What LBJ would do to get a health care bill passed by Congress

What LBJ would do to get a health care bill passed by Congress
By Tom Johnson
Special to CNN
Tom Johnson, who served as one of LBJ's White House press secretaries, is former chief executive of CNN News Group and former publisher of the Los Angeles Times.
August 24, 2009

Story Highlights
Tom Johnson: Lyndon Johnson would use many tools to get action in Congress
He would have used staff, intermediaries to pressure legislators
He would have gained support by granting lawmakers' special requests
He would have used every device to get the health care bill passed

Read the story at:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/24/johnson.lbj.health.care/

to be doing?

This, and the number of healthcare lobbyists welcomed to the WH make me wonder about the real intention of the administration.

able to get anything he proposed because JFK had just been killed. It is better to look at what LBJ did before Nov 22 than after.

President Kennedy never proposed a Medicare bill to Congress.

A Medicare bill was first proposed to Congress in March 1965.

Here's the timeline:

January 1965: President Johnson's first legislative message to the 89th Congress, Advancing the Nation's Health, detailed a program including hospital insurance for the aged under Social Security and health care for needy children.

March-July 1965: The House of Representatives (307-116) and the Senate (70-24) passed "the Mills Bill" (H.R. 6675), a package of health benefits and Social Security improvements.

July 30, 1965: President Johnson signed H.R. 6675 (Public Law 89-97) to establish Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the indigent in Independence, Missouri, in the presence of Harry S. Truman who advocated for such legislation in a message to Congress in 1945.

The fact of the matter is that health care reform was the cornerstone of President Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1960 and followed President Truman's more ambitious efforts to provide universal coverage. President Kennedy campaigned on Medicare, and in 1962 called for the enactment of "measures to provide health care for the elderly ... this year" in his State of the Union Speech. President Kennedy initiated a series of rallies and public relation efforts to secure the passage of Medicare in 1962, but these efforts (you guessed it) bogged down in Congress. A conservative coalition of Southern Democrats and Republicans were able to stymie the passage of Medicare. In November 1963, JFK was assassinated. Despite the outpouring of grief, Lyndon Johnson still was unable to pass Medicare prior to the 1964 election. However, after his landslide victory in 1964, Lyndon Johnson was able to secure the passage of Medicare in 1965 five years after President Kennedy ran on it in 1960, and vowed to get it passed this year in 1961!

Here is a Washington Post article reviewing some of the polling data behind the fight for Medicare, which demonstrates that it was not the slam dunk that President Obama's critics suggest. After all, health care for seniors seems like a political slam dunk, but it was not. It was a five year fight that was aided in part by the outpouring of support following President Kennedy's assassination. Even with President Johnson's resounding victory, public opinion on Medicare took a long time to evolve toward being moderately, but not overwhelmingly, supportive over a period of five years with a charismatic Kennedy and a veteran political insider in Lyndon Johnson.

When seen in proper historical context, President Obama's efforts at reforming health care are extremely impressive. If judged against the standard currently being applied to President Obama, then JFK/LBJ appear absolutely incompetent, since it took them over five years to pass a bill that on its face sounds like a political slam dunk, health care for the elderly, and since they reflected a dramatic reduction in scope from earlier efforts under President Truman to provide for universal healthcare coverage back in 1945.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/behind-the-numbers/2009/07/health_care_reform_circa_1965.html

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Health Care Reform Circa 1965: Polling on Medicare
The political battle lasted for years. After one young Democratic president's attempt to change the way some Americans get their health care failed, the fight was revived following the election of another Democrat a few years later. Some favored a government run program. Others backed a plan operated by private insurers, with government-funded subsidies to assist those with lower-incomes in paying their premiums. It all came to a head by July... 1965.

The program was Medicare, and sparring over its passage - 44 years ago this month - closely resembles the debate taking place in Washington today as the House and Senate roll out their versions of health care reform.

A July 1962 Gallup poll found mixed feelings about President John F. Kennedy's proposal, 28 percent said they held generally favorable views of his plan, 24 percent were generally unfavorable, and a sizable plurality (33 percent) said they didn't have an opinion on it or hadn't heard about the plan. A month later, after Congress had rejected Kennedy's proposal, an Opinion Research Corporation poll found 44 percent said the plan should have passed, while 37 percent felt Congress did the right thing.

* * *

Following Pres. Lyndon Johnson's election, Americans remained somewhat divided on the plan, with 46 percent telling Harris pollsters in Feb. 1965 that they'd prefer "a Federal law which would provide medical care for the aged by a special tax, like Social Security" and 36 percent more inclined to support "a plan of expanded private health insurance." Then, as now, Democrats were more apt to favor the government option (58 percent) than were Republicans (27 percent).

Asked another way, 62 percent said they favored "President Johnson's program of medical care for the aged under Social Security." A smaller majority, 56 percent, backed the American Medical Association's alternative plan, which would have "everyone who could afford it covered by private health insurance" and "those who couldn't afford it ...covered under a government health plan."

###

Finally, Medicare itself represented a much more modest effort than Harry Truman's efforts in 1945 to enact universal health insurance. If the single payer crowd were around then, they would be denouncing LBJ's efforts as woefully inadequate, and opposing the passage of Medicare because it fell far short of universal coverage.

http://www.ssa.gov/history/corningchap4.html

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PRESIDENT TRUMAN was right, of course. In fact, some of the spadework for what would ultimately come to be known as Medicare was done in the final 3 years of the Truman administration.

The first person to suggest that Government health insurance be limited (at least at first) to social security beneficiaries was Dr. Thomas Parran of the Public Health Service, in 1937 (see footnote No. 25, page 46). At the time, Dr. Parran's idea was not pursued. In 1944 an officia1 of the Social Security Administration, MerrillG. Murray, mentioned the idea again, probably without being aware of Dr. Parran's previous suggestion. (1) But Murray's idea was also buried in the files and forgotten.

The notion of limiting health insurance to social security beneficiaries seemed, from the point of view of the administration, to have several merits. For some time, Social Security officials had been troubled by the fact that, as long as the social security system failed to protect against the greatest single cause of economic dependency in old age--the high cost of medical care--it could not really fulfill its basic objective. (Although Falk's original proposal included all categories of social security beneficiaries, the preponderance were elderly.)

The proposal was also far more modest in scope than National Health Insurance, and therefore far less costly. It would establish the health insurance principle and enable the Government to gain experience in this field. And, certainly not least, focusing the proposal on so demonstrably needy a group of citizens would enhance the possibilities of enactment. (The 1950 census showed that the aged population had grown from 3 million in 1900 to 12 million in 1950, or from 4 to 8 percent of the total population. Two-thirds of these pepple had incomes of less than $1,000 annually, and only 1 in 8 had health insurance. Old people were long considered "bad risks" by commercial insurers, and unions had not made much headway in obtaining coverage for retired workers through employer-sponsored plans.) Falk's proposal also meshed with a growing interest by the Federal Government in the entire spectrum of problems afflicting elderly citizens, an interest sparked by the 1950 National Conference on Aging--the first conference of its kind. In 1950 the Federal Government had taken a significant first step in the direction of providing medical care for the aged, when it enacted a program of direct payments to "medical vendors" for the treatment of welfare clients, including the elderly.

###

So, think about it. JFK/LBJ attempted for five years to enact Medicare, a limited medical insurance program for seniors from 1961. LBJ himself had been President since 1963, not 1965 as you suggest. If anything, President Obama's progress has been even more impressive than LBJ, since President Obama is taking over President Bush whereas LBJ was simply building on the efforts JFK and his own Presidency dating back to 1961. Thus, it is simplistic to argue that President Johnson was (Re)elected in 1964, took his oath of office in 1965, and Shazzam! Medicare appeared! Such an argument is based on a false factual premise.

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Your statements regarding earlier efforts to pass Medicare type legislation and that history are accurate and I was mistaken.

However, I don't think one should belittle nor miminize the power of LBJ's methods to actually win Medicare soon after he was elected President by a landslide in November 1964.

And one would be wrong to suggest that Obama's efforts to secure comprehensive health care is something relatively new. This is a campaign that has been supported by the Democratic Party and elected Democratic Presidents since Jimmy Carter!

The problem is, it now seems unlikely that even an inadequate health insurance plan with a weak "public option" will be passed on President Obama's watch. And that would represent a historic failure when a great opportunity to pass a national healthcare plan with a viable public option was within our reach. Using LBJ's methods sure wouldn't hurt!

This is from the Social Security administrations Chronology of Significant Events Leading to Enactment of Medicare.


1883 German national compulsory health insurance program enacted.

1902 First U.S. workmen's compensation law enacted (later declared unconstitutional).

1906 American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) founded (disbanded in 1942).

1908 Workmen's compensation system established for Federal employees.

1911 British National Health Insurance program enacted.

1912 Social insurance, including health insurance, endorsed in platform of Progressive Party and espoused by its candidate, Theodore Roosevelt.

December. Social Insurance Committee created by the AALL.

1913 AALL Social Insurance Committee report favors State-run compulsory health insurance.

June. AALL sponsors First National Conference on Social Insurance, in Chicago.

1915 November. A "standard" health insurance bill is published for State consideration, by AALL.

1916 Congressional hearings on health insurance.

December. American Medical Association (AMA) Social Insurance Committee, headed by Dr. Alexander Lambert, recommends compulsory, State-run health insurance..

1917 June. AMA House of Delegates passes resolution stating principles to be followed in Government health insurance plans.

October. War Risk Insurance Act.

1918 First Federal grants to States for public health services.

November. California voters defeat a referendum to permit establishment of a State health insurance plan.

1919 April. New York State Assembly defeats a health insurance bill previously approved by the State Senate.

1920 AMA House of Delegates reverses position, declaring itself in opposition to Government health insurance.

1921 Sheppard-Towner act, providing Federal subsidies for State-run child and maternal health programs, enacted.

1927 Committee on the Costs of Medical Care established by several foundations to make comprehensive study of medical economics.

1929 Precursor of Blue Cross established at Baylor University.

June. Sheppard-Towner act is allowed to expire.

1932 American Federation of Labor (AFL) endorses social insurance.

October. Committee on the Costs of Medical Care final report endorses group practice and voluntary health insurance.

1933 Private hospital insurance approved by American Hospital Association (AHA), leading to establishment of Blue Cross. Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) provides emergency medical care to the needy.

1934 June 29. Committee on Economic Security created by President Roosevelt.

1935 January 17. Report of the Committee on Economic Security sent to Congress without health insurance recommendations, but spelling out principles and promising further efforts to evolve a plan.

February. AMA House of Delegates meets for "emergency" session.

June. Health report of Committee on Economic Security, "Risks to Economic Security Arising Out of Illness," filed but not published.

July 15. First Government health insurance bill introduced in Congress, the "Epstein bill" (S. 3253) sponsored by Senator Capper.

August 14. Social Security Act signed into law; health insurance excluded.

August 15. President Roosevelt announces formation of Interdepartmental Committee to Coordinate Health and Welfare Activities.

First National Health Survey begun.

1937 Technical Committee on Medical Care established under Interdepartmental Committee.

1938 February. Report of the Technical Committee on Medical Care, A National Health Program, published.

July 18-20. National Health Conference convened in Washington, D.C., under sponsorship of Interdepartmental Committee.

1939 February 28. Senator Robert F. Wagner introduces "National Health Bill" (S. 1620) incorporating recommendations of National Health Conference.

AMA establishes "National Physicians' Commit-tee for the Extension of Medical Service" to fight Wagner bill.

April 29-July 13. Hearings on Wagner bill; proposal dies in committee.

1942 Representative Thomas Eliot introduces a precursor of National Health Insurance (H.R. 7534).

November. Beveridge Report advocates a comprehensive social welfare system for Britain.

1943 January. President Roosevelt, in his state of the Union message, calls for social insurance "from the cradle to the grave."

March. Emergency Maternity and Infancy Care program (EMIC) enacted by Congress to provide health benefits for dependents of low-ranking servicemen.

June 3. Original Wagner-Murray-Dingell bill, providing for comprehensive health insurance under social security (S. 1161 and H.R. 2861) introduced. Congress takes no action on proposal.

1944 January 11. President Roosevelt outlines in his state of the Union message an "economic bill of rights," including "the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health."

January 19. The Social Security Board, in its eighth annual report to Congress, specifically calls for compulsory National Health Insurance as part of the social security system.

1945 January 6. President Roosevelt in his state of the Union message again makes reference to the right to "good medical care" but again no specific recommendations are made.

The California legislature defeats Governor Warren's State compulsory health insurance proposal.

November 19. President Truman sends health message to Congress. Revised Wagner-Murray-Dingell bill (S. 1606 and H.R. 4'730) providing for National Health Insurance immediately introduced.

1946 May 3. Taft-Smith-Ball bill (S. 2143), authorizing grants to States for me.dical care to the poor, introduced as an alternative to administration bill; no action taken on either bill.

Committee for the Nation's Health organized to promote Wagner-Murray-Dingell bill.

Hill-Burton Hospital Survey and Construction Act passed.

1947 May 19. President Trurnm, in another special health message to Congress, again requests a National Health Program. S. 1320 introduced by Senators Wagner and Murray; Senator Taft's bill also reintroduced (S. 545).

May-July. Hearings on various health proposals. No action taken.

1948 May l-4. National Health Assembly is convened in Washington under sponsorship of the Federal Security Agency.

AMA launches a "National Education Campaign against National Health Insurance proposals.

1949 April 22. President Truman, in another special message, calls again for National Health Insurance. Hearings held on the issue, but no action taken.

May 31. Flanders-Ives bill (S. 1910 and H.R. 4918-4924), providing for Federal subsidies to private insurance companies, introduced.

1950 August 13. National Conference on Aging is convened by Federal Security Agency.

August 28. Social Security Act amendments of 1950 include grants to States for "vendor payments" in behalf of welfare recipients.

1952 February 26. Federal Security Administrator Oscar Ewing publicly proposes enactment of health insurance for social security beneficiaries.

April. Social Security Administration annual report (1951) recommends health insurance for beneficiaries.

April 10. Senators Murray and Humphrey, and Representatives Dingell and Celler, introduce bills (S. 3007, H.R. 7484-5) embodying the beneficiaries idea. No congressional action taken.

December. President's Commission on the Health Needs of the Nation endorses such a program.

1954 January. President Eisenhower proposes "re-insurance" measure, embodied in H.R. 8356 and S. 3114. Hearings in both houses.

July 13. H.R. 8356 recommitted by House, ending action on proposal.

1956 June 7. Military "medicare" program enacted, providing Government health insurance protection for Armed Forces dependents.

July 5. Insurance pooling proposal introduced (S. 4172). No action taken.

1957 AFL-CIO Executive Council decides to press for Government health insurance.

August 27. Original Forand bill, to provide health insurance for social security beneficiaries, (H.R. 9467) introduced just prior to adjournment.

December. AMA. House of Delegates resolves to defeat bill.

1958 June. Hearings on health issue in Ways and Means Committee result in committee request for more study by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

1959 February 18 . Forand bill (H .R . 4700) reintroduced.

1960 March 14. Ways and Means Committee begins extended sessions on amendments to the Social Security Act.

March 31. Ways and Means Committee votes on Forand bill in executive session; bill defeated 17-8.

April. Senate Subcommittee on Problems of the Aged and Aging holds hearings, primarily on health needs of the elderly.

May 4. HEW Secretary Flemming presents administration proposal for a Federal-State pro-gram of protection against the cost of long-term and expensive illness for low-income elderly.

June 3. Ways and Means Committee's second vote on Forand bill; defeated again 17-8. Vote on stripped-down bill, providing hospital benefits only, also defeated, 16-9.

June 13. After more than 3 months of deliberation, Ways and Means Committee reports Social Security amendments (H.R. 12580), including a new program of Federal grants to the States for medical services to the "medically indigent" elderly.

June 29. The 1960 Annual Conference of Governors calls for congressional enactment of medical insurance for the elderly under social security.

August 23. After rejecting a Kennedy-Anderson amendment embodying the health insurance approach, as well as a Javits amendment embodying the administration plan, the Senate approves a modified version of H.R. 12580, known as the Kerr-Mills bill.

September 13. Kerr-Mills bill signed into law.

1961 January. White House Conference on Aging is convened in Washington, sponsored by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

January 10. Presidential task force on Health and Social Security for the American People recommends health insurance for the elderly under social security.

February 10. President Kennedy sends special message to Congress on health.

February 13. Representatirve King and Senator Anderson introduce an administration hospital insurance bill (S. 909 and H.R. 4222).

July. American Medical Political Action Committee (AMPAC) established by the AMA.

July. National Council of Senior Citizens for Health Care Through Social Security established to promote King-Anderson bill.

July-August. Ways and Means Committee conducts hearings on Medicare bill (King-Anderson). No further action taken.

1962 May 20. President Kennedy addresses the Nation on the Medicare issue in a speech televised from Madison Square Garden.

May 22. AMA's Dr. Edward Annis gives televised reply.

July 17. Anderson-Javits amendment, a compromise Medicare measure attached to a welfare bill (H.R. 10606), tabled by Senate (52-48).

1963 February 21. President Kennedy sends special message to Congress on problems of the aged. Slightly revised King-Anderson bill (H.R. 3920 and S. 880) reintroduced the same day.


November. Hearings in Ways and Means Committee on King-Anderson bill interrupted by assassination of President Kennedy.

1964 January. Ways and Means Committee completes hearings.

February 10. President Johnson sends special message, "Health of the Nation," to Congress, advocating Medicare.

June 24. Ways and Means Committee executive session decides to postpone action on Medicare.

July 7. Ways and Means Committee reports Social Security amendments (H.R. 11865) which include a cash benefit increase but no health care proposal.

July 24. H.R. 11865 passed by the House.

August 6. Senate Committee on Finance begins hearings on H.R. 11865.

August 20. H.R. 11865 reported by the Finance Committee without the addition of a health insurance provision.

September 2. Medicare measure passes Senate (49-44) as a floor amendment to H.R. 11865.

October 2. House-Senate Conference Committee deadlocks, being unable to resolve differences, between Senate and House versions of H.R. 11865.

1965 January. King-Anderson bill reintroduced (H.R. 1 and S. 1).

March 23. Ways and Means Committee approves a Medicare measure, substituting the "Mills bill" (H.R. 6675) for the King-Anderson bill.

April 8. Mills bill passed by House, 313-115.

April 28-June 24. Senate Finance Committee holds extensive hearings and executive sessions.

July 9. Senate passes bill, 68-21.

July 14-21. House-Senate Conference Committee convenes to reconcile differences between Senate and House versions of H.R. 6675.

July 27-28. Conference committee report is passed by House and Senate, respectively.

July 30. Medicare (as part of the Social Security Amendments of 1965) signed into law by President Johnson.

------------------------

The article "THE EVOLUTION OF MEDICARE . . . from idea to law" written by Peter A. Corning is very informative and I'll assume a faily accurate presentation of that history. I've just read it for the first time.

Here's the link:

http://www.ssa.gov/history/corning.html

this is superb!

between the 1964 elections and the 2008 elections.

LBJ won in what by every measure was a landslide: Over 61 percent of the popular vote; 486/42 EV margin; 44 of 50 states
President Obama won solidly, but not by anything comparable: 53 percent of the popular vote; 365/173 EV; 28 of 50 states

Moreover, the same is true for the House and Senate after the 1964 elections compared to the House and Senate after the 2008 elections.

1964:
Democrats pick up 36 seats for a 295/140 margin in the House and 2 seats for a 68/32 margin in the Senate

2008:
Democrats pick up 21 seats for a 257/178 margin in the House and 8 seats for a 59/41 margin in the Senate.


I don't care if LBJ came back to life and inhabited Obama's body and soul: those 14 states that Obama didn't win and the extra 38 house members and 9 Senators make a big difference.

In 1964 how many of those House and Senate "Democratic seats" were held by right-wing segregationist southern Democrats?

We'd have to include the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina at least. That's 14 Senators.

So LBJ's real margin that he could count on in the Senate was probably much smaller than Obama's.

There were Southern Dems but 57 Dems voted for it.
Obama is not LBJ and will never be, they have totally different personalities. One can argue that LBJ's was better for threatening and getting people in line but they just seem so different to me.

Indeed, in some ways, you've simply confirmed my point, which is comparing the situation faced by LBJ and the situation faced by Obama is a comparison of apples and oranges.

While Johnson had to contend with right wing southern Democrats (just as Obama has to contend with conservative Democratic blue dogs),Johnson's success on a number of his legislative initiatives was facilitated by moderate repub support. Sadly, the repub caucus of today bears no resemblance to that of 1965. For example, all three members of the Vermont House and Senate Delegation were repubs, as were both Senators from California and both Senators from Delaware. Massachussets was split nearly evenly, with one repub Senator and 5 of 12 repub House members. Moreover, after the 1964 elections, the Democrats hold on the south had already begun to weaken -- Five of eight members of the House from Alabama were repubs and the repubs had picked up seats in SC, AL, GA, and Mississippi.


In the specific case of Medicare in 1965, only 64 of 68 Democrats in the Senate voted (and 30 of 32 repubs): 57 Democrats voted for, along with 13 repubs. Seven Democrats voted against, 17 repubs. In the House, 285 of 295 Democrats voted, 237 voted yea, along with 70 repubs. Forty eight Democrats, and 68 repubs voted no.

Again.. my point is that comparisons of what Johnson had to do to pass medicare legislation (leaving aside what that legislation sought to do, the condition of the economy at the time and a host of other variables) and what Obama faces today are silly. The situations were more different than they were alike.

And you consider that to be a major obstacle compared to 1965?

Some liberals behave like the Republicans actually control Congress and suggest that the Democratic Party and President Obama just don't have enough votes to pass a healthcare bill with a robust public option much less Medicare for All. That's why we need bi-partisanship!

However, I'll tell you the real problem and it's not the fact that not as many "liberal" Republicans are in the Senate and House today compared to LBJ in 1965.

And this problem places a far heavier burden on President Obama than LBJ. The problem is one of their own making and one they can end whenever Democrats please!

And that problem is the Democratic Party leaders eagerness to allow Republican party Senators to engage in fake, fraudulent, phantom filibusters that are "called in".

President Obama via his Senate floor leaders could make the obstructionists filibuster on the floor of the Senate like LBJ. Unless the Republicans are in charge of making and defining Senate rules, the Democrats can do that. But, that probably won't happen.

That's why the Republicans haven't even threatened so far to engage in a Senate filibuster!

Don't you find that interesting?

President Obama needs 50 votes to pass a genuine universal healthcare bill. Let's see if he fights for that or if he and the Democratic leadership in Congress surrender to the congressional obstructionists, health insurance industry and drug cartel by watering down a healthcare bill until it is acceptable to corporate special interests.

IF he had such a grand majority of the American people on his side because of JFK's untimely demise, why didn't he go for the whole enchilada?

This is something I really don't understand...

We have yet to reach to reach either of those periods. if the conference committee reconciles the differences the first time before the end of this year, this Congress will technically be six months ahead of the second date when the bill actually passed.

On edit, if you only consider the second period, Jan - Jul, 1965, the current bills in Congress will not be six months old until nearly the end of this year. So, again, they're working under different circumstances, but with equal urgency.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdrXh7wunMM

Among many other things.

They were also different times.

to privatize Medicare, as I understand it.

Id probably issue an executive order to deploy intelligence officials to dig up dirt on Congressmen and blackmail them. Those that disagreed would be arrested or "retired", and their replacements would be blackmailed in their place (or follow suite). At the expense of 500+ people, any Means to the Ends of providing true Universal Health Care to hundreds of millions of people would suffice.

Or, I would instead debate myself and wonder if those hundreds of millions of people who elected the 500+ corporate assholes who care nothing but of their own portfolio really deserve a more benevolent government acting in their interests. There would be no objective way to know, and thus, no objective basis to justify the Means.

Then, Id probably figure its not worth running for office in the first place, before I could make such decisions anyway. I'm way too fucking nuts to wield any power at all, and a mediocre megalomaniac. I have no delusions of grandeur or even a narcissistic personality disorder to convince me that running in the first place is a good idea. I don't even have corporate sponsorship, or a sugar daddy to entice me. Politics has no place for my kind.

thats what I got after reading the book about him a few months ago for my book club.

He was a total workaholic and barely even took part of sunday off.

If he wanted health care passed his way he'd call in the Blue Dogs and tell them he was cutting off all funding for their campaigns and would never a sign a piece of their legislation. For good measure, he might whack them up side the head.

So to be honest. I don't give a flying fuck what he would do right about now since I can't read his mind. That's like asking Kennedy when racial tension was flying high, 'What would Jefferson do?" Probably reenact slavery. Each President deals with a different time and space. I respect each one independently and I'm tired of these comparisons.

It's as though people really think Obama hasn't called Senators into the oval office and tried to coerce them into voting his way. People think it's just so fucking simple that anybody who posts on a message board could do it.

If LBJ could have passed universal health care he would have done so. He went for Medicare/Medicaid because that was what he believed was feasible at the time.

Someone who wants to lose this policy fight, that's who.

because these sort of comparisons, which are contrived since the circumstances (political and economic climate among other things) today can't readily be compared to the circumstances 44 years ago.

So I could see why someone wouldn't think this particular OP deserves a place on the greatest page.

Indeed- much you can find in Machiavelli and Sun Tzu still holds true after many, many centuries.

hold out much chance of that- so what's the point?

he might not do things the way the LBJ who was Pres. in the 60's did.

It's one thing to look at history, it's another to think that nothing changes except the date on a calendar.

LBJ wasn't following 8yrs of the worst president in history- nor was he working in a world where information is as readily available to the average citizen as it is to you and I - (like the internet?)


:shrug:

Obama's musclemen and women only go after progressives in Congress while they defend the conservative and blue dog Democrats.

:hi:

which is all that you are offering.

As is everyone.

we could really use Zombie LBJ right about now.

Things were different 45 years ago.

"When you have them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow." Lyndon Baines Johnson