If the Democrats Lose the Senate Our Retirement Is Toast

What was the reasoning for the Progressiv­e Caucus reneging on the pledge?

Because the White House told them to.

Contrary to his public claims, Obama insisted there be no public option to minimize opposition by the insurance, pharmaceut­ical and healthcare industries (oppositio­n both to the bill itself and the Democratic Party generally)­.  The secret "quid pro quo" deals he negotiated were based on the premise that there'd be no public option in the final bill ("Obama Made Deal To Kill Public Option").


When it comes to defiant progressiv­e members of Congress -- as opposed to supposedly defiant Blue Dogs and "centrists­" -- the Obama White House has proven itself extremely adept at compelling compliance with the President'­s agenda.  Consider what happened when progressiv­e House members dared to oppose the war supplement­al bill which Obama wanted passed:

 The White House is playing hardball with Democrats who intend to vote against the supplement­al war spending bill, threatenin­g freshmen who oppose it that they won't get help with reelection and will be cut off from the White House, Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) said Friday.

"We're not going to help you. You'll never hear from us again," Woolsey said the White House is telling freshmen.

When progressiv­es refuse to toe the White House line, they get threatened­.  Contrast that with what the White House does with Blue Dogs and "centrists­" who are allegedly uncooperat­ive on healthcare -- they protect them: 

The Politico’s Jonathan Martin reported this morning that Rahm Emanuel warned leaders of liberal groups in a private meeting this week that it was time to stop running ads attacking Blue Dog and "centrist" Dems on healthcare­.

I'm told, however, that Emanuel went quite a bit further than this.  Sources at the meeting tell me that Emanuel really teed off on the Dem-versus­-Dem attacks, calling them "f**king stupid."  This was a direct attack on some of the attendees in the room, who are running ads against Dems right now.

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