If Democrats ignore health-care polls, midterms will be costly

[Paslode]

Originally Posted by Pete

Is this acting Presidential?

Presidential I think not.

The primary duty of the president of the United States is to make sure that all U.S. laws are carried out and that the federal government is run effectively. Although the president may not introduce new legislation - that's the duty of Congress - he does wield veto power over all bills that are approved by the legislature. In addition, the president has the weighty role of commander in chief of the armed forces.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepre...aboutpotus.htm


Sounds more like a Community Organizer Extortionist.

Extortion, outwresting, or exaction is a criminal offense which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime groups. The actual obtainment of money or property is not required to commit the offense. Making a threat of violence which refers to a requirement of a payment of money or property to halt future violence is sufficient to commit the offense. Exaction refers not only to extortion or the unlawful demanding and obtaining of something through force,[1] but additionally, in its formal definition, means the infliction of something such as pain and suffering or making somebody endure something unpleasant.[2]

Coercion is the practice of compelling a person or manipulating them to behave in an involuntary way (whether through action or inaction) by use of threats, intimidation, trickery, or some other form of pressure or force. These are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way.

Or possibly just a Spoiled Brat

A spoiled child is a child that has been overindulged by his or her parents. There is no accepted scientific definition of what "spoiled" means, and professionals are often unwilling to use the label because it is considered vague and derogatory. Psychologists may describe spoiled children as "overindulged", "grandiose", "narcissistic" or "egocentric-regressed". Nevertheless, spoiled child syndrome is recognized and accepted in the medical community.[1] Also, lay people generally agree on the adjective "spoiled" and what it means.[2]

[The Reaper]

If you are a Dem Rep from a district that went for McCain, I am not sure that you are going to want to have Obama at your campaign events, or even to pose for a photo with him.

IMHO, Obama (and his policies) are quickly becoming radioactive in many districts. Kind of like Bush was in 2008.

TR

[Utah Bob]

Originally Posted by Pete

Barack Obama threatens to withdraw support from wavering Democrats
........"

Is this acting Presidential?

No, but it's standard Chicago strong arm politics.

[Sigaba]

MOO, the president and his supporters, having reached the point where so much of their political credibility hinges on passing a bill, they have taken the slogan of "Better done than good."

Meanwhile, the offering of excuses has begun before the vote on the bill itself. Source is here.

Final Health Bill Omits Some of Obama's Promises
Remember all those things Obama said would be in the health care bill? Well, some aren't
By ERICA WERNER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON

It was a bold response to skyrocketing health insurance premiums. President Barack Obama would give federal authorities the power to block unreasonable rate hikes.

Yet when Democrats unveiled the final, incarnation of their health care bill this week, the proposal was nowhere to be found.

Ditto with several Republican ideas that Obama had said he wanted to include after a televised bipartisan summit last month, including a plan by Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to send investigators disguised as patients to hospitals in search of waste, fraud and abuse.

And those "special deals" that Obama railed against and said he wanted to eliminate? With the exception of two of the most notorious — extra Medicaid money for Nebraska and a carve-out for Florida seniors faced with losing certain extra Medicare benefits — they are all still there.

For the White House, these were the latest unfulfilled commitments related to Obama's health care proposal, starting with his campaign promise to let C-SPAN cameras film negotiations over the bill. Obama also backed down with little apparent regret on his support for a new government-run insurance plan as part of the legislation, a liberal priority.

But was it all the president's doing?

In the cases of the insurance rate authority, the Republican ideas and the special deals, it came down to Obama making promises that Congress didn't keep. He can propose whatever he wants, but it's up to Congress to enshrine it into law.

Arguably, the president could have foreseen that outcome, and was making a low-risk p.r. move by floating proposals — dismissed by critics as insubstantial anyway — whose demise he couldn't be blamed for.

While the White House worked hard to trumpet Obama's plans for the rate authority, his embrace of bipartisanship and his opposition to special deals, the administration hardly advertised the lack of follow-through. Understandable, certainly, but perhaps not the new way of doing business that Obama promised to bring to Washington.

Removing the special deals ran into opposition from powerful lawmakers including Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Max Baucus, D-Mont. The rate-limiting authority and the Republican ideas were left out of the legislation because the bill is going to be considered under special filibuster-proof Senate rules that prohibit provisions that don't have a budgetary impact, and those ideas don't fit in.

"There are a number of proposals that the president wanted to incorporate into the legislation including additional Republican proposals, but the parliamentarian ruled against allowing those proposals to be included," said White House spokesman Reid Cherlin. "We would like to enact those proposals in separate legislation in the coming months. In the meantime, some important Republican measures remain."

Of the four main Republican ideas Obama endorsed, only one made it into the final bill — a proposal embraced by Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa to bump up payments to primary care physicians under Medicaid. A proposal to expand the use of health savings accounts was rejected out of hand by congressional Democrats, while a plan to increase funding for medical malpractice reform projects was also determined to be undoable under fast-track Senate rules.

Coburn's spokesman, John Hart, complained that Democrats "found time to buy votes with earmarks but couldn't include bipartisan ideas endorsed by President Obama." House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, had dismissed the GOP ideas Obama endorsed as "bread crumbs" sprinkled atop the health bill — and now even most of those bread crumbs are blown away.

At the same time, Baucus got to keep a provision to give Medicare benefits to asbestos-sickened residents of Libby, Mont., and Dodd still has one that could result in a new hospital being built at the University of Connecticut. Both senators argue their special deals aren't really special deals, because the Medicare provision could apply to other places where public health emergencies are declared, and other sites outside of Connecticut could be eligible for the hospital.

Most of the provisions of the health care bill don't kick in until 2014, so Obama still has time to make good on everything he promised — or try to get Congress to do so.

"To hold the president accountable for every single provision he advocates for is simply unreasonable," said Alec Vachon, a health policy consultant and former Republican Capitol Hill aide. "Some things aren't in there because the members of Congress who have the votes don't want it. Some things aren't in there because congressional rules which Republicans will be enforcing won't allow it. But Democrats will have three years to tinker with health reform before universal coverage goes live."

[Utah Bob]

Originally Posted by Paslode

Nah, I've just been reading/listening, kicking it all around in my head and waking up at 3:00 AM every morning

Well, at least you can sleep till 3.

[Paslode]

Originally Posted by Utah Bob

Well, at least you can sleep till 3.

You have a point.

[GratefulCitizen]

Unbelievable.

You can fill a plastic bag with manure, seal it up tight, sterilize and perfume the outside;
but when you open it up again, it will still smell like a bag of manure.

The dims just don't seem to grasp this concept.

[rdret1]

Originally Posted by Pete

Barack Obama threatens to withdraw support from wavering Democrats

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...Democrats.html

"The president will refuse to make fund-raising visits during November elections to any district whose representative has not backed the bill.

A one-night presidential appearance can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds which would otherwise take months to accumulate through cold-calling by campaign volunteers.

Mr Obama's threat came as the year-long debate over his signature domestic policy entered its final week.

Mr Obama is personally telephoning congressmen who are still on the fence this week, in between several personal appearances devoted toward swinging public opinion....................."

Is this acting Presidential?

It didn't seem to help much in Massachussets.