Jane Hamsher On Health Care Bill

The Young Turks interviews Jane Hamsher about the difficulties getting the health care bill through the Senate. Senators Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln have promised to filibuster. Rahm Emanuel has pressured Harry Reid to dump the public option for the trigger. Republicans don't habve the power to stop a health care bill. The problem is corporatist Democrats and a neoliberal President.

Heat On Blanche Lincoln

Howard Dean floats the idea of Democrats running a primary opponent against Sen. Blanche Lincoln. She loudly said she plans on filibustering the health care bill. Another good reason for Democrats to run a primary opponent is to keep the seat. Lincoln's polling numbers are bad.

SCHULTZ: What do you say to progressive groups that want to put a progressive candidate up against Blanche Lincoln in a primary down in Arkansas? Is that a fool’s errand? Does that have merit, in your opinion?

DEAN: I think it does. The Democrats are pretty progressives. We’ve done some polling in Arkansas, Democracy for America, which I consult for. The majority of people in Arkansas and especially the majority of Democrats, want a public option.

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SCHULTZ: Blanche Lincoln is polling behind. There are nine possible candidates on the Republican side in Arkansas. Blanche Lincoln is behind every single one of them in a poll. Wouldn’t it be good money spent on the part of the Democrats to go in there and get somebody who’s really going to do something about health care reform? Wouldn’t that be a good dollar to spend?

DEAN: Well, you know, there are some people talking about running in the primary down there. I’ve heard the lieutenant governor is thinking about running. And he’s just organized a whole series of huge clinics, free clinics. You know, that could happen.

Look, you have to stick with your base. If you don’t stick with your base, you can’t win elections. That’s what happened in Virginia and New Jersey this year, is the core people that got Barack Obama elected to the presidency didn’t show up for the gubernatorial candidates.

Part of the reason health care reform numbers are so bad in Arkansas is Lincoln and Sen. Mark Pryor have been trashing the public option. It makes sense for Arkansas voters to be against the public option.

Arkansas is the state where health reform advocate President Bill Clinton came from. Obviously, Lincoln and Pryor do not possess Clinton's political skills and charisma. Lincoln wants to be all things to all voters. She becomes indecisive and and lacks leadership skills. Lincoln promised to filibuster healthcare. She allowed the health care bill to reach the floor. Why allow the bill to be debated if she promises to vote against the Senate bill. It pretty pathetic posturing. Voters see through the grandstanding. That is why Lincoln's numbers are down.

Why the Public Option Failed in the Senate

Sen. Bill Nelson voted against the Jay Rockefeller amendment. Nelson did vote for the watered down public option amendment authored by Chuck Schumer.

"It seems to me that this is very important that we have this competition. It has all safeguards in it ..." Nelson said.

The Schumer amendment failed 10 to 13. All the cynical outreach efforts by President Barack Obama to get Republican votes failed. I previously wrote the Obama and Baucus were crafting legislation that would mandate citizens buying private insurance and protect pharmaceutical industry profits. Lindsey Graham explained to Ezra Klein that Obama never pressed Congress on the public option.

You make people afraid of opposing you or you get them rewarded for helping you. There's no fear for opposing Obama's public option, and the reward is for opposing it. Right now, Republicans feel no political exposure from opposing the president's health-care initiative.

Obama reneged on his campaign promise to hold open meetings with insurers and the pharmaceutical industry. Health insurers will get more customers and drug prices will continue to escalate. It is up to Nancy Pelosi and Democrats in the House of Representitives to keep the public option alive.

Update: the Democrats whom voted against the Rockefeller amendment were Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Blanche Lincoln, Tom Carper and Nelson.