Fact Check: Politician Massa Said He’d Vote for Single Payer

The controversy surrounding the accusations and resignation of Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) is a bit bizarre.  When he lashed out at the administration, and particularly chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, it was viewed as a peek beneath the veil of Washington inside baseball.

It’s a veil few have the stomach to look beneath.  Regardless, Massa’s comments were seized upon as proof of what has been said all along about the administrations tactics to do anything necessary to pass ObamaCare.

Is Massa telling the truth?  I don’t know.  It seems plausible.  It certainly seems to fit the matrix of what the administration has done in the past to twist arms and pressure members of Congress to pass its bill.

But I do know Massa took heat last summer when his meeting with a group of liberal bloggers was recorded and put on YouTube.

Massa: So what happens at my town hall meetings, frankly, is important, because I’m in one of the most right-wing, Republican districts in the country.  And I’m not asking you guys to go back to wherever and send people to me, this is a generic statement about ‘what can I do?’ Well, that’s one thing we can do.

Blogger: So if we got your meetings to 60/40 and there was single payer in a bill, you’d vote for it?

Massa: Oh absolutely, I’d vote for single payer.

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Tags: eric massa, government health care, leftist activists, netroots, Rahm Emanuel
Posted Mar 9th 2010 at 9:13 am in Congress, Healthcare, News, Politics | 8660253 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2010/03/09/fact-check-politician-massa-said-hed-vote-for-single-payer/Fact+Check%3A+Politician+Massa+Said+He%E2%80%99d+Vote+for+Single+Payer2010-03-09+17%3A13%3A05Kyle+Olson

The President’s ‘Tiger’ Moment: Obama Apologizes For His Indiscretions

Good evening, and thank you for joining me.  Many of you in this room are my friends.  Some of you are members of “Organizing For America,” formerly called “Obama For America,” and before that “Operation PUSH.”

Many of you know me.  You have cheered for me.  I miss those days.  I just want to say to each of you, simply and directly, that I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior.

I was unfaithful.  I consorted with Republicans.  I engaged in bipartisanship.  What I did is not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame.

As you know, I am trying to get a health care reform bill through Congress.  In so doing, I made a reach-around across the aisle.  I avoided talk of a single-payer system.  I watered down and then removed the public option.  I took out the death panels, benefits to undocumented immigrants, and federal funding for abortion that our critics so callously and falsely observed were in the bill.

I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you.  I have made you question who I am and how I could have done the things I did.  I am embarrassed that I have put you in this position.

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Tags: Daily Kos, David Gergen, firedoglake, Moveon.org, netroots
Posted Feb 28th 2010 at 3:15 pm in Obama, Political Humor, Politics | 78386103 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/jherricane/2010/02/28/the-presidents-tiger-moment-obama-apologizes-for-his-indiscretions/The+President%27s+%27Tiger%27+Moment%3A+Obama+Apologizes+For+His+Indiscretions2010-02-28+23%3A15%3A24John+K.+Herr

How Liberals Killed the Public Option

I find it a little ironic that liberals continue to ruthlessly attack Joe Lieberman for killing the public option (and it’s evil twin, the Medicare buy-in) given the central role that liberals themselves played in precipitating it’s demise. Including some of the very same individuals now vilifying him.

While Lieberman has been hammered by the left for many of the supporting reasons he has given for opposing the public option, the centerpiece of his argument has always been that the public option was a policy instrument designed by liberals to move the country towards a single payer system. Here is Lieberman speaking on Face the Nation back on Nov. 1 when this controversy initially erupted:

The public option I think was raised in the last year by people who really want to have a government-controlled health insurance system. That’s their right. I think they’re wrong.

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Tags: Ezra Klein, health care reform, Jacob Hacker, Jan Schakowsky, lieberman
Posted Dec 23rd 2009 at 7:42 am in Healthcare | 4910281 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mrichmond/2009/12/23/how-liberals-killed-the-public-option/How+Liberals+Killed+the+Public+Option2009-12-23+15%3A42%3A58Morgen++Richmond

New Health Care Deal: They’re On The Run!

First, a brief congratulations to all on having seemingly killed the public option. Without our efforts, it would be en route to becoming law. Now there will not be a government owned, government run and government subsidized insurance company that will put all others out of business.

But the current proposal Reid is loudly trumpeting is horribly flawed as well.

It has all of the old flaws (minus the public option) in that the government, through the Secretary of Health, will decide who gets what treatment at what cost and will force rationing through an artificial scarcity on all people, particularly the elderly. And it still has such high premiums for young uninsured people that it will compete with student loans for the honor of being their number one headache.

But the compromise itself is flawed:

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Tags: doctor reimbursement, Harry Reid, hospital reimbursement, insurance exchange, Medicaid
Posted Dec 10th 2009 at 8:13 am in Congress, Featured Story, News, Obama, Politics | 4417461 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/dmorris/2009/12/10/new-health-care-deal-theyre-on-the-run/+New+Health+Care+Deal%3A+They%27re+On+The+Run%212009-12-10+15%3A13%3A32Dick+Morris

How the Media Has Failed America on Healthcare Reform–Part II

In part I of this article, I provided a little background on the history of the public option, including how John Edwards was actually the first to propose it during the Democratic primary campaign. I also demonstrated how the media has largely ignored the glaring inconsistencies between Edwards’ characterization of the public option during the campaign, and how Obama has promoted it to the public this year. Edwards quite openly acknowledged that a public option could result in the entire health system gravitating towards a government-run, single payer system. Obama, on the other hand, has flatly denied this is the case saying it’s all about “choice and competition”.

I also singled out Julie Rovner from NPR as an example of a media health policy expert who has failed to fully (and fairly) report on the public option. Including the fact that many of its original (and current) proponents believe it could ultimately lead to a single payer system. Instead, Rovner has been a consistent voice of support for the Administration’s assertion that this is only a “myth”. I asked Rovner to comment on this prior to publishing part I. Here is the relevant excerpt from her response (emphasis mine):

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Tags: Barack Obama, government health care, health care reform, health insurance reform, John Edwards
Posted Oct 28th 2009 at 7:04 am in Healthcare, Media Criticism | 2185023 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mrichmond/2009/10/28/how-the-media-has-failed-america-on-healthcare-reformpart-ii/How+the+Media+Has+Failed+America+on+Healthcare+Reform%E2%80%93Part+II2009-10-28+14%3A04%3A50Morgen++Richmond

How the Media Has Failed America on Healthcare Reform–Part I

Most casual followers of politics did not pick up on the debate over healthcare reform until some time this past summer. They mostly ignored the umpteen news conferences held by the President since the spring, but they couldn’t miss the broader media coverage of town hall outrage. But for a small number of media experts on health policy, and an only slightly larger number of interested followers, the healthcare debate actually began much earlier. In fact, even prior to this year, when the initial policy formulation and political posturing took place during the Democratic primary campaign.

All three leading Democratic candidates for President – Obama, Clinton, and yes, John Edwards – proposed virtually identical plans for healthcare reform. The only real substantive difference being that the Clinton and Edwards plans included an individual mandate for insurance, whereas Obama’s plan did not. (Obama has since come around to supporting this mandate.) But importantly, all the Democratic plans included the creation of a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers. What is now called, the “public option”.

Although he was destined to be a marginal candidate, Edwards played an important role in the healthcare debate. He was the first candidate to announce the details of his plan, and really put down a marker for liberal ambition on this issue leading into the election. Especially with the inclusion of the public option. And ultimately the other candidates largely followed his blueprint, even if they failed to credit him for his leadership on this issue.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Health Affairs, health care reform, health insurance reform, Hillary Clinton
Posted Oct 27th 2009 at 12:40 pm in Featured Story, Healthcare, Media Criticism | 2162218 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mrichmond/2009/10/27/how-the-media-has-failed-america-on-healthcare-reform-part-i/How+the+Media+Has+Failed+America+on+Healthcare+Reform--Part+I2009-10-27+19%3A40%3A02Morgen++Richmond