BluntPolitics.com

Researched by Ric Joyner

This is a blog post from DailyKos.com which is a VERY leftist blog. They call themselves Kossacks and if you review their logo it appears to mimic the old Soviet Union communist propaganda art. Remember communism seeks to create an egalitarian society by taking wealth from others to give it to people who didn’t work or earn it and basically turning the entire country into slave labor with no opportunity.

Please follow the thread to see the “rock and the hard place” that President Obama is experiencing with several different factions in the democratic party, labor and left wing organizations that are for and against health care reform. President Obama has pandered to the left, unions and has helped to pay them back in the stimulus bill and even bailing out their pension plans in HR3200.

AFL-CIO: No Public Option, No Support

By BarbinMD

Tue Sep 01, 2009 at 03:00:04 PM PDT

This is what it sounds like when someone representing the Democratic wing of the Party speaks:

Democratic lawmakers will not be able to count on the AFL-CIO’s support if they drop the public insurance option from the health care reform legislation, union officials said Tuesday.

The AFL-CIO’s incoming president, Richard Trumka, outlined “three absolute musts” in any overhaul package: a public option, an employer mandate and no tax on employer-provided health benefits.

Asked if the union would work against any bill that did not hit those targets, Trumka told reporters during a *briefing: “That means we won’t support the bill if it doesn’t have the public option.”

Please note I cannot find independent verification of *a briefing: Ric

And as Trumka declared last month during a speech to the Sheet Metal Workers International Association:

We need to send them a special message: it’s that you may have forgotten what the labor movement did to get you elected; but, by God, we never will! And if you stab us in the back on health care this year don’t you dare ask us for our support next year!

And the Max Baucus/Blue Dog wing of the Party needs to remember that — and that 2010 is just around the corner.

Overview of what the “left” believes is the next move for Obama.

Report: President to reveal health care deal-breakers

By Jed Lewison

Tue Sep 01, 2009 at 04:30:04 PM PDT

Marc Ambinder delivers a report that has the feel of a trial balloon:

This time, the President is going to be specific. Next week, President Obama is going to give Democrats a health care plan they can begin to sell.

He plans to list specific goals that any health insurance reform plan that arrives at his desk must achieve, according to Democratic strategists familiar with the plan.

Strikingly, despite the tough “deal-breaker” language, there still seems to be a ton of wiggle room on the public option:

He will insist upon a mechanism to cut costs and increase competition among insurance companies — and perhaps will even specify a percentage rate — and he will say that his preferred mechanism remains a government-subsidized public health insurance option, but he will remain agnostic about whether the plan must include a robust public option. Officials won’t say whether the president intends to endorse a specific “trigger” mechanism if the competition mechanism fails, but they say he will make it clear that the final bill must contain language that increases competition.

Purely in political terms, if the White House’s goal is to generate enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that sort of approach won’t cut it. If they want to excite the base — and as Kos showed earlier, they need to — then they will need to come out more strongly for a public option, because it is the only mechanism that anybody has proposed that will meet his stated objectives.

Update (4:50, by Jed) — Remember that this sounds like a trial balloon, and it’s not coming from named sources. Nothing is written in stone. President Obama hasn’t said anything yet. If you don’t like what you’re hearing, the best thing to do is to let your voice be heard, whether at public events, phone calls to your senators and representatives, or whatever works best for you. Without your active involvement, AHIP could still win this thing.

Make a difference on Friday 9-11 and make the call. Your Representatives need to hear from you. They will be hearing from those who wish to take our freedom of choice, jobs and livelihood.

Washington Post

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says President Obama’s support for a government-run — or public — insurance option has not changed. Here is a sampling of what the president has said about the public option.

March 26 And to say we are going to allow anybody to get health insurance — and if you’ve got a preexisting condition you’re not going to be excluded, but you’re going to be able to obtain health insurance; and if you can’t obtain it through a private plan, there is going to be a public plan that is available in some way to give you insurance, or insurers are obligated to provide you with insurance in some way — now, that’s a principle.

June 15 Let me also address an illegitimate concern that’s being put forward by those who are claiming that a public option is somehow a Trojan horse for a single-payer system.

Now, I’ll be honest. There are countries where a single-payer system works pretty well. But I believe — and I’ve even taken some flak from members of my own party for this belief — that it’s important for our reform efforts to build on our traditions here in the United States.

So when you hear the naysayers claim that I’m trying to bring about government-run health care, know this: They’re not telling the truth.

June 24 A lot of the objection to the public option idea is not practical, it’s ideological. People don’t like the idea of government being involved. But keep in mind that the two areas where government is involved . . . in health care — Medicare and the VA — actually, there’s pretty high satisfaction among the people who participate.

July 7 I am pleased by the progress we’re making on health-care reform and still believe, as I’ve said before, that one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices and ensure quality is a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest.

July 18 Any plan I sign must include an insurance exchange — a one-stop-shopping marketplace where you can compare the benefits, costs and track records of a variety of plans, including a public option to increase competition and keep insurance companies honest, and choose what’s best for your family. And that’s why we’ll put an end to the worst practices of the insurance industry. No more yearly caps or lifetime caps. No more denying people care because of preexisting conditions. And no more dropping people from a plan when they get too sick. No longer will you be without health insurance, even if you lose your job or change your job.

Aug. 15 Now, the insurance companies have come back and said, "Well, that’s not fair, because nobody can compete against the government." They have a legitimate point if, if what’s being done is the government is . . . subsidizing that government plan — essentially taking taxpayer money and saying, "Here, we’ll just keep on spending money regardless of whether you run a good operation or not," then it’s hard for insurance companies to compete against that. And by the way, it would be wildly expensive for taxpayers.

So I’ve already said a public option can only work if they have to collect premiums just like a private insurer and compete on a level playing field.