We're Going to Get a Center-Right Healthcare Bill from a Center-Right Administration [View All]

I think people who thought the Obama administration would perform in a center-left fashion are quickly realizing that they were expecting a little too much and maybe took the Change movement a little too seriously. The mixed messages from the White House are not an accident. They really are going back and forth in their support of a public option...caving to the fake protesters and GOP. As of right now, the Obama admin looks like a toothless tiger with no fight whatsoever. They're coming out saying that Obama supports a public option just so the base won't explode and riot...but we can't be duped into thinking it's that simple. The WH is telling different groups different things. Likely saying on camera they support a Public option, and saying something else behind closed doors. Many on DU have pointed out that we began this discussion from the wrong vantage point. We SHOULD have started out supporting single-payer and compromised to a strong public option. Not starting out with a strong public option and being talked down to a weak public option...or NO public option. The White House strategy was fucked from go and now they're backed into a corner. They could have handled this situation much much better than they have. I still support Obama, no one should think otherwise. But I'm beginning to see that major reform was never really on the table (and why should we think it was looking at all of the center-right/Blue Dog-lite Dems in Obama's administration). If so, they wouldn't have taken options OFF the table at the beginning like Single-Payer.

Now Obama's between a rock and a hard place. It's getting closer and closer to the possibility that healthcare reform will either be dropped and look like a major failure against the Obama administration...or we'll get something so weak it won't make much of a dent in the larger scheme of things. Both are wins for the Republicans.