I was on Top Line with David Chalian and Rick Klein talking about the fact that the White House wasn't able to deliver on their secret deal with AHIP because the political cost of tanking the public option got too high. AHIP is out there with guns blazing trying to kill off health care reform today, in direct response to Chuck Schumer trying to sell the "opt-out cop out" to ConservaDems.
It signals to AHIP what it should signal to everyone else — Rahm Emanuel has his back against the wall and we wouldn't even be talking about a "compromise" unless they had no other choice. They're facing a melt-down in Obama's poll numbers if they don't deliver a public plan. It certainly isn't the time for Democrats who say they care about one to start negotiating with themselves and help Rahm soften the blow to stakeholders.
We also spoke about the POP (Public Option Please) campaign and the need for health care reform to be an ongoing movement that starts talking about human beings, not cost curves. We also touched on the veal pen participation in the opt-out cop-out, and the fact that it's deeply immoral for Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats to suddenly start talking about their lack of "60 votes" without also saying that a "filibuster-proof majority" means that you don't allow members of the Caucus to join a Republican filibuster without paying a price.
Reid can't shift responsibility for that on to the White House. It's his decision, and his decision alone to force the ConservaDems to filibuster before he waters down the combined Senate bill in response to threats they won't publicly acknowledge.
Make. Them. Filibuster.
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