Politico: Obama: "I am the difference between '10 and '94 midterm elections"

[Soul Crusher]

Pipe dream there 333 you WISH he would resign or not run for re-election.  If he focuses on the economy and is perceived by the public to be 'doing something about it' he will regain popularity and the dems will play the 'the economy is still too fragile to take a regime change' card come 2012 scaring voters into re-electing him which will be an easier decision if he actually does something that has tangible benefits for the American people.  THEN he can pass health care etc.

I've said this all along.  He would have got healthcare and a public option if the economy was in good shape, he wrongly decided to forgo that issue to chase what he thought were bigger fish.  He was wrong and now he's trying to address that. 

That's why Obama is clueless KC.  He campaigned on the economy mostly, not health care. 

[kcballer]

He's not going to pass any healthcare bill this year. He doesn't have the supermajority in the Senate anymore and he may not even have a SIMPLE majority, this time next year.

Never said he did or would pass it this year or next.  I said if the economy was sound he would have got it already and it's true.  He would have had a public option done and dusted, instead we had stalling, fighting and misinformation, not to mention buy offs by the insurance lobby which turned this into a farce bill.

[BM OUT]

Pipe dream there 333 you WISH he would resign or not run for re-election.  If he focuses on the economy and is perceived by the public to be 'doing something about it' he will regain popularity and the dems will play the 'the economy is still too fragile to take a regime change' card come 2012 scaring voters into re-electing him which will be an easier decision if he actually does something that has tangible benefits for the American people.  THEN he can pass health care etc.

I've said this all along.  He would have got healthcare and a public option if the economy was in good shape, he wrongly decided to forgo that issue to chase what he thought were bigger fish.  He was wrong and now he's trying to address that. 

Wasnt that what the 700billion dollar stimulous was supposed to do?He is percieved as doing something,but now people have caught on that what hes doing is PURPOSELY wrecking the economy.

[kcballer]

From the onset the whole healthcare "plan" that emerged from this administration has been FUBAR, buying votes, special consideration for unions and the list goes on. Doesn't matter how good the economy might be  this abortion would be crushed.

And what tangible is he going to do, tax the shit out of banks? Print more money? Sell more debt?

Why with you is more government always the answer?

In it's current form it still would have passed.  The backlash against health care initially was from Medicare seniors scared because the economy was tanking and they thought any spending on health care in a tough time would have to come as a result of cuts somewhere else.  In a sound economic time there wouldn't be that fear.  Health care became the avenue people could express their frustration that nothing was being done about the economy.  Health care wasn't the main issue, the economy was and the implications on it if more spending was passed.  

I don't know what he's going to do. I'm not his adviser nor am i privy to his thoughts.  Taking a populist stance will certainly help his public image and it may also force him to adopt more republican like policies in the short term, like tax cuts etc.  

[kcballer]

Wasnt that what the 700billion dollar stimulous was supposed to do?He is percieved as doing something,but now people have caught on that what hes doing is PURPOSELY wrecking the economy.

Billy that is such a bs statement right there.  Purposely wrecking the economy my foot.  The stimulus worked at stopping the complete collapse of the American banking industry and lessened the impact this recession has had.  It didn't create the amount of jobs that were promised and it didn't help that he oversold it and undersold just how much trouble the American economy would have been without some type of bailout. 

[Kazan]

In it's current form it still would have passed.  The backlash against health care initially was from Medicare seniors scared because the economy was tanking and they thought any spending on health care in a tough time would have to come as a result of cuts somewhere else.  In a sound economic time there wouldn't be that fear.  Health care became the avenue people could express their frustration that nothing was being done about the economy.  Health care wasn't the main issue, the economy was and the implications on it if more spending was passed.  

I don't know what he's going to do. I'm not his adviser nor am i privy to his thoughts.  Taking a populist stance will certainly help his public image and it may also force him to adopt more republican like policies in the short term, like tax cuts etc.  

Bullshit, only the true lefties think that government run healthcare is a good idea, the rest of us, not so much. Anytime the government is going to levy taxes people wake up and start paying attention.

[kcballer]

Bullshit, only the true lefties think that government run healthcare is a good idea, the rest of us, not so much. Anytime the government is going to levy taxes people wake up and start paying attention.

A public option is not a 'take over' of anything.  It's an option to those who can't afford or are not covered currently.  it's not a 'left or right' thing it's a decent human being thing, you know helping your fellow man and all that. 

[Kazan]

A public option is not a 'take over' of anything.  It's an option to those who can't afford or are not covered currently.  it's not a 'left or right' thing it's a decent human being thing, you know helping your fellow man and all that. 

Keep telling yourself that. If I want to help my fellow man I will, I don't need the government taxing me and legislating morality. Yeah it's such a decent thing to do, that the benefits went to the highest bidder ( donor).

[Soul Crusher]

Keep telling yourself that. If I want to help my fellow man I will, I don't need the government taxing me and legislating morality. Yeah it's such a decent thing to do, that the benefits went to the highest bidder ( donor).

It was not onlt eh public option, it was the corrput deals, exemptions, etc. 

[Kazan]

It was not onlt eh public option, it was the corrput deals, exemptions, etc. 

It doesn't matter,  the Federal Government has no constitutional authority in this matter and should keep its fucking nose out of it.  The left thinks it can buy more votes with this bullshit, well those of us that work and pay taxes have had it. 

[Soul Crusher]

It doesn't matter,  the Federal Government has no constitutional authority in this matter and should keep its fucking nose out of it.  The left thinks it can buy more votes with this bullshit, well those of us that work and pay taxes have had it. 

I seriously have no idea where and why the lefties like KC get the idea that the govt will solve their, its, or the nations' problems, when every attempt in tyhe past, history, reason, logic, etc, shows that it does not work, ever. 

[Kazan]

I seriously have no idea where and why the lefties like KC get the idea that the govt will solve their, its, or the nations' problems, when every attempt in tyhe past, history, reason, logic, etc, shows that it does not work, ever. 

Because they are lazy, why actually have to provide for yourself, when the government will do it. And then put it in the guise about how nobel it is. Just another way to buy votes and fuck the middle class. They sit an lement the poor, while at the same time destorying their work ethic and pride with handouts, and they are still poor. They lament the plight of minorities, while telling them you don't have to be as good or smart, you skin just has to be the right color, and of course crush their spirit with handouts. Personally everything the leftwing stands for I find offensive.

[BM OUT]

Billy that is such a bs statement right there.  Purposely wrecking the economy my foot.  The stimulus worked at stopping the complete collapse of the American banking industry and lessened the impact this recession has had.  It didn't create the amount of jobs that were promised and it didn't help that he oversold it and undersold just how much trouble the American economy would have been without some type of bailout. 

Your confusing TARP with the assanine stimulous bill.The stimulous bill DID NOTHING to generate even ONE job.You can argue about TARP and how it worked,the stimulous has done NOTHING.Not one job created,its a democrat slush fund designed to pay unions back.

Now,I say Obama is doing this on purpose.The dems know tax cuts is the only way to stimulate the economy.You know how I know?Because they loved cash for clunkers and the housing tax credit.However,Obama wont cut the pay roll tax,he knows it would help create jobs,but he wont do it.The democrat congress has begged him not to let the Bush tax cuts expire,he will let them expire.His goal is to destroy the country and remake it in his image.He is getting even for all the percieved evils this country has done,taught to him by Rev. Wright.Obama HATES this country and is seeking to remake it.

[kcballer]

So the govt shouldn't do anything about 40,000 people dying a year from lack of medical coverage? The private system will just sort it out right? I mean the insurance companies are already brainstorming how they can stop this from happening right?

Give me a break.  You can argue the nuances of a public option or whatever but you can not seriously be against mandating health care for all American citizens can you?  Is your idea of a society one that neglects it's tired, poor and sick because 'if i wanted to help i would' attitude?  

You know a great indicator of a nation is how well it looks after it's elderly and it's sick.  America fails on both, not because of a lack of money or technology but because of a lack of empathy for their fellow Americans.   It sickens me sometimes to be an American.  This is one of those times.  

[Soul Crusher]

Your confusing TARP with the assanine stimulous bill.The stimulous bill DID NOTHING to generate even ONE job.You can argue about TARP and how it worked,the stimulous has done NOTHING.Not one job created,its a democrat slush fund designed to pay unions back.

Now,I say Obama is doing this on purpose.The dems know tax cuts is the only way to stimulate the economy.You know how I know?Because they loved cash for clunkers and the housing tax credit.However,Obama wont cut the pay roll tax,he knows it would help create jobs,but he wont do it.The democrat congress has begged him not to let the Bush tax cuts expire,he will let them expire.His goal is to destroy the country and remake it in his image.He is getting even for all the percieved evils this country has done,taught to him by Rev. Wright.Obama HATES this country and is seeking to remake it.

You are 100% correct.  Ther idiotic Stim Bill has not created one permanent private sector sustainable job.  Its a heist, a theft, and a disgrace. 

[BM OUT]

So the govt shouldn't do anything about 40,000 people dying a year from lack of medical coverage? The private system will just sort it out right? I mean the insurance companies are already brainstorming how they can stop this from happening right?

Give me a break.  You can argue the nuances of a public option or whatever but you can not seriously be against mandating health care for all American citizens can you?  Is your idea of a society one that neglects it's tired, poor and sick because 'if i wanted to help i would' attitude?  

You know a great indicator of a nation is how well it looks after it's elderly and it's sick.  America fails on both, not because of a lack of money or technology but because of a lack of empathy for their fellow Americans.   It sickens me sometimes to be an American.  This is one of those times.  

Yet another democrat lie.40,000 a year dying of lack of health care YET the democrats were going to wait until 2014 to implement it.Obviously there are not 40,000 a year dying,nor 4,000,nor 400,nor 4.If you go to a hospital you are taken care of.Stop this liberal lie!!

[Kazan]

So the govt shouldn't do anything about 40,000 people dying a year from lack of medical coverage? The private system will just sort it out right? I mean the insurance companies are already brainstorming how they can stop this from happening right?

Give me a break.  You can argue the nuances of a public option or whatever but you can not seriously be against mandating health care for all American citizens can you?  Is your idea of a society one that neglects it's tired, poor and sick because 'if i wanted to help i would' attitude?  

You know a great indicator of a nation is how well it looks after it's elderly and it's sick.  America fails on both, not because of a lack of money or technology but because of a lack of empathy for their fellow Americans.   It sickens me sometimes to be an American.  This is one of those times.  

The government fucking handed the healthcare system over the to the insurance companies, but his time they are going to get it right Yes I am absolutly agains the federal government mandating healtcare, they have no authority to do so.

Yeah its all about lack of empathy, typical leftwing nonsense, just pull some fucking number out of thin air about how many people supposedly die because they don't have health insurance.

Personally I have had it with you fucking do-gooders causing one catastrophy after another with your "good intentions". Here is an idea mind your won fucking buisness.

[Soul Crusher]

So the govt shouldn't do anything about 40,000 people dying a year from lack of medical coverage? The private system will just sort it out right? I mean the insurance companies are already brainstorming how they can stop this from happening right?

Give me a break.  You can argue the nuances of a public option or whatever but you can not seriously be against mandating health care for all American citizens can you?  Is your idea of a society one that neglects it's tired, poor and sick because 'if i wanted to help i would' attitude?  

You know a great indicator of a nation is how well it looks after it's elderly and it's sick.  America fails on both, not because of a lack of money or technology but because of a lack of empathy for their fellow Americans.   It sickens me sometimes to be an American.  This is one of those times.  

First off I believe that number is BS. 

Second 40,000 in a nation of 300,000,000 is not that many considering many would have died regardless.  Not to be cruel, but encating Commie-Care does not seem like a solution to me. 

[shootfighter1]

I wonder how many democrats think hillary may have been a better choice.

I think you're right KC, healthcare with a public option may have passed if people weren't so angry at the lagging economy (and the crazy amount of spending from Washington the whole year).

Regular people are disinfranchised with the tone in Washington, many expected better but it seems things are even worse than usual.  This isn't all Obama's fault, probably more the left wing of congress, but it's under his watch.

[Soul Crusher]

Berry: Obama said "I am the difference" between '10 and '94 is "me"

www.politico.com

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Rep. Marion Berry's parting shot, published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette [no link, subscription only] offers a warning to moderate Democrats and border state moderates -- warning of a midterm bloodbath comparable to the 54-seat D-to-R swing in 1994.

But the jaw-dropper is Berry's claim that President Obama personally dismissed any comparison between Democrats now and under Bill Clinton 16 years ago -- by saying his personal popularity would bail everybody out.

The retiring Berry, who doesn't say when the remarks were made, now scoffs at Obama's 50-or-below approval rating:

Writes ADG reporter Jane Fullerton:

Berry recounted meetings with White House officials, reminiscent of some during the Clinton days, where he and others urged them not to force Blue Dogs “off into that swamp” of supporting bills that would be unpopular with voters back home.

“I’ve been doing that with this White House, and they just don’t seem to give it any credibility at all,” Berry said. “They just kept telling us how good it was going to be. The president himself, when that was brought up in one group, said, ‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.’ We’re going to see how much difference that makes now.” [snip]

“I began to preach last January that we had already seen this movie and we didn’t want to see it again because we know how it comes out,” said Arkansas’ 1st District congressman, who worked in the Clinton administration before being elected to the House in 1996... "I just began to have flashbacks to 1993 and ’94. No one that was here in ’94, or at the day after the election felt like. It certainly wasn’t a good feeling.”

Whole article after the jump.

WASHINGTON — As Democrats, reeling from the loss of the Massachusetts Senate seat, mull over how to proceed, U.S. Rep. Marion Berry and others involved in the last major effort to overhaul the health-care system are struck by a sense of political deja vu.

The 1993-94 endeavor collapsed during President Bill Clinton’s first term, and it precipitated a landslide of Democratic losses in the House and Senate in the 1994 congressional elections.

For Berry, the parallels are striking.

“I began to preach last January that we had already seen this movie and we didn’t want to see it again because we know how it comes out,” said Arkansas’ 1st District congressman, who worked in the Clinton administration before being elected to the House in 1996.

Within a week of the current health-care process beginning, Berry said, “I just began to have flashbacks to 1993 and ’94. No one that was here in ’94, or at the day after the election felt like. It certainly wasn’t a good feeling.”

With that in mind, Berry said, the results of last week “certainly bring back memories.”

Judging from what Arkansas Democratic congressmen are saying, there is no doubt about the degree to which the political landscape in the nation’s capital has been jolted.

Rep. Mike Ross says his party should be hearing alarm bells.

Rep. Vic Snyder uses meteorological imagery to describe the unsettled political climate.

Berry can’t get 1994 out of his mind, the year when Republicans gained 54 seats in the House of Representatives, sweeping to power there for the first time since 1954.

Republicans also seized the Senate, picking up eight seats.

Berry, who represents northeast Arkansas in Congress, criticizes his own party regarding current health-care legislation, calling it an “ideological effort” driven by “political ambition.”

Berry and the 4th District’s Ross credited the Blue Dog coalition of fiscally conservative Democrats, of which they are leading members, with working to tailor the House bill to take into account the concerns their constituents are raising.

Berry recounted meetings with White House officials, reminiscent of some during the Clinton days, where he and others urged them not to force Blue Dogs “off into that swamp” of supporting bills that would be unpopular with voters back home.

“I’ve been doing that with this White House, and they just don’t seem to give it any credibility at all,” Berry said. “They just kept telling us how good it was going to be. The president himself, when that was brought up in one group, said, ‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.’ We’re going to see how much difference that makes now.”

To underscore his point, Berry quoted former Texas Rep. Charles Stenholm, a fellow conservative Democrat, who said after the 1994 Republican landslides: “the Democrats had worked like hell to get into the minority and we were not going to give it up easily.”

Ross also criticized his party leadership for “back-room deals” and “secretive meetings” during the current legislative process. As head of the Blue Dog’s health-care task force, he played a key role in shaping the House bill and expects to continue being involved in it.

Though Berry said he has been hearing warning bells since last winter, Ross said he’s been hearing them since last summer.

“The people of Massachusetts were sending the same message to Washington that I’ve been sending since July, that is that we need commonsense health-care reform that’s done in an open and transparent way,” Ross said.

All three of Arkansas’ Democratic House members said there were differing opinions within their party about how or whether to pursue healthcare legislation in the wake of last week’s Massachusetts election.

“For that state to go Republican in a U.S. Senate race should sound alarms all over Washington to wake up and understand that the people want Congress and want Washington to be focused on jobs and the economy and putting America back to work,” Ross said, summing up the view of the Arkansas House delegation.

Snyder turned to a sailing metaphor to explain the lessons that lawmakers should take from last week’s turn of events.

“When the wind blows, you don’t fight the wind,” said the 2nd District congressman. “You don’t ignore the wind. You figure out how to work with the wind.”

While Snyder said it’s time to “regroup,” he acknowledged that it’s uncertain what that will mean.

“We’ve had a very vigorous American debate about health care for a year,” he said. “It will continue longer than that because we have not come up with a solution that solves the problem but does not create anxiety.”

While it remains unclear what course the health-care legislation will take, Arkansas’ members - Democratic and Republican - agree that there could be support for some limited measures.

Rep. John Boozman, the only Republican in Arkansas’ delegation, said the approach should be incremental and focus on issues that “reform the current system rather than creating a new system.”

“If they took that kind of approach, they could get bipartisan support,” the 3rd District congressman said. “They’d have my support.”

What all the state’s congressmen said they can’t support are some of the key elements that had been included in versions of the legislation: a government-run public insurance option as well as mandates for all Americans to have insurance and for all employers to provide insurance or face penalties.

The other aspect of the health-care debate that the Arkansas members agree on is that the problem behind the overhaul effort remain: healthcare costs soaring at the same time millions of Americans have no insurance or inadequate coverage.

“It all needs to solve a problem rather than penalize somebody for what we consider to be bad behavior but they may not consider to be bad behavior,” Berry said. “I don’t think we’ve done that, and I think we missed a great opportunity to do that with very little political pain and suffering. And for whatever reason, my own party has chosen not to do that.”

Posted by Glenn Thrush 10:01 AM


________________________ ________________________ _____________________

WTF is wrong with him?  

This idiot is truly the dumbest president we have ever had, bar none.  

HA HA HA HA HA-   

[Soul Crusher]

Are you morons on the left starting to get a clue yet? 


 

[Soul Crusher]

Keep it up libs - 2012 will be even bigger.

[loco]

That's messed up.  Republicans should be blue, and Democrats should be...pink.   Nah, I kid I kid!     

[Soul Crusher]

That's messed up.  Republicans should be blue, and Democrats should be...pink.   Nah, I kid I kid!     

I was keeping this thread on the radar to bump for a long time. 

No shit Obama - instead of 52 seats like in 1994 - the GOP picked 62!   That's the difference, and in WI, MN, VA, PA, OH, and NY.

[loco]

Keep it up libs - 2012 will be even bigger.

That map of the US is looking pretty red today.