Oh, that public option
I didn’t campaign on the public option.”—President Barack Obama, in an interview yesterday with The Washington Post.
“Everyone will be able to buy into a new health insurance plan that’s similar to the one that every federal employee—from a postal workers in Iowa to a Congressman in Washington—currently has for themselves.”—Senator Barack Obama, in a presidential campaign speech delivered at the University of Iowa on May 29, 2007.
December 24th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Welcome to Chicago. It’s time to join the mob, i.e. pay up or shut up!
December 25th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Quote of the day: David Brooks on NPR, doing his speciality of making an unintentionally brilliant observation (and proceeding to draw exactly the wrong conclusion from it). In this case, the observation was about Barack Obama and it began “Not since Woodrow Wilson have we had a President….” I think the rest of the sentence can remain unquoted since the comparison to Wilson (an appalling git who presided over some of the most cynical and appalling injustices, domestically and internationally, of the 20th century, while posing as a “liberal” and even an “idealist”) is fucking perfect.
December 27th, 2009 at 10:00 am
blindman: Having lived in Chicago for a time, I can say that that city’s mob has nothing on New York’s. And as for Mr. Obama’s governing style, it strikes me as less quintessential Chi-Town than run-of-the-mill Washington D.C.
Raya: Ugh, Woodrow Wilson. I would much prefer the second coming of Teddy Roosevelt, who while pushing imperialism abroad at least used the same bluster to push genuine progressive reforms at home.
December 27th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Prefer, yes, but who has a choice? Did you see this?:
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/12/25/why-was-dawn-johnsen-nomination-killed/
The more I read/inadvertently find out about Wilson, the more I think Obama is his Second Coming. Next up: he’ll be hailed as a great friend to labor while he outlaws unions. You read it here first….