can continue the discussion about comprehensive healthcare reform, about what needs to be done at the state level, because that’s really where we’re going to have to, I think, have a breakthrough in single payer, about diet, nutrition, comprehensive alternative medicine. There’s many things that we can do. But if the bill goes down and we get blamed for it, I think there’ll be hell to pay, and in the end, it’ll just be used as an excuse as to why Washington couldn’t get to anything in healthcare in the near future.

link

[DevonRex]

14. Dennis is saying what many of US have been saying for a year now.

That is the stark reality of the situation. Good to see that he changed his mind.

[EFerrari]

16. Poor Dennis looks exhausted. n/t

[Echo In Light]

17. k/r

[slipslidingaway]

18. Kucinich "...Hopefully we can build something from the ruins of this bill..." n/t

[EFerrari]

21. Dennis also brought up the point that the right wing has tried to tank Obama

from the beginning, to delegitimize his tenure. Dennis said we have to be very careful how we oppose this president so we don't play into the winger's hand. He has a point but the conserva-dems are exploiting that concern, including Obama himself.

[slipslidingaway]

23. Yes and I agree with him, what a shame that so many caved early on

instead of fighting for the people.

[rog]

19. This was a great interview. k&r

And yes ... Dennis looks worn out. But he had many good things to say about staying in the ring to fight for change in this administration.

I agree that this is a "must watch," and I have it bookmarked to come back and listen at least a couple more times.

Nader is a little too strident, in my opinion, despite the fact that I agree with much that he says, but Dennis is really very good in this interview.

Can't figure why there are only 3 recs.

.rog.

[slipslidingaway]

20. delete n/t

[slipslidingaway]

22. Kucinich - "...The Pressure comes from being told that you might be

singularly responsible for the passage or failure of a an initiative..."

[G_j]

24. K&R

thanks

[Eyerish]

25. K&R

[Better Believe It]

26. Poor Dennis will try to make a filet mignon out of a pile of shit. Lots of luck with that Dennis!

Dennis.

Please rejoin the real world.