DNC Convention Highlights: Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago, IL

Rahm Emanuel eyes the job of Mayor of Chicago; Gov. Charlie Crist eyes running independent in Florida (Video)

Nothing new. The City of Chicago is another story and not a good one, Republican Charlie Crist possibly running independent upsets all the apple carts in Florida.



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Barack Obama's political team is a disaster.

The Chicago Squad (Emanuel, Axelrod and Jarrett, with Robert Gibbs)

To say that Emanuel, Jarrett and Axelrod performed stellar as political advisors in 2009, you will need to take a bicarbonate of soda for that rationale.

The new excitement is that President Obama will bring both factions, Democrats and Republicans, to the White House for negotiating health care, again, but this time in the ray of sunlight. Oh, it will be on television.

To say that I am jumping up and down or doing a "Dorothy" by clicking my ebony pimped out black encrusted crystal stilettos for this announcement, you will be waiting a long time for that one. And I can jump in my pumps!!!

Let me be clear, I am glad that Barack Obama is going on television, doing President's Time, calling the Republicans out, and Democrats to some extent, but when the euphoria dies down it comes back to this, "Did anything change?" And the answer is "NO".

Now, I have to look at what happened in 2009? Sure, we were over the moon in having the Democrats in charge and Barack Obama as president, but did major legislation move forward to make a difference? And I mean a difference the average American can feel, talk about at the dinner table and the answer is no.

Senator Al Franken was right in lashing out his frustrations towards the White House, primarily the Political Team. They have been horrible from practically day one. I refuse to believe that this political team did not know the frustration of the public out here on the Wall Street bonuses, bailout monies, confusion of the health care bill, etc. They did know, they just chose to ignore it and believed that once any health care bill was passed the poll numbers will shoot up. Damn, what a difference a clusterfuck year makes.

The Obama White House political team which includes Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, Advisors Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod has stepped on many toes. The primary beef from Democrats from Capitol Hill has been lack of leadership from the White House, President and this criticism goes far back to last summer.

The fact is we have our president, rebooting, wanting to bring sunlight to the dark on health care. He needs to. The Democrats need major legislation to win in November, so the pander train is in full force. This is damage control by David Plouffe, because that political bunch would never allow Obama on television in the open after the corrupt deals made by the very political team on behalf of the President. These very deals from Sens. Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, and the pharmaceutical deal has hurt the very "transparency" of this White House. Now, it is reboot time. It is those deals from the super smart political team which is finding times a bit harder now.

Any serious survey of the Obama administration's accomplishments and setbacks over the last year has to conclude that the administration is deeply in the red.

If current trends continue, this once mesmerizing Camelot-ish operation will be be seen in the history books as the presidential administration that -- to distort slightly and inversely paraphrase Churchill -- never have so many talented people managed to achieve so little with so much.

I never understood the namby-pamby of this White House. I expected the olive branch, openness to the other side, but when it did not work to move on. I did not expect the continuation of bipartisanship when the Republicans have continued to spit in our faces.

David Plouffe is right on this point:

"Republicans right now are just sitting back and slinging arrows," Plouffe said. "We need to infiltrate their camp and shine some light over their side of the fence."

Absolutely, we need to shine the light and expose the Republicans for the cowards and obstructionists they are. In the mean time, that political team which has delivered disastrous results, thus far, needs to be revamped too. Along with having CREDIBLE individuals on television who can speak crisp, sharp, factual on a smack down mode in behalf of the White House.

Lastly, with the meeting for health care being televised (February 25), out in the open, expect all the deals that the smart political team made on behalf of the Obama White House to be out in the open, with apologies by President Obama for making these deals. In the end, can we get bipartisanship from this meeting? I doubt it. This issue is too politicized and damaged, in my view. The only thing that can move forward is having the Republicans say no, publicly, and have the Democrats find some leadership over in D.C. to fix the bill and push it through.

Again, that leadership thingy? That is asking an awful lot for the Democrats to produce. I hope I am wrong, but thus far by their performance, I don't think so.

RESIGNATION TIME: Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, Rahm Emanuel must go

First off, I am glad that President Obama has decided to challenge banks, it is ABOUT TIME. Is it too late? For me, too early to decide, but devil is always in the details and until we see BOLD ACTION, it is another wait and see time for this White House.

Action against these banks should have happened DAY ONE when he stepped into the White House, not Day Two of Year Two.

Poll numbers and losing that senate seat in Massachusetts can be a huge wake up call that you can not ignore. Public anger is real, so the eyes are on President Obama and his action on this. Not words, ACTION. This means calling congress out by NAME if need be, going all over this country to make sure the public KNOWS what all this mean, no more too cute by half words, but this in lay man speak so my average Joe neighbor GET IT, it means using the power of the presidency as never before.

If Obama does not do this, the Democratic Party will be painted (as it already is starting to be) as the friends of Wall Street. Who wants to run on that one?

Tim Geithner needs to go. He never should have been confirmed. Today's revelation has shown us that maybe, just maybe, this White House is starting to NOT LISTEN TO GEITHNER. The move to back the Paul Volcker populist plan on reigning in these banks was a much needed breath of fresh air. Again, elections have consequences and I am really hoping it means the end of Geithner. Tim Geithner is compromised, always has been. His alliance has always been with Wall Street and these banks. It has been his bad advice to this administration and lack of movement that has now painted this White House as "Friends of Wall Street". He has not been honest or forthcoming of his past with this industry and it has spilled over to the street. He needs to go and I mean yesterday.

President Obama ask for his resignation and let the door knob hit him.

Larry Summers has advised this White House and President in horrible fashion. He and Geithner works in tandem, that means protecting the big banks and Wall Street. Remember, it was the arrogance of Larry Summers who proclaimed the "recession is over".



For this statement alone, he should have been ASKED, PRONTO for his resignation. How in the holy hell can you go to the American Public whose lives are in turmoil with unemployment, home loss, money loss, wages loss, no jobs around and have your number one man say this? HE NEED TO GO.

President Obama ask for his resignation and just remind yourself, "A bad choice for these times."

Rahm Emanuel has been NOT LIKED by many Democrats. Let's put it this way, for me, I tolerated him because President Obama has the right to pick and choose who he puts in his White House and Cabinet. But when they don't deliver, turn on members of the party with nasty rhetoric, misread the populus on what they wanted for healthcare, it is time to go. I state this because healthcare was to be Barack Obama's signature piece, we all know this, look at it now? Whether you agree with what it is about, if you even understand it, it was handled atrociously. And who is left with egg on his face? The President of the United States.

President Obama ask for his resignation and tell him good luck in running for Mayor of Chicago

I am a former member of the Navy, a proud member, when 16:30 arose on the 1MC one word was stated, "Sweepers".

It is time for President Obama to perform sweepers, instill and put people in these jobs that will serve him justice, pick up the pieces, listen to the public and move on.

Having a president out of touch when the anger is so intense is not a good thing, especially for us, but retooling and some fucking firing is a step in a right direction to getting his message back on track.

Finally, President Obama, taking your suit coat off and rolling up your sleeves to start fighting is not only justified but much NEEDED right now from you, FOR US.

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Why worry about President Obama when you have Rahm Emanuel?

h/t Daily Kos

Really, why worry about the left, but as Emanuel is so flighty, the left IS the Democratic Party. When you make statements like this, no wonder President Obama is out of touch.

Turn off MSNBC. Tune out Howard Dean and Keith Olbermann. The White House has its liberal wing in hand on health care, says White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

“There are no liberals left to get” in the Senate, Emanuel said in an interview, shrugging off some noise from the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) that a few liberals might bolt over the compromises made with conservative Democrats.

This is the problem with the Obama Administration, folks like this around him. But when they need that VOTE, money, they come running back to us on the left, the Democratic Party for help.

Enough. Let them dig themselves out of this party.

My mother is a staunch conservative on family values issues but a staunch liberal on social issues. My mother is a senior and she and her friends are saying, "NO TO THIS BILL". They are the Democratic Party.

Obama continue to throw fuel on the fire at your peril.

Source

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Just give us anything and we will declare victory, this is health care reform

Look, whether you are for single payer, the public option, moderate changes in the health care legislation, everyone on here knows how Rahm Emanuel operates. I am not mad at him, he is who he is. A moderate, corporatist democrat. He was successful in bringing in massive Democrats like, Heath Shuler, to our party. He is a blue dog, so be it.

But saying, "Just give us anything and we will declare victory", sorry that is not enough. In fact it is piss poor.

Everyone take a deep breath because what you imagined or wanted, will not be, not the way and track I see it. Health care will be watered down and the public option, the way it is presented now is a joke. Only covers 6 million people? Do you honestly think that will get any insurance company's attention?

Now Congressman John Conyers comes out very hard on Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel, before anyone says anything about Obama, let's look at the facts and trajectory of this health care bill.

We have been arguing and fighting about this practically since Obama became president. No one on here can argue that the communication, handling and leadership from congress has been the best, it has not been. And we all know that if health care reform was a slam dunk, President Obama would not have needed to do a second Joint Sessions of Congress speech all on health care, after the summer madness.

Today is November 19, 2009. January 1, 2010 starts the mid term election campaigning. Do you think the White House wants this to linger any longer? No, they don't. Right now health care reform is an albatross, one that was handled badly. And to be honest, I understand though I do not agree, why Emanuel will state give us anything. They want this GONE and need something to campaign on, even though it will be a watered down bill.

The 22-term congressman was critical of the White House on fronts beyond just health care. He led off the interview by declaring that he was tied of "trying to stop the war in Afghanistan from surging." He also took several swipes at Emanuel, whom he called, with a slightly derogatory tone, his "buddy."

"That is essentially what Rahm Emanuel has said: Just give us anything and we will declare victory," said Conyers. "Not only is it not a victory, but when it doesn't work, guess who will come at him: the same guys that were saying let's go along with anything... This is all my buddy Rahm Emanuel trying to get anything. But look the bill doesn't go into effect for three years. Many of the people that we are trying to help will be dead by then."

So, again today is November 19, 2009 and that clock is ticking loudly to put this baby to sleep, by accepting anything necessary.

And in the end, the White House will, because the midterm elections will not be won or lost on health care, it will be the economy and lack of JOB CREATION in this country. Look around you, when you have 20M or close unemployed, where do you thing that anger will be at the polls?

No one said it better about the public option than Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR):



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Rahm Emanuel: No troop escalation until assessment of Afghanistan government (Video)

We all know the Afghanistan elections were a fraud, so why would we just blindly send troops to a horrific region and don't know who we are dealing with. My take, we have been at war for eight years, spent BILLIONS, TRILLIONS of dollars with no end in sight or nothing to show for it? We have major domestic problems, but won't even help our own people here? A lot of assessment needs to be made on Afghanistan in a whole. Remember, the Soviets were there for 10 years and got NOTHING in return. When is this ever going to end? Source





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Discrediting Fox News continues, David Axelrod on This Week on ABC (Video)

I don't care about Fox News, as a whole, but their continuous pounding of not reporting facts is a problem. How can you actually believe that this organization is fair and balanced when this organization continues to not report the facts but skew the facts. I am the first, and many know who read this blog, when Obama or his administration is bogus and I don't agree I state so with my reasons. My problems with Fox News has nothing to do with it slanting the conservative bend, it is not reporting the facts and have looney tunes as Glenn Beck as their national spokesman. Big problem. And Murdoch is all about making money, because if this network was serious about reporting the news, Glenn Beck and his antics would not be on Fox News.



And Rahm Emanuel on CNN's State of the Union, about Fox News:



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Rahm Emanuel negotiating for the White House in Conference for Health Care Insurance Reform, which way will he or the White House go?

Call me SKEPTICAL. Why? Rahm Emanuel is a Blue Dog Democrat, nothing wrong with that and warranted in some cases, but health care INSURANCE reform is not a Blue Dog negotiation issue. Why? The Blue Dogs in the House and Senate has STOOD WITH THE INSURANCE COMPANIES.

Now, there are many moving parts in negotiating and I will keep a skeptical open mind, but some things are not negotiating points, as follows:

1) Getting rid of caps on insurance policies
2) Removal of pre-existing insurance clauses
3) The government run public option

The above is non-negotiable. Why? Because people are dying every day from lack of enough insurance or no insurance, insurance coverage has capped out (a dollar amount is on MOST policies), denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition, and lack of affordability in the word of competition for these public insurance companies.

If the three items listed are not in the bill, for me it is welfare for insurance companies. If the Obama White House thinks that people are asleep at the wheel, think again, they are not. President Barack Obama campaign against all three items ABOVE and strongly, if he cannot get these Democrats in order to tow the line, what does that say about him? And PLEASE, George W. Bush practically got EVERY DAMN THING pushed through with LESS numbers than Obama from his party. It is time to wield the power and twist arms, if this cannot be done for a CORNER STONE PIECE OF LEGISLATION of the Obama Agenda, it is failure. If those three very important components are not in the final bill it will be used against the Democrats from 2010 going forward.

The Democratic Party is a big tent party, we accept all visions and arguments, but the Democratic Party has been fighting for health care reform since the days of Harry S. Truman when he wanted health care for all covered by the government. Barack Obama's election was a CHANGE ELECTION. Obama did not win by 1 or 2 points but almost 8 points carrying some states that the Democrats have not won in over 40 years, like Indiana and Virginia. If the Democrats cannot understand the continuous polling numbers on what the PEOPLE want and that is a public option and all the above, then whatever happens going forward starting with the 2010 mid-term elections is not good, then they shot themselves and have to work AGAIN to gain confidence.

And if the Obama White House, which they have not rescinded, but demands that people BUY insurance from these corrupt industries, but none of the above, the joke will be on them. How can you force people to PURCHASE insurance but don't have the main components listed above for some type of reform? This is criminal and insurance welfare to these disastrous companies and I am being NICE in writing this.

Don't be dumb, Democrats, this is too easy to win.

And Dr. Paul Hochfeld on Countdown with Keith Olbermann:



h/t MinistryOfTruth

And don't miss Keith Olbermann's HOUR LONG SPECIAL COMMENT on Health Care Reform, targeting the industry, the Congress and Obama White House, tonight on MSNBC, 7PM (CST)

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Rahm Emanuel stated the senate will not pass a bill with the public option

If this happens the Democrats are in for a long 2010.

This is 2009, not 1993, yet Emanuel runs that White House as if Clinton still was in it. Bad sign.

People have changed and Obama won with a mandate, but you would think this White House one by .05 percentage point and not almost 8. The continued begging of Republicans for a vote on health care is just too much.

The pressure from the left, which are ACTIVISTS that get out the vote and donate money are angry. Many wanted single payer, like Medicare, but stepped down for the public option. The Obama White House put themselves in this spot. Obama campaigned for two years for "health care like congress", a public plan. Again, the voters remember this and they want it.

While at it, I don't see or hear ANYTHING from the Obama White House stating they will recind mandates. Yes, mandates. Mandates are FORCING the public to purchase health insurance, bringing these criminal insurance companies new customers!!! Is that fair?

If this bill is Welfare for the Insurance Companies, 2010 is going to be a long slough for Democrats.

The Senate has been fairly clear that they cannot pass a healthcare bill including a public option, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel asserted Wednesday evening.

Emanuel professed pessimism that healthcare reform would include a strict public (or "government-run") option, though he signaled an expectation that House liberals may still push for the prized reform.

"I think Senate's been clear about the prospect there is," Emanuel told PBS's Charlie Rose when asked if healthcare can pass with the public option. "That doesn't mean in the House they're not going to come to the table and demand it."

Source

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Obama White House, In 1990s Mode...

I just finished reading the Frank Rich piece in the New York Times.

This piece is disturbing, it talks about these crazies walking around with guns slinging on them, but he takes the ridiculousness of Barack Obama and his constant niceness towards the very Republicans that have stabbed him repeatedly in the back.

Again, if there is a teachable moment here for being nice to someone who continues to stab you, let me know, because I just don't get it.

Even now the radicals are taking a nonviolent toll on the Obama presidency. Obama complains, not without reason, that the news media, led by cable television, exaggerate the ruckus at health care events. But why does he exaggerate the legitimacy and clout of opposition members of Congress who, whether through silence or outright endorsement, are surrendering to the nuts? Even Charles Grassley, the supposedly adult Iowa Republican who is the Senate point man for his party on health care, has now capitulated to the armed fringe by publicly parroting their “pull the plug on grandma” fear-mongering.

Well, with staff like Rahm Emanuel and Jim Messina, no wonder Barack Obama is where he is at.

Let's talk about them for a minute.

I am from Chicago, understand the "fuck you get out of my way", mentality of a Rahm Emanuel. He was a young gun, rising star with the Clinton Administration and from there this is the problem. Emanuel is still STUCK on the 90s and how Democrats were then. He has not come to realize the change, power and progress we Democrats have made. That is the real issue here.

Barack Obama is listening to a Chief of Staff that is on the 90s, Clinton Adminstration mode. That worked in the 90s, but this is 2009 and not only has this country voted for a black man to be POTUS, but we voted for CHANGE, PROGRESS. The shit that Emanuel is doing in the White House is disastrous. You don't have the President of the United States continue to compliment, praise the very Republicans that are tearing him down in the national press and on television, DAILY. What the fuck kind of shit is this? Again, this is 2009 not 1993. For the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States repeatedly having him go out there and praise the very persons who are determined to undermind him at every turn is looney and I am being nice.

Emanuel like Clinton never respected or cared about the left, it is true, though Clinton learned a hard lesson from the primaries about the POWER of the left. So, if Emanuel don't care about the left and how WE put Obama in the White House, it is not a shock that he gave the left the big finger of "FUCK YOU". In return, Emanuel got the pressure from the left like he never saw in his life while working for Clinton. But he remains on the course of "loving the Republicans and working for any bill that have their stamp of approval, though the Democrats have 60 in the senate and majority in the house, it really does not matter, getting that stamp of approval from the Republicans in the senate is the major goal". Can I type, "Go blow yourself Rahm?"

Jim Messina worked for Senator Max Baucus and it does not take a rocket scientist to put 2+2 together and come out with a 4. He is the point man for the "bipartanship lovey-dovey bill" and he is the one saying, we are almost close and he is the one telling Rahm and the President that we MUST HAVE A BIPARTISAN BILL, that it will look good for the President and country. Yes, a bipartianship bill would look good, but this White House must have forgotten that we are negotiating on strength not weakness. We, won the White House and Congress, not the Republicans, but we have to listen to the Gang of Six to get a health care bill passed? From Robert Reich:

Last night, the so-called "gang of six" -- three Republican and three Democratic senators on the Senate Finance Committee -- met by conference call and, according to Senator Max Baucus, the committee's chair, reaffirmed their commitment "toward a bipartisan health-care reform bill" (read: less coverage and no public insurance option). The Washington Post reports that the senators shared tales from their home states, where some have been besieged by protesters angry about a potential government takeover of the nation's health care system.

It's come down to these six senators. The House has reported a bill as has another Senate committee, but all eyes are fixed on Senate Finance -- and on these three Dems and three Republicans, in particular. But who, exactly, anointed these six to decide the fate of the nation's health care?

It is these folks in the White House that Obama is listening to. Sure, a health care bill will pass, but will it mean anything? Does it matter that we must have Republicans who have repeatedly dissed President Obama on board? Don't these White House folks get it? The Republicans are not going to vote ANYTHING Obama. Yet, we continue to see our President yuckin' up to these Republicans, though we are the power in Washington, D.C. Are the Democrats that dumb? Apparently, the ones in the White House are because we just don't matter:

Obama's brain trust has decided the base doesn't matter. Rahm Emanuel, Jim Messina (and probably Jim Margolis) have focused on the false promise of bipartisanship, which has required scaling back what we were led to believe was Obama's agenda. They're obviously the smartest people in the world and think the rest of us are stupid and wouldn't notice. But, we have. The numbers speak for themselves. Many of us in the base aren't happy.

I am one of those on the left that raised over 12K for the Obama Campaign under the grassroots fundraiser, I am one of those who knocked on hundreds of doors for the Obama Campaign, I am one of those who was swinging a big stick over here EARLY at Daily Kos for the Obama Campaign, I am one of those who worked across state lines for the Obama Campaign, and I am one of those who are PISSED at the Obama Administration.

I am one of millions who took a chance on change, not this weak milquetoast performance that I am witnessing out of the White House.

This is 2009, not 1993 and millions voted for change, not this tap dance we are witnessing from the White House. Change also means bringing forward THINKING along, not this 1990s shit we are witnessing from Rahm and Friends.

I am a Democrat and will vote Democrat, but the Obama Administration got voted in by millions who never voted before, millions who were cynical in the process, millions who left the Republican Party to vote for Obama, millions of independents who voted for Obama. And ALL these millions knew Obama's position and wanted CHANGE. Obama Adminstration, what are you afraid of? If this White House can not get it together, why should the millions that voted for you, vote for you again?

Yes, I am pissed. And yes, Obama White House, get it together....

P.S. Guess where Rahm is on vacation?

Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, is fishing in Montana.

And this is coincidence?

Cross-posted @ Daily Kos

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Deal with the Devil

The deal is with the Pharmaceutical Companies.

When this article came out by the New York Times many waited to see or hear if the Obama Administration would rebuke it, but they were mum.

Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion.

Drug industry lobbyists reacted with alarm this week to a House health care overhaul measure that would allow the government to negotiate drug prices and demand additional rebates from drug manufacturers.

In response, the industry successfully demanded that the White House explicitly acknowledge for the first time that it had committed to protect drug makers from bearing further costs in the overhaul. The Obama administration had never spelled out the details of the agreement.

“We were assured: ‘We need somebody to come in first. If you come in first, you will have a rock-solid deal,’ ” Billy Tauzin, the former Republican House member from Louisiana who now leads the pharmaceutical trade group, said Wednesday. “Who is ever going to go into a deal with the White House again if they don’t keep their word? You are just going to duke it out instead.”

A deputy White House chief of staff, Jim Messina, confirmed Mr. Tauzin’s account of the deal in an e-mail message on Wednesday night.

“The president encouraged this approach,” Mr. Messina wrote. “He wanted to bring all the parties to the table to discuss health insurance reform.”

As we look for COST SAVINGS in restructuring the health care system, of course, you look at the cost of DRUGS the government purchases from the pharmaceutical companies. President Bush took serious heat on his Medicare bill for prescription drugs, primarily that it was a win-win for pharmaceutical companies. And it was. Now with the health care fight at an all time high, mostly from organized insurance companies and lobbyist groups, deals must be brokered.

So, the White House, assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion. Meaning the pharmaceutical companies are only giving up 80 billion dollars, anything past that the White House must protect their deal and stop any legislation that may try to extract more money from Big Pharma. That is the deal.

With this deal, the pharmaceutical industry is ready to spend $150 Million Dollars in advertising for the Obama Administration health care plan.

The drug industry has authorized its lobbyists to spend as much as $150 million on television commercials supporting President Obama’s health care overhaul, beginning over the August Congressional recess, people briefed on the plans said Saturday.

The unusually large scale of the industry’s commitment to the cause helps explain some of a contentious back-and-forth playing out in recent days between the odd-couple allies over a deal that the White House struck with the industry in June to secure its support. The terms of the deal were not fully disclosed. Both sides had announced that the drug industry would contribute $80 billion over 10 years to the cost of the health care overhaul without spelling out the details.

The reason that bits and pieces are being leaked out is that congressional democrats were prepared and ready to go after the pharmaceutical industry for MORE MONEY. The industry got worried and leaked the information to the press. This put the pressure on the Obama Administration to come forward with what the deal is, and they have.

For this deal, the Obama Administration will get ads run on television about health care reform supported by the pharmaceutical industry. These ads are to run in all 50 states.

That is the deal with the devil.

As my husband said, "Well, he had to make a deal with somebody." Yes, I guess he did but it will be an eye opener for many when they will recall what Candidate Obama promised to do.

Obama: "Congress exempted Medicare from being able to negotiate for the cheapest available price. And that was a profound..."



(Starts 4 minutes, 9 seconds in.) "Of course," Obama said on June 3, 2007, "part of that has to do with the fact that, with the Medicare prescription drug bill, for example, the Congress specifically exempted Medicare from being able to negotiate for the cheapest available price. And that was a profound mistake."

Obama: "Unless we change that politics, we're going to continue to see the waste that we're seeing in the entitlement programs"....

That is the problem. Candidate Obama campaigned against what the Bush Administration did with blocking Medicare from negotiating for cheaper drug prices. In the Bush bill Medicare is prohibited from negotiating and MUST take the prices that is given by the pharmacetical companies.

The Obama deal does practically the same thing, because let's be real, 80 Billion in cuts from the pharmaceutical industry is NOTHING, compared to what is actually raked in yearly by these companies.

Politics as usual. Deals cut that many won't like. Will there really be any reform?

That is the question, "Will there really be any reform?" This makes many wonder after hearing that Senator Dick Durbin is willing to drop the public option. And those that live in Illinois, you know WHAT TO DO, here is the contact information for Mr. Durbin.

Lastly, for all of this we can thank Rahm Emanuel, Obama's general who brokered the deal.

Folks, stay tuned. This is not over yet.

Cross-posted @ Daily Kos

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Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) goes off on Rahm Emanuel and the Blue Dog Democrats (Video)

AMEN, AMEN....the chickens have come home to roost....

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Outrageous comment by former Democratic Georgia Governor Zell Miller

The man is a nut, period. And a democrat? Your guess is as good as mine's.

Just when President Obama's appearance before the NAACP signaled how far the country has come, Zell Miller popped up and popped off, signaling that we're not quite there yet.

The former Democratic governor of Georgia is most known for his speech at the 2004 Republican National Convention bashing his party on national security. At a meeting Thursday of the conservative and Republican-oriented American Legislative Exchange Council in Atlanta, Miller continued his critique of Democrats.

Obama, "our globe-trotting president," Miller said, "needs to stop and take a break and quit gallivanting all around. I think [chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel ought to get some Gorilla Glue put it in that chair in the Oval Office and say 'Sit here awhile.' "

Sigh.

Source

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We are not going to compromise on any kind of trigger game, RAHM!!

That told to Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel's FACE.

Emanuel got into a boatload of trouble by shooting off his mouth for a trigger option in regards to any public option plan.

It is more important that health-care legislation inject stiff competition among insurance plans than it is for Congress to create a pure government-run option, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said.

"The goal is to have a means and a mechanism to keep the private insurers honest," he said in an interview. "The goal is non-negotiable; the path is" negotiable.

One thing I have noticed is that the public is paying very close attention to the health care debate. They are listening very closely to what is being said by both sides and the White House. Rahm Emanuel needs to get out of his office, Washington D.C., and talk to the everyday person. Any trigger option in regards to the public option is not going to wash with ANYONE.

At the meeting, House liberals warned Emanuel that he couldn't count on them to vote for a bill that contains a triggered public option. "We have compromised enough, and we are not going to compromise on any kind of trigger game," Woolsey apparently told Emanuel. "People clapped all over the place. We mean it, and not just progressives."

Then we have this from Congressman Scott (D-GA):

“I think the president should get out front of it,” said Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), noting that Obama is far more popular than Congress. “The issue is, on top of the bailouts and on top of the cap-and-trade and on top of the stimulus package ... if we don’t keep the American people with us, then we can’t do it.”

He is right. Then we had President Obama in Moscow performing sweepers for his COS:

Obama didn't just feel the need to clarify Biden's remarks, he also gave Rahm Emanuel an assist in repairing the damage from the chief of staff's own controversial comments. Many Democrats were upset to read in yesterday's Wall Street Journal that Emanuel was open to compromise on whether the health care reform package should include a public option. He also spoke favorably of a public option "trigger," which most liberals oppose.

There should no compromise on the public option part of this health care plan. We know that lobbyists are spending 1.4 million dollars a day to oppose this portion of the plan. Paid for by the insurance industries and health care industries. These organizations don't care about the public and the public's demand for the public option. These organizations don't want their stranglehold over the public to be erased by any competition.

I hope the Obama White House understands the public's stand on this health care debate. We don't expect any help from the Republicans, but we demand that the Democrats get with the program and deliver a plan that the voters demand.

We are watching all of you very closely.

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In case you missed it: Rahm Emanuel dunked by Obama during White House Luau (Video)

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It is on.....

Those who had anything to do with the signing off for torture, should be very scared right now.

Let me be clear. Barack Obama stood and still stands with what Rahm Emanuel said on the Sunday talk shows. He would prefer for us to move on past the Bush Administration, however traumatic and ill-advised that administration was. Obama is all about moving forward, but this country is founded on the law of the land and the moving on theme was always going to be a hard sell to the public for Obama.



There is a lot of anger out there towards the former Bush Administration. Anger on the Iraq War, Katrina, the politicized Justice Department, the money thrown away on Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy, the housing mess, China, and the list is endless. But what the Bush Administration did was torture and what they left us is repercussion worldwide.

Sure, I am all for moving on, but I am also for not ever letting this happen again. Rahm Emanuel and Barack Obama was wrong for stating that no prosecution will be forthcoming dealing with torture. It is not Obama nor Emanuel's job to say what is going to be prosecuted in this country and what is not going to be, that is left to the United States Attorney General Eric Holder. Obama deserved the backlash from that blanket statement and the walkback is warranted.

The Team Bush brain trust that approved CIA torture techniques faces a roughing-up after President Obama reopened the possibility of investigation - and even prosecution.

Just five days after urging against "recrimination" for the George W. Bush-era torture of terror suspects, President Obama said Attorney General Eric Holder is free to probe the White House higher-ups who authorized the tough treatment.

I know Barack Obama is about consensus, but until we acknowledge and be forth right about what really happened, going forward is not going to be easy. The public deserves the right to know what happened. Transparency is one of the key reasons Barack Obama was elected and though he may not like the criminal road that we are about to walk down, we deserve the right to know what happened, but more importantly to be told the truth after being lied to for eight years.



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You got to love this, by David Plouffe, Obama's Campaign Manager

Minority Leader Limbaugh.

Everyone has been talking about Rush Limbaugh being the fatcat that he is, and King Rush is loving the idea that he is the Republican Party Leader. It took Rahm Emanuel with his smooth, praising way on Sunday's Face the Nation to honor King Rush and call him the Republican Leader. It took the Republicans to take the bait, by their RNC Chairman Michael Steele in denouncing King Rush on CNNs D.L. Hughley's show which started a barn fire. It did not take Steele even 24 hours to kiss the ring of King Rush and apologize for forgiveness, this after King Rush slammed Steele from his bully pulpit in Florida, his radio microphone.

The Democrats are piling on. Let's face it, if it was the other way around the Republicans would do likewise. Let's also be honest that the Republican leadership is scared to cross King Rush, whether they are agree with King Rush or not, they are scared to cross him. That bully pulpit in Florida is pretty mighty. King Rush talks directly to that hardcore base that the Republicans must keep and maintain to try to build on. Even though this part of the Republican Party is out of step right now with the rest of America in their views of the Obama Administration, this is what the Republicans have to deal with right now. So, crossing King Rush is a definite no, no.

Here comes David Plouffe, the mastermind behind the Obama Campaign and he throws in his two cents on Minority Leader Limbaugh.

Watching the Republicans operate this past month, it would appear that they missed that unmistakable signal.

Instead, Rush Limbaugh has become their leader.

Limbaugh, of course, told his radio listeners that he's rooting for President Obama to fail -- and hoping the president's ideas for bolstering our economy fail with him. For many Americans, hungry for leadership and cooperation, this sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard. When Limbaugh reiterated the sentiment this weekend, hundreds of Republican conservatives cheered him on. But instead of rebuking the radio personality or charting their own course, Republican leaders in Washington are paralyzed with fear of crossing their leader. Less than 24 hours after committing the unforgivable sin of criticizing Limbaugh, RNC Chairman Michael Steele felt compelled to publicly apologize. He was not the first and will certainly not be the last.

The Republicans surely did not get the message who won November 4, 2008. In fact from poll after poll, even the NBC poll released yesterday, the American Public is standing with President Obama and they don't blame him for this economic mess. The public does not see Obama, as the one who created it, but more so the Republicans who did and left it on the desk for Obama to clean up. But what Plouffe wrote, hit the nail on the head, Obama won by the middle the independent voters and it is these voters that left the Republican Party and these voters that don't like Rush Limbaugh.

The source of Obama's advantage is critical: independent voters, who give the president high marks on his handling of the economy and his job overall.

Obama won these voters, who famously recoil from what they see as overly partisan and shortsighted politics, by eight points in 2008 -- a dramatic improvement for the Democrats from 2004, when George Bush and John Kerry tied.

People are tired of the bickering and partisanship in Washington, D.C. What people want is action and see these folks sit down like adults to work together to help President Obama fix what is broken in this country. But without Republican leadership they have allowed the likes of Rush Limbaugh to be their mouthpiece.

Thus far, Republican leaders have let their strategy be guided by their most conservative base, capturing perhaps a third of the nation's voters.

To end, what Michael Steele did was validate the point of Rahm Emanuel, that Rush Limbaugh is their leader. Also, as Roland Martin has said and written, it minimized Michael Steele in the eyes of many, especially within their own party. This takes us to an ending question, "Do the Republicans have a spine? Can they stand on their own and denounce Rush Limbaugh when they disagree?" Until those questions are answered, the Republicans will continue in the wilderness.


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DAYUM!!! When it rains, it pours, DNC Chairman Tim Kaine hits Michael Steele

When it rains, it pours.

It truly does.

The unfolding of the Republican Party is like watching a movie with your popcorn.

First, Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff to President Obama calls out Rush Limbaugh as the Leader of the Republican Party and honors him.

Then we have Steele on CNNs D.L. Hughley's Show stating that Rush Limbaugh is not the head of the Republican Party. That Steele is the de-facto leader of the Republican Party.

Rush Limbaugh closes out CPAC with a scurrilous speech, truly nasty verbal viagra.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs challenges Congressional Republicans, if they agree with Limbaugh in wanting this country to fail?



King Rush then hits Steele and puts him in his place, which made him run like a dog with his tail between his legs, following the King to apologize.

Now Governor Kaine, DNC Chairman comes swinging:

“I was briefly encouraged by the courageous comments made my counterpart in the Republican Party over the weekend challenging Rush Limbaugh as the leader of the Republican Party and referring to his show as ‘incendiary’ and ‘ugly.’ However, Chairman Steele’s reversal this evening and his apology to Limbaugh proves the unfortunate point that Limbaugh is the leading force behind the Republican Party, its politics and its obstruction of President Obama’s agenda in Washington. Just this weekend, Rush Limbaugh repeated his claim that he is rooting for the President to fail. The last time Rush Limbaugh said he wanted the President to fail, virtually every single Republican in Congress followed his lead and voted against the President’s plan to create or save 3.5 million jobs.

“As Congress works to pass the President’s budget, Republicans need to stop following divisive figures like Rush Limbaugh, stop apologizing to him and put aside the failed politics of the past so we can put our economy back on track, reform our health care system, break our dependence on foreign oil, improve our schools, and lay the foundation for long-term growth in the 21st Century.”

People are turning away and tuning OUT on this Rush Limbaugh crap. Folks don't want this country to fail. The failure of the United States of America is the failure of each and everyone of us. Rush Limbaugh makes roughly 38M a year, he is the last person to be talking about failure for anyone. Unless you are rolling in the Limbaugh dough, then hey, you are on the same page as him, but most of America is not. We need Obama to succeed, too many folks are unemployed, no health insurance, families in dire straits, all folks life savings lost on the stock market. We need this president to succeed and King Rush to just go away.

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Face the Nation, CBS, Rahm Emanuel, Obama's Chief of Staff (Video)

Bob Schieffer spoke to White House Chief Of Staff Rahm Emanuel about President Obama's bold budget proposal, the ailing auto industry and Obama's plan to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Rahm Emanuel praises Rush Limbaugh for being upfront with his statment for wanting Obama to fail. Fascinating interview.

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