Nancy Pelosi: Republicans Will Continue Obstruction If Obama Is Reelected

Real Democratic policies aren't that hard to sell to the American people.  When most Americans want Medicare and other government programs which they've benefitted from to continue and teabaggers shout "No government control of healthcare­; Get your hands off my Medicare", the answer is EDUCATION.

The DLC got into power by refusing to defend the word 'liberal' when RonaldReagan, LeeAtwater and KarlRove were demonizing the word. Instead of educating the public about liberalism , and how liberals were responsibl­­e for creating the largest middle class in the history of the world, a strong regulatory system that provided clean water systems and nutritious affordable food for everyone, a public education system that led the world, massive public works projects like the HooverDam, etc., the DLC convinced Americans that liberals could never win another election. The DLC attributed to ideology what is more accurately explained by lousy campaigns outgunned by election dirty tricks and fraud. 

When informed of the issues, most Americans agree with liberal policies. Neither they (nor I) would characteri­­ze themselves as far-anythi­­ng or extreme, but mainstream­­. For example, nobody likes the idea of abortion, but most Americans do not want the government involved if they find themselves in the predicamen­­t of an unwanted pregnancy. And if you frame it as, "You like to k!ll babies?!?! ?!?!", even those who are generally immune to authoritar­­ian intimidati­­on are going to have a hard time due to the moral judgment assumed in that question, and framing the issue in those terms.

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Nancy Pelosi: Republicans Will Continue Obstruction If Obama Is Reelected

Anyone who says "Obama killed OBL", I ask, "How do you know?"  

The greatest terrorist attack on the US and the alleged perpetrator, ill with kidney disease, a towering figure of 6'4" living and traveling among 5 and-a-half-foot people, eludes apprehension for a decade, and when we ultimately get him we quickly dispose of the body where it can never be exhumed, refuse to release photographs or anything confirming the death ("Take our word for it") and hide the SEAL team and let conflicting accounts of what happened remain.

It's as likely to be true as the official account of 9/11, where the US sent all of the steel from the WTC to China, untested, to be recycled.  

We don't do that.  We salvage downed air planes from the bottom of the ocean and reconstruct them in hangars to find out what happened.  It's why we are a nation run by rule of law and not rule of man.  Where we examine evidence in courtrooms to get to the truth.  

But all that is over.  

The situation might have been remedied had Democrats and Obama come into office investigat­ing and prosecutin­g the Bush administer­tion, Wall Street, defense contractors, and restoring the 'rule of law'.  BushCheney exploited the inherent weaknesses in the Constituti­on:  A precarious balance of power between the three branches of government­.  But Obama refused, and has continued the BushCheney disregard of the Constituti­on, even going beyond BushCheney abuses.

Do you know that the Pentagon has no photos of the dead OBL, and no DNA analysis was done on OBL.  Nor does any video exist of the raid, either at the scene, at the Pentagon, in the WH Situation Room.

If you want to talk about OBL, then let's throw the windows open and get a real investigation.  Starting with what actually happened on 9/11 (the 911 Commission was a cruel joke), the policies that led to 9/11, our response to it, the post-9/11 policies which have us in a perpetual state of war with Americans being no safer.
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Nancy Pelosi: Republicans Will Continue Obstruction If Obama Is Reelected

Obama didn't repeal DADT; Congress did.

Obama actually IMPEDED repeal.  

Obama and Democrats didn't do everything in their power to end it.  Not after the House had fallen to Republican control, and certainly not before the 2010 midterms or when Obama came into power on 1/20/09 and Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress.

Right before the midterms I asked commenters here if they thought Democrats would be as effective at obstructing Republicans as the Republicans as the minority party have been these past 4 years at obstructing Democrats.

Obama's been giving silent assent and aid to Republicans by not taking to the bully pulpit over this and all issues.  Obama could certainly sign a stop-loss order (read my previous comments here and here before the standard knee-j3rk response about a new president overturning it).

As AxelDC said:

This was an obvious case for reconcilia­tion.  The bill is the DoD budget, and reconcilliation is to avoid filibusters on budget issues.  The House overwhelmingly passed it, the Senate had 57 votes, and Reid and Obama refused to push it through.

What about a stop-loss order on Day 1?  Obama has that authority and Congress would have to override him.

Instead, he thought he would be too clever by half and predictibly fail in the Senate and hope the public would punish Republicans for it.  Didn't quite work out that way did it?  Either pass it in reconciliation in December or the courts will have to do what Obama refuses to do.

The audacity of campaigning, the timidity of governing. 

Back in November, 2010, Joe Lieberman leaked that 3 Republicans might sign onto repealing DADT if the process was "fair", i.e., if Republicans could add amendments onto the defense budget bill, among other things.  I think this is the deal, agreeing to the Bush-Cheney 'Long War', continuing to kick the can down the road for ending these wars, is what Obama agreed to to get 3 Republicans to consider voting to repeal DADT.  I think Obama's looking for cover, to hide behind Republicans, for his deceit about not fulfilling his promise to end these wars.

Obama and Democrats didn't need 60 -- They could've put the repeal of DADT in the defense budget bill and passed it through reconciliation.  50 + Biden.

After it did pass, Obama could've signed an executive order (stop-loss), that would have stopped discharged while the Pentagon "studied" it, but he refused.
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Nancy Pelosi: Republicans Will Continue Obstruction If Obama Is Reelected

Obama ran on a public option with no mandate.  People who voted for Obama/Democrats voted to get affordable, quality medical treatment.  That was NOT a vote to protect and further enrich the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.  Voters didn't send Obama and Democrats into power to entrench the insurance industry as the gatekeepers to being able to get medical treatment.  Voters did NOT send Obama and Democrats to Washington to continue tying insurance benefits to their employment.

Yet that is precisely what Obama and the DLC-controlled Democrats did.

health insurance ≠ medical treatment

Obama's healthcare legislation doesn't control costs and doesn't deliver medical treatment to everyone (not even those who think they're going to get it).  Insurance companies are not required to cover anyone's preexisting condition gratis.    And between increased premium costs, deductibles and co-pays, ACA Unlikely to Stem Medical Bankruptcies

Meet The New 1%: - Healthcare CEOs replace bankers as America's best paid:

Pity Wall Street's bankers. Once the highest-paid bosses in the land, they are now also-rans. The real money is in healthcare and drugs, according to the latest survey of executive pay.  One example is Joel Gemunder, CEO Omnicare, who had a total pay package in 2010 worth $98 million.

Obama's healthcare legislation is nothing more than a massive giveaway to the health insurance industry.  It is one of the most corrupt pieces of legislation ever enacted by our government.

The health insurance industry provides no real service.  All it does is take money out of the system.  It's nothing more than a blood-sucking middleman.
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Nancy Pelosi: Republicans Will Continue Obstruction If Obama Is Reelected

It is in retrospect that Obama's corruptnes­s, his treachery, should be obvious for any willing to open their eyes.  Obama never wanted a public option [A caller on CSpan a few months ago asked Richard Wolffe, who was out plugging his latest book written from his special access to the Obama White House, if we're ever going to get a public option to keep costs down.  Wolffe makes it clear that Obama and the DLC-contro­lled Democrats never had any intention of going with a public option or expanding public healthcare in any way (although Wolffe is mistaken when he says that Obama never ran on supporting a public option -- Not only did Obama campaign on "a public option", he campaigned on single payer, universal health care -- Here's a campaign ad featuring Obama himself -- See the part where he says he has a plan to "cover everyone'? That's 'universal coverage' -- There's even a graphic in the ad that says "The Obama Plan - UNIVERSAL coverage for all Americans"­.  Obama ran against mandates, and criticized Hillary for them in her campaign promises --  Here is Candidate Obama on mandates -- Here again -- Obama campaigned on public option).]

To make sure that there wouldn't be a public option in any final legislatio­n (and that there really wouldn't be any reform of the system, that the insurance and pharmaceut­ical industries would continue to be able to make massive profits), single payer had to be taken off the table before negotiatio­ns ever began.   And that's exactly what Obama did.
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Nancy Pelosi: Republicans Will Continue Obstruction If Obama Is Reelected

When a president and his political party are swept into power to deliver affordable­, quality medical treatment for all as Obama and Democrats were in 2008, and the one method that can accomplish it (and also happens to solve other unique problems facing us at the time, i.e., a crashing economy, joblessnes­s, etc.) that president not only doesn't use his buIIy puIpit to sell, but unilateral­ly takes off the table, removes from even discussing­, then the fix is in and that president is corrupt to the core. 

Obama took SinglePayer (MedicareForAll) off the table, because if the goal is to get affordable quality medical care for all then everything else pales in comparison­.  What Obama did was preserve an anachronis­tic and failed insurance industry and employer-p­rovided system for medical care that everyone except the insurance industry wanted to end. It's government sanctioned racketeeri­ng.

In February 2010, when proponents of a public option were finally making some headway between the time that the House passed its version of healthcare reform and the time that the Senate passed its version (and it's important to remember that Obama never pressured Blue Dogs or JoeLieberman, never used the power of the White House and never took to the buIIy puIpit to advocate for a public option), Obama held a 'make it or break it bipartisan summit' at the WhiteHouse which was gamed to prevent public option proponents from getting real reform, (affordabl­e quality medical care for everyone).  PO proponents were shut out of the negotiatio­ns.  Why wasn't Anthony Weiner or any proponents of public healthcare­, of a public option, of single payer, at this summit?

The summit was gamed to let insurance companies retain their lock on the path to getting healthcare­.  

Whether it's Republican­s saying no or Democrats saying yes, to attend this summit you must have accepted that the insurance industry's ability to make profits off of you be preserved and protected, despite it bankruptin­g the American people individual­ly and the nation at large.

And by the way, everybody, and I mean everybody (employers­, employees, unemployed­, etc.) wanted an end to employer-b­ased health insurance.  Everybody except the insurance industry.  That was yet another facet of the perfect storm for reform that came together in 2008 - The general agreement that the insurance industry's control over people's access to affordable quality medical treatment had to end.   Because insurance adds NOTHING to the medical model. The insurance industry is the 'Don Fanucci' (Godfather­, Part II) of medical care; the insurance industry is "wetting its beak", letting you get medical care (maybe, if you can afford the deductible­s, the co-pays, and if your illness is covered by your policy, but) only if you pay them a gratuity up front.

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Nancy Pelosi: Republicans Will Continue Obstruction If Obama Is Reelected

FYI - ACA originated in the rightwing think-tank Heritage Foundation.  It's RomneyCare, just on a national basis.

What I am is an old OLD liberal Democrat.  If you could read and digest information, you'd know that.  

But that's beside the point: You're off-topic and in violation of HP comment policy.  Stick to discussing issues and not the commenters.
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