Lawrence O'Donnell: Should have governed from the left. Health care - expand Medicare.

[chimpymustgo]

Then, if you lose, it's about something people understand.

Except, we wouldn't have lost, when all these people who've lost their jobs and homes and are MAD AS HELL were able to get health CARE - NOT health INSURANCE.

[rhett o rick]

1. Reaching across the aisle was a total complete failure. I hope "we" learned our lesson. nm

[flpoljunkie]

2. I totally agree with Lawrence O'Donnell.

Heard bully boy Scarborough attack him for being from Hollywood. Joe failed to mention Lawrence O'Donnell, Harvard graduate, was staff director of the Senate Finance Committee when healthcare failed during Clinton's first term--something Scarborough surely knows.

[GOTV]

3. Exactly - if you fight for the right things it doesn't matter in the short term ...

... whether you win or lose. If Obama was seen fighting for things Americans wanted and we saw him being thwarted by the Republicans, I think America would have sent him more Democrats.

Instead we saw them working together and failing, so Obama and the Dems got the blame.

If you fight for the right things you win - eventually.

[ChiciB1]

4. O'Donnell Has MY VOTE! And Furthermore So Many Democrats Never

fought the good fight, nor did Obama LEAD like a leader. Say what you will, but I'm looking around for REPLACEMENTS in 2012, STARTING TODAY!

Even if they're hiding under a rock. My son-in-law had a conversation last Saturday about what WE wanted to do with this WHOLE MESS! Even in this corruption filled state of FLOR-EEEE-DUH!

I wonder what Grayson is planning to do, but I WILL try to contact him to see if he's still WILLING to fight against what we've seen these past TWO awful years!

[chimpymustgo]

5. Obama never fought for what he campaigned on - what we VOTED for.

I hate to abandon Obama - and the DREAM of what we all hoped this country could be. But it might be time to start on a new strategy for 2012. We cannot continue with this kind of "leadership". It's been appalling.

[vaberella]

9. That is 100% PURE and UTTER BS. I'm fuckin' tired of this shit on this board. n/t

[ChiciB1]

13. No, Not Completely! Call It What You Will, BUT This Election Might Be

kinda/sorta like 1994, with a very SOUR TWIST! We Have NUT CASES in The Senate Now! And Even WHEN the Senate had MORE Democrats, we had people like Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh and the likes of them who wanted Obama do go further right!

His kind of HOPE isn't what I voted for and worked for, and to be SURE, IMO LEADERSHIP just may very well have put them in their place!

Leadership can't be overlooked EVEN when the RIGHT LEANING Democrats were pushing THEIR agenda. All the blame doesn't lay at Obama's feet, and he's a very "likable" sort... just not the kind of President that seemed to fight very hard for the "underlings" in this country. One can't poo-poo away his ties to corporations, and the deals he made with BIG-PHARMA! I know too many people who are hurting and my sympathy for them is much stronger than ever before.

Call it BS is you want, so for me to wish to see something different from him is urgent. Getting rolled isn't my idea of STANDING TALL!

But, as I said my ire is high and getting more enhanced as each day goes by. Grayson was so very correct and Feingold losing is really a tragedy! I know how FLORIDA "rolls" with so much corruption, but Feingold and from where he's from leaves me utterly inflamed.

I don't "roll" to the right and I never will, just my opinion and today I can STILL have one. Yes, today I STILL have one, tomorrow and in the future to come I wonder what it will be.

So, you have YOUR anger, and I HAVE mine, either way... WE LOST!

[vaberella]

31. I was 14 in '94 and I'm going by what I see.

But the Statement that the WH and Obama doesn't fight is BS. That's what it is. When it came to health care he fought for it, and he bloody well fought for the Public option. Did you forget the ABC debate? All of his rallies and townhalls. Yet when mentioned Senators spat in his face and said there is no way in hell they would vote for the health care reform bill if it had the Public Option---it wasn't just the Republicans and it wasn't the Republicans with the clout there. It was fellow bloody democrats. Yet, you're in agreement that this was him not fighting.

He cut a deal with Big-Pharma which was killed ONCE he agreed with the bill in congress to allow generic overseas medication. He had the support of both Dems and Republicans. What the fuck happened?! DEmocrats came over and fucked up the deal. He went on national television TWICE and said he supported the measure even if there was this deal with Big-Pharma. He said we have Dems and REpubs, he would love it to pass in the bill. He said 2-3 times. And you're telling me he didn't fight for it?! Did you see what Menendez did? Menendez the Democrat who 2-3 years before was pushing an exactly similar bill went against the vote. A fellow Dem. But you're going to sit there and tell me the WH didn't fight for it.

When it comes to health care I know a few people hurting. I was one of those people rationing my bloody medication. I was the female with a hereditary disease who couldn't get health care because I had a preexisting condition. Affordable health care was a crock for me. I used to pay $400-$600 (per month depending on the plan). I found health insurance since then for about $100 a month. Seniors were getting fucked up the ass and they aren't now with the donut hole thing. I think we have to look at this in a large scale perspective. Shoot, the health care reform plan didn't only help in health care but also student loans. Don't sit there and claim that it's all doom and gloom here. There are a lot of people who are helped, millions of them. And to marginalize that is insulting. It's as though people would have preferred no bill. Actually I remember on this board that people would rather have stayed in a stagnant state of hell rather than not get EVERYTHING they wanted when the political climate Obama's dealing with would ensure SHIT would be done for the upcoming years if the health care reform plan wasn't pushed. And Obama succeeded. But you claim he's not a leader. Where Clinton failed and so many other presidents before him failed because of shit political climates, laziness, or just indifference to the plight of the American people----he succeeded after 30-40 years of inaction and you just say, "Oh, he wasn't a leader." For Fuck's sake.

Man, what do you people want.

I don't know why you're so inflamed about Feingold. I didn't want him out but I saw that he was going to be out. Before the rally, the bloody media-left gave Feingold a cursory glance. Feingold wasn't even pimping any of the stuff the democrats passed, some of which he was against. He didn't even pimp it because he was against them. And talked against them. Then when the rally happen in front of 30K supporters of Obama----he started pushing advertisements promoting Dem success. However, this was ONE month before the elections he does this. His ass was down by 20% of the vote for over 4-5 months and with no real push. Even Rachel Maddow pointed out several times in her show...it wasn't until after the screams FOR Health Care reform---that people this damned board scoff at. Feingold pushed advert after advert on Dem successes, which Rachel Maddow brought to our attention so many times. And then we started seeing him shoot up.

But before that he was down. And it was also AFTER that rally do we see the media left rallying the left. They took a pause in their anger over the Admin's insults. Petty as they felt, f'in idiots, to FINALLY realize that have a problem and it isn't the Admin. We have good people being tossed out on their ass. And then we hear about Fire Dog Lake raising some funds for Feingold. This is not the Admin's fault. I sincerely believe if Feingold eloquently pushed the health care reform bill and so many other Dem reforms early on and genuinely answered each and every single question in regards to that he would still be around. The bill is not 100% destructive, there are a lot of good things in it. But he trashed it in Congress and he stood by it until he saw that his constituents seems to bloody like it.

I find your post, and the one before yours ridiculously narrowed and selfish. I seriously do. While people like me would be WITHOUT any medical care right now if it went that there was no bill. I don't like compromises. But these assholes in Congress don't like the President. If you paid attention you would have seen that because Obama pushed Health CAre reform that meant he wanted it done and wanted the best for the American people---He made some compromises because it's not like we had a super majority in the Senate like 65. If that was the case....I sincerely doubt you'd have room to complain about the bill you wanted. However, Obama didn't have the super majority because we really don't have a states that push that. If you looked at most of his bills, they all started off extremely progressive, but because he knew we couldn't just stay unmoving as you're suggesting----because Senate and HOuse Dems thrawted improvement, he made some compromises to get the most of what we can. But you marginalize it and suggest he wasn't a leader or his allegiance laid elsewhere.

This is what I find to be an utter lie. Rachel Maddow had several shows on the good that came out of this Admin that was either not talked about or ignored or so easily forgotten. But obviously as always the good of this admin never reaches people...

[Hawkowl]

24. Buh bye!

[vaberella]

30. Did I say I was leaving?

I'm tired of BS and I will call it out...

Edited because I used an incorrect question structure in my title.

[Hawkowl]

32. Wishful thinking . nt

[vaberella]

33. Most likely. I believe wishes can come true...please continue to do so. n/t

[treestar]

25. LOL, is he running?

What would happen to him had he been in the Oval Office?

:rofl:

He'd have been eaten up by the sharks immediately!

[vaberella]

6. The House and Senate should have done that. They did not. n/t

[denimgirly]

7. But everyone already knew this.....well, except the WH apparently.

[vaberella]

8. The WH has nothing to do with it. This is entirely on the shoulders of the Dems in Congress.

I'm a bit shocked that no one is really looking critically at the congressmen and women who lost their seats. They were the ones who threatened in many cases not to pass bills because they were owned by their corporate masters. The WH made the compromise so they can help give some people some relief and we had blockage by many dems. Lincoln was one of them. I'm truly shocked how people lay 100% of the blame on the WH. These idiots lost and they lost by not pushing what they believed and how explaining themselves properly to the people. The health care debate was lost because Dems in office were shitheads. Obama had to go out there and explain the bill. The bill those idiots wrote. What the fuck is that? We need everyone on board and the idiots who are voting on it don't even know what they're pushing and they let their constituents live in a state of confusion. Let's put the blame where it rightly belongs. The Dems who lost their seats or almost did.

[chimpymustgo]

10. We voted for OBAMA to reform health care - not Max Baucus.

That was the big mistake. After campaigning for a year and a half - and dealing with health care reform for the last 50 years - the President's team should have had a plan to roll out on DAY 1 - when they had a 70% approval rating. They squandered that by dicking around for nearly a year. They started out, compromising universal health care - and the public option - and LIED about that.

Obama failed to LEAD.

[CTyankee]

36. Max Baucus et al stood in the way. He wasn't alone.

These people called the shots in Congress. They were handsomely rewarded for doing so.

I am convinced that the American people really wanted single payer. The polls showed that. Nobody but paid shills for the health insurance industry opposed "Medicare for everyone."

Upon reflection, I think Obama would have done better going down in defeat than by doing what he did. If reform had really reformed quickly and people saw results, then things might have been different. But that didn't happen. so now health care reform has left a sour taste in people's mouths.

[impik]

11. Really? That's EXACTLY the opposite of what LO said for two years. But hey

Who cares. They just put their finger against the wind.

[fugop]

12. They'll have their chance go move left now, right?

After all, a lot of the losses were the blue dogs in the swing districts. Guess we can see how purifying the party works.

And no, I'm not being insincere. I don't know if being further left would have helped us (I personally am further left than much of the party, I think, but I've tried being pragmatic). I really am curious to see, now that many of the blue dogs were purged, what the Dems will do. Will they become the new party of no? Do they have the balls? We'll see.

[ChiciB1]

16. It's A CRAP Shoot To Be Sure... And Yes, I Too Am Further Left...

But to say you will keep on COMPROMISING just conjures up the face of Boner, and I get furious thinking just how I see him strutting around and preening like he's some sort of PEACOCK. The last four letters of PEACOCK is what he really is!

:nuke: :puke: :grr:

[ProSense]

14. I could see how that

would have prevented Rubio from winning in Florida and Feingold losing in Wisconsin.

Obama wasn't on the ballot.

[book_worm]

15. Dems lost voters over 65 because they bought GOP argument about Obama cutting Medicare

they voted for GOP with 60% of the vote. That is a major problem that needs to be corrected before '12.

[ProSense]

17. Exactly.

People were fed distortions. You can't eliminate Bush's Medicare scam and expect the GOP not to portray that as a cut. That is also not an easy thing to counter when every report is showing an elimination. The fact that $58 million seniors got Medicare payments didn't seem to matter one bit.

[chimpymustgo]

19. That's LO's point: the passed a compromised, convoluted bill that doesn't kick in for years.

If they'd done the RIGHT thing - Medicare for all - or at least more - everybody UNDERSTANDS that - and they like it! Everybody wins.

[ProSense]

23. LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act and Medicare and

Congress lost seats 48 Democratic House seats in 1966. It has nothing to do with strength of the legislation.

[Kennah]

28. Spot on!

More substantive health care reform would have resonated with the voters. FDR gained 9 seats in the first midterm in 1934.

[ChiciB1]

18. I'm Not 65 Or Older, But I AM A Boomer... I Didn't Fall Under Anyone's

spell! RUBIO is going to be a nightmare because he has the FULL FORCE of the BUSHIES behind them. Jebby will push and prod him, as he has done for the BFEE agenda, maybe without the BUSH name out in front!

This IS going to affect NATIONAL politics because one MUST know how corrupt the BUSHIES et al are, and what they intend to do. It has already begun!

Think Jebby/Rubio or worse, Palin/Rubio! It could happen, but I don't think Palin can go up against the BUSH-ites and get away with it. Of course, she can tell more lies and can also turn on a dime, so she's willing to sell her soul for ANYTHING!

[freebrew]

21. They(65 & older) saw it first-hand.

No CLA? Yet, the congress gave themselves a hefty raise???

The Dems cut their own throat .

They defunded ACORN, they didn't listen to Howard Dean, they went further to the right, no HCR just an insurance giveaway.

Well, at least Lincoln and Skelton are gone...

[besdayz]

38. n

i doubt that seniors believed that dems will cut medicare and repubs will save it......

its more likely they got swept up in the narrative of big gov (where all programs outside of SS and MC are too big)

don't forget they have adult kids who are jobless and angry and that carries over.....

[frazzled]

20. Um, Lawrence, how does losing help?

Losing is losing, and the progressives, from Feingold to Grayson, Periello, Shea-Porter, Perriello, Mary Jo Kilroy, and John Hall all lost. (As did others who were not progressive.) I doubt any great understanding took place on the part of the public.

[jgraz]

37. He's wrong on that count

A real progressive agenda would have kept the Dems in power for a generation. There's no way we lose the House if Obama comes out for Single Payer.

[and-justice-for-all]

22. Trying to compromise or appease to the thugs was wrong...

Dems should have bulldozed those puke failures right into the ground.

[chimpymustgo]

26. To pass GOOD policies to help the PEOPLE.

[brentspeak]

27. That is exactly right

For decades, Social Security and Medicare, two Democratic-originated programs, were things that Americans from all political stripes liked. It didn't matter if one considered themself a "liberal" or a "conservative", a "Democrat" or a "Republican"; Social Security and Medicare were sacrosanct. People understood clearly what the programs were about and how they were benefited by them.

Not so the Frankenstein monster of Obama's HCR. It's incomprehensible to most; and, because it doesn't control costs, forces everyone to pay through the nose for pathetic for-profit "coverage", and because it does reward the insurance industry with our tax dollars, it just plain sucks, even though there are some important and necessary regulations tacked onto it. No one can legitimately wave a flag and rally around Obama's HCR like they can Social Security and Medicare. A total disaster.

[niceypoo]

29. The 'right wing Democrats' thing fell flat on its face

...but you cant say we didn't warn you.

[craigmatic]

34. He says that now. Everybody is a wednesday morning quarterback.

[Bluenorthwest]

35. That is only true when the actual quarterback fucks the day

Ya know? Nobody second guess a winner, do they?