Fineman: Obama's pointless bipartisanship in the face of what amounts to a sitdown strike

seafan

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Oct-26-09 09:24 AM
Original message

Fineman: Obama's pointless bipartisanship in the face of what amounts to a sitdown strike

.....

But the pursuit of Snowe is pretty close to obsessive, which is not a good thing either for Democrats or for the prospects of health-care reform worthy of the name. First, Snowe's exaggerated prominence is both the result and symbol of Obama's quixotic and ultimately time--wasting pursuit of "bipartisanship." In case the White House hasn't noticed, Republicans in Congress are engaged in what amounts to a sitdown strike. They don't like anything about Obama or his policies; they have no interest in seeing him succeed. Despite the occasional protestation to the contrary, the GOP has no intention of helping him pass any legislation. Snowe may very well end up voting for whatever she and Democrats craft, but that won't make the outcome bipartisan any more than dancing shoes made Tom DeLay Fred Astaire.

.....

The notion that she is inspiring other Republicans to join the cause of reform falls apart when you see who is falling in line. A few prominent Republicans indeed said nice things about the Senate Finance Committee bill�the one on which Snowe was the only Republican vote. But that praise, from former GOP Senate lead-ers Bob Dole and Howard Baker and former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, loses its impact once you realize that all three of them work for major Washington law firms, whose clients include most of the big corporate players in the health-care industry. Theirs is rented bipartisanship, on retainer or billed by the hour.

.....

In their stubborn belief that Snowe's blessing will stand as a testament to Obama's powers of inclusiveness, the president and his Democratic allies seem to have lost sight of the real point of all this flattery and praise: the need to pass a bill Americans can actually understand and that will make health care secure for all while also reducing costs. The symbolism of Snowe gets them no closer to that.

.....

Worse, the pursuit of Snowe isn't uniting Democrats; it is dividing them.

.....

Meanwhile, digby takes no prisoners:

I keep imagining conversations in the White House right now, where Obama turns to Rahm and says, "You promised that if made these deals with the industry we'd get at least 15 Republicans on board. Now our whole bipartisan argument depends on Olympia Snowe?"

Rahm replies, "I know Mr President. But no matter how much money the industry gave them, the Republicans refused to go along. They won't give us any cover for this no matter how much it costs them.

Obama: So maybe we should just pass the bill with the public option and get it over with ...

Rahm: But, sir. That would mean breaking our word to the industry.

Obama: What about our supporters?

Rahm: You never promised them a public option, remember?

Obama: Right, right. Thank God for that, eh?

Rahm: Damn straight. Nothing makes a president of either party look more bipartisan than sticking it to the Democratic base. Independents will reward us next November.

Obama: And if they don't?

Rahm: We'll blame it on the bloggers...

Unless and until we obliterate the role of corporate money in our elections and legislative processes, we will never achieve a government that truly has the well-being of the American citizenry as its priority.