Congressional Democrats point finger of blame at Rahm Emanuel (collapse of healthcare)

Democrats in Congress are holding White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel accountable for his part in the collapse of healthcare reform. The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

The share of the blame comes as cracks are beginning to show in Emanuel’s once-impregnable political armor.

Last week he had to apologize after a report surfaced that he called liberal groups “retarded” in a private meeting. While Emanuel has quelled that controversy by meeting with advocates for people with disabilities, on Capitol Hill he’s under fire for poor execution of the president’s healthcare agenda in the Senate.

"I think Rahm ran the play his boss called; once Obama called the play, Rahm did everything he could to pass it, scorched-earth and all that,” said a senior lawmaker, who added that Emanuel didn’t seek a broader base of Senate Republicans. “I think he did miscalculate the Senate. He did what he thought he had to do to win." Senate Democrats grilled White House advisers last week during a special Senate Democratic retreat, expressing frustration over the lack of a clear plan.

While Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) ripped chief political strategist David Axelrod, Senate Democrats say Emanuel, who was more closely involved in managing negotiations in Congress, also deserves scrutiny. No Democrat is calling for Emanuel’s resignation, even privately, and they acknowledge his hard work and straightforward approach in a very tough job.

They also say there’s plenty of blame on healthcare to go around. But centrists and liberal Democrats both take issue — albeit in different ways — with how he approached the Senate.

The lawmaker said Emanuel misjudged the Senate by focusing on only a few Republicans, citing Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins as too narrow a pool. “In the Senate, you have to anchor in the middle and build out," said the lawmaker. “They just wanted to win," the source said of Emanuel and other White House strategists. "Their plan was to keep all the Democrats together and work like hell to get Snowe and Collins. The Senate doesn't work that way. You need a radius of 10 to 12 from the other side if you're going to have a shot."

But liberals take a different view. They argue Emanuel made a mistake by allowing Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to spend months negotiating with Republicans on his committee, such as Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa).“I’m most critical of the fact that the Senate [Democratic] leadership and, I assume, the White House tried to get a deal with people like Grassley, which was impossible and wasted a huge amount of time,” said Roger Hickey, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, a liberal advocacy group.

One senior Democratic senator said Emanuel was initially reluctant to push healthcare reform so early in Obama’s first term, counseling instead for the president to focus on jobs and the economy. But the president decided healthcare had to pass when he had a strong political mandate and the party controlled large majorities in both chambers. Obama was convinced overhauling the nation’s healthcare system would boost the struggling economy by curbing costs and reducing the long-term federal deficit, say Democratic sources. An administration official, however, disputed the notion that Emanuel disagreed with the president’s timeline on healthcare. Emanuel declined to be interviewed for this article.--SNIP--

Hmmmmm ... now which senior congressional leaders would be pointing fingers???

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704541004575011021604106924.html

While Mr. Obama campaigned as a young postpartisan Democrat who wanted a new era of comity in Washington, his victory has instead empowered these ancient left-wing warriors. These are the men who have run Washington this past year, and they are Mr. Obama’s de facto cabinet. The nearby photos show some of the most powerful, clockwise from the top right:

• Ed Markey of Massachusetts, first elected in 1976, helped to ram the cap-and-tax bill through the House and has pushed relentlessly for the EPA to declare carbon a pollutant under the Clean Air Act that didn’t mention carbon.

• Wisconsin’s David Obey, elected in 1969, is the House Appropriations chairman who steered the $787 billion stimulus to focus on Medicaid expansion and other transfer payments that have done nothing for economic growth.

• Henry Waxman, first elected in the Watergate class of 1974, deposed John Dingell in 2008 as too moderate to run the Energy and Commerce Committee. The Hollywood liberal is co-author of the cap-and-tax vote that will cost numerous Blue Dogs their seats.

• Pete Stark, class of 1972, runs the health subcommittee on Ways and Means and has written most of the House health reform that has forced moderates to walk the plank on the “public option.”

• George Miller, class of 1974 and chief enforcer for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has pushed to nationalize the college student loan market. Like Mr. Stark, he’s from California.

• Barney Frank of Massachusetts, class of 1980 and chief protector of Fannie Mae, wrote the financial reform that would make too-big-to-fail the law for the largest banks. He has also pushed the mortgage foreclosure programs that have extended the housing recession by preventing home prices from finding a bottom.

HEALTHCARE'S HIDDEN AGENDA Any fool can plainly see that Obama and endangered Dems are frantic----rushing to get billions in govt money into the hands of ACORN, SEIU, immigrant groups, and others, BEFORE the Nov 2010-12 elections.

REMEMBER The first four years of ObamaCare is to amass $$billions. Period. Free govt healthcare does not kick in til 2013.

Even stupid Dems know that, for them, it's curtains in 2010-12---unless massive voter fraud takes place. They need to buy votes, and are pulling out all the stops to get billions into the hands of their operatives---ACORN, SEIU, immigrant groups, and others.

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OBAMACARE UPDATE The US Senate may break their own rules-----and go against the will of the vast majority of US Citizens----to pass their health care bill.......by using the nuclear option.

Obama's healthcare gimmicks are legion:

(A) The first four years of ObamaCare is to amass $$billions. Period. Free govt healthcare does not kick in til 2013.

(B) Pushes much of the healthcare costs from the federal budget and onto the private sector by requiring individuals and employers to purchase health insurance....or pay a hefty fine or go to jail (only illegals are exempt from this provision).

(C) When the bills force somebody to pay $10,000 to the government, the Congressional Budget Office treats that as a tax.

(D) When the government hands that $10,000 to private insurers, the CBO counts that as government spending.

(E) But when the bills achieve the exact same outcome by forcing somebody to pay $10,000 directly to a private insurance company, it appears nowhere in the official CBO cost estimates — neither as federal revenues nor federal spending. That’s a sharp departure from how the CBO treated similar mandates in the Clinton health plan. And it hides maybe 60 percent of the legislation’s total costs.

The Obama Enron tricks have only one purpose: to accrue massive amounts of govt money into campaign accounts to elect/reelect Dems. That is the one and only reason to frantically push ObamaCare on a recalcitrant citizenry.

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Obama already has huge slush funds:

(a) 80% of the trillion dollar stim is unspent and under his control, being hoarded for Dem campaigns.

(b) June 9, 2009 Obama announced, "Several financial institutions are set to pay back $68B to taxpayers." Taxpayers assumed that would be returned to the general funds from whence it had come .......in order to pay down the debt. The truth, however, is that the money returned is finding new life as part of what amounts to a Treasury Dept-controlled slush fund.

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A major network commentator stated: “When a President’s poll numbers are this low in his first year in office, his party usually loses 40+ seats in the House at mid-term.”

Ohaha has become very toxic......he is poisoning Dem's election chances. He campaigned for Coakley and a Repub won a Mass Dem seat held for 50 years. The 2009 gubernatorial elections in Va and NJ clipped the wings of Obama's plans for a permanent Democratic realignment.

Here's how it went down in NJ.

THE OBAMA SLAPDOWN Ohaha was heavily invested in the 2009 NJ gubernatorial race. His carefully-laid plans for installing a permanent Dem majority went haywire. Pulling out all the stops made Ohaha a VERY good target for voters disgusted with Ohaha’s policies.

OBAMA WAS DESPERATE FOR NJ's CORZINE TO WIN The NY Times reported:

(a) every TV ad Corzine put on the air was screened by Obama's WH team.

(b) Corzine's aides gave the WH daily briefings.

(d) White House operatives were on the ground for internal strategy sessions,

(e) White House operatives were orchestrating obscure pep rallies with Latinos (kept secret from voters),

(f) Ohaha campaigned in the state three times, Biden was there twice.

Ohaha in TV ads for Corzine ran relentlessly in costly NY media markets.

(h) The crooked NJ Democrat Machine was also running at warp speed.

Other pertinent facts:

>> Incumbent Dem Jon Corzine (the wealthy loser) outspent the Repub winner about 4-1.

>> New Jersey has a huge Democratic registration.

>> Corzine bragged he had 20,000 paid union helpers on the ground election day to get out the vote.

>> There was a third party candidate siphoning off Republican votes.

>> Corzine had the power of incumbency.

>> Corzine had the power of a crooked Democrat Machine cooking the vote.

>> Ohaha hid $17.5 BILLION stimulus in New Jersey.....for Corzine's reelection campaign.

And still Corzine lost decisively. He conceded 11/2 hours after the polls closed. The White House did not even bother to say Massachusetts would be a "sleeper." Coakley conceded in 45 min. And wasn't that nice of Ohaha to say healthcare would NOT move forward until Sen-elect Scott Brown was seated? (/snix)

Obama campaigned as a young postpartisan Democrat who wanted a new era of comity in Washington, instead his victory empowered the ancient left-wing Congressional warriors......the men who have run Washington this past year....Mr. Obama’s de facto cabinet.

Barney Frank of Massachusetts, class of 1980 and chief protector of Fannie Mae, wrote the financial reform that would make too-big-to-fail the law for the largest banks. He has also pushed the mortgage foreclosure programs that have extended the housing recession by preventing home prices from finding a bottom.

LET US NOT FORGET Bwaney Frank’s 4th congressional district went overwhelmingly for Scott Brown; just five of the 24 cities and towns voted for Coakley. Frank acknowledges that it may be a tougher race than he’s used to. “But, if I want to get re-elected it’s my job to talk about the issues and my record, and that’s the nature of democracy,” he said.........fierce competition or not, Frank said he will “definitely” seek re-election this November.

NOT HIS DECISION TO MAKE What this self-absorbed Lipless Wonder fails to fathom is that his constituients (including those townhallers he sneered at) will decide whether he is fit to run for reelection. Now Frank wants to talk about his "record?" Fine. Here it is.

Let The Inquisition Start With Barney Frank
Investor's Business Daily | 3/6/09
FR Posted on 03/08/2009 by FreeManN

Congressman Barney Frank says he wants some of those responsible for our current financial meltdown to be prosecuted. And we couldn't agree more. First up in the court dock: Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

Even by the extraordinarily loose standards of Congress, it takes some chutzpah for someone such as Frank to suggest that he'll seek prosecutions for those behind the housing and financial crunch and for what he called "a strongly empowered systemic risk regulator." Frank: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's point man in Washington.

For Frank, perhaps more than any single individual in private or public life, is responsible for both the housing market mess and subsequent bank disaster. And no, this isn't partisan hyperbole or historical exaggeration. But first, a little trip down memory lane. (Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorial.com ...

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THE WORM TURNS Barney Frank: The Poor Should Rent, Not Own (Dem admits disastrous mistake)
The Atlantic | 02/01/10 | Daniel Indiviglio /
FR Posted 02/02/2010 by TigerLikesRooster

In its final installment of the Big Think's "Went Went Wrong" Series on the financial crisis, they interviewed Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA). Much of the interview was predictable: Frank mostly explained what anyone closely following the financial regulation push in Congress already knew. But there was one fascinating gem in discussing where Fannie and Freddie went wrong. Frank views ushering the poor to own homes as a mistake and believes they should rent instead.

Frank was responding to the question about how Fannie and Freddie could be structured to avoid moral hazard and a too cozy relationship with the regulators. After stating that we should separate the liquidity creation function from the subsidy objective (which we already knew he supported), he said: "I think the answer is you separate out the function of providing the equity in general for the mortgage market and doing some subsidy and in my judgment, the subsidy again, as I said before, should be focused on affordable rental housing, not in pushing low income people into owning homes that they can't afford." Can I get an "Amen!"? (Excerpt) Read more at business.theatlantic.com ...

Just wondering how many times Ohaha's going to campaign for Bwaney---ROTFLMCO. Betcha Ohaha's gotta be sedated before he sets foot into post-Scott Brown Mass.

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