7/8: Health Care On The Hill

Yesterday we observed that liberal bloggers were upset by WH CoS Rahm Emanuel's claim that the White House would be willing to accept a health care reform bill that didn't include a public option. After activists complained about Emanuel's remarks, Pres. Obama issued a statement from Russia in which he reiterated his support for "a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest." While some lefty bloggers were pleased by Obama's statement, others pointed out that "the differences between Obama and Emanuel on the public option are largely rhetorical." Moreover, Jane Hamsher observed that managed-care stocks rose in spite of Obama's statement: "Wall Street doesn't screw around with weasel words. [...] Note that they don't take Obama's statement to contradict what Rahm said. Neither do I."

The other big health care reform news from yesterday did not involve Emanuel or Obama, but Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who reportedly told Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) "to drop a proposal to tax health benefits and stop chasing Republican votes." Liberal bloggers were delighted by Reid's apparent change of heart, as they've been complaining for weeks about Baucus's efforts to compromise on various progressive priorities in order to win GOP votes. Several bloggers are attributing Reid's shift to progressive Dems' warning that they will oppose any bill that doesn't include a public option. Chris Bowers gushes:

"This is like some beautiful dream come true. At the behest of a determined bloc of progressive Democrats, the Senate leadership is dropping futile attempts to appease Republicans by weakening major legislation. It is difficult to even count all of the times Open Left and other blogs have urged the Democratic leadership to do just that."

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Several conservative bloggers (Morrissey, Lane, Reynolds) are buzzing about the news that a figure close to Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) "has been charged by federal prosecutors with taking about $200,000 in kickbacks from a subcontractor."

EMANUEL: The President Steps In

Yesterday we observed that liberal bloggers were upset by Emanuel's claim that the White House would be willing to accept a health care reform bill that doesn't include a public option. Some of these bloggers were pleased when Obama subsequently released a statement from Russia in which he reaffirmed his support for "a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest":

• Open Left's Adam Green: "What happened here? Rahm likely was blabbering to a reporter and just went with his natural gut instinct -- to be weak, and cave to Republicans. [...] Today's quote by Obama was a great step. Good job, White House (minus one)."
• BooMan: "[T]he overall lesson from today was that Rahm Emanuel floated a trial balloon to examine the support for putting in a trigger mechanism for the public option (thereby passing health care reform without a public option) and his balloon got blasted out of the sky. That's good."

Other lefty bloggers are still concerned about Emanuel's remarks:

• digby: "So, the latest scuttlebutt is that Obama walked back Rahm's 'trigger' comments to the Wall Street Journal today by saying that he still thinks a public option is the best way to get to serious health care reform. But it looks to me as if we are seeing the trigger being set up as the 'compromise.' I don't know that, of course, but it's highly doubtful to me that Rahm was totally off the reservation. But it would probably be a good idea to get the trigger off the table sooner rather than later. The trigger is a reform killer. [...S]omeone should get the president to confirm that he isn't backing it."
• Firedoglake's Hamsher: "Insurance Stocks Jump When Rahm Says 'Trigger': Someone actually said to me the other day that the safe bet is to buy health insurance industry stocks because the Democrats would ultimately cave on a public plan. I guess he was ahead of the curve. [...] Wall Street doesn't screw around with weasel words. They know what's good for the insurance industry, and triggers are very very good for the insurance industry. Note that they don't take Obama's statement to contradict what Rahm said. Neither do I."
• Atrios: "I don't know if this is some weird coordinated game or if Rahm just likes to signal a willingness to cave whenever possible."

Meanwhile, TPM's Brien Beutler points out that "the differences between Obama and Emanuel on the public option are largely rhetorical."

EMANUEL II: Progressive Pushback

Liberal bloggers were pleased when the Congressional Progressive Caucus reacted to Emanuel's comments by sending Obama a letter "warning him against dropping a public insurance option from health care reform plans":

• AMERICAblog's John Aravosis: "[U]p until now, members of Congress have been loathe to criticize Obama on anything, as have liberal groups. MoveOn, to its credit, has been trying to work with the administration as a friend, not an adversary. Today that all changed. This not only signifies that we may be reaching a perilous moment in the health care debate, but it also signifies that other constituencies, besides the gays, are becoming concerned with where this White House is headed on key legislative promises. For their willingness to speak out when it's still not entirely PC to do so, the House Progressive Caucus and MoveOn both deserve our praise."
• The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen: "[H]ere's hoping the pushback has left [Emanuel] feeling at least a little chastened. The less he emphasizes even more needless compromise, the more likely it is this larger effort will come together."

Hamsher is very wary of Emanuel's support for a "trigger" mechanism: "A 'trigger' means that a public option gets implemented at some time in the future if the insurance industry doesn't do what they are supposed to do. A 'public plan' and 'triggers' aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, which is why we've always emphasized FROM DAY ONE as part of our Whip Count on the public option. Sam Stein repors that Rahm has been pushing for triggers since February. It's a way to keep from implementing a public plan NOW, and gives us absolutely NOTHING to build upon toward the goal of providing single payer coverage. It's a vile proposal designed to protect insurance company profits at the expense of the public."

REID: He Finally Comes Around

Liberal bloggers are thrilled that Reid reportedly told Baucus "to drop a proposal to tax health benefits and stop chasing Republican votes on a massive health care reform bill":

• Atrios: "Some good news: Reid apparently has figured out that sacrificing 15 Dem votes for 2 Republican ones is a bad idea."
• Crooks and Liars' John Amato: "Wow, I'm shocked that Harry Reid acted like a Majority leader for a change. [...] We don't need no Republican votes to pass health care. About time somebody told that to Max."
• Open Left's Bowers: "This is like some beautiful dream come true. At the behest of a determined bloc of progressive Democrats, the Senate leadership is dropping futile attempts to appease Republicans by weakening major legislation. It is difficult to even count all of the times Open Left and other blogs have urged the Democratic leadership to do just that."
• Think Progress' Matthew Yglesias: "This strikes me as a major vindication of Chris Bowers' 'progressive block' theory. By building a critical mass of progressive legislators who are prepared to walk away from a deal that doesn't include a public option, the leadership either needs to find a big block of Republican support for a more moderate measure, or else include the public option."
• Daily Kos' mcjoan: "If this is true, and where Harry Reid is concerned, take it with a grain of salt, but Reid may have been listening after all. [...] Good for those 10 to 15 Democrats in the caucus for holding a firm line. While the Senate progressives, outside of Sens. [Bernie] Sanders and [Chuck] Schumer, haven't been as public as the House progressives in drawing a line in the sand over health care reform, they seem to now be shaping the debate. Getting [Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles] Grassley and his Republicans on board with any kind of meaningful reform has been a fool's errand from the get-go. That this much time has been wasted trying to appease them has jeopardized the effort to get this bill done by August recess and to the President in October."
• Benen: "Republicans deserve to be abandoned on this. They don't want health care reform, and making the bill worse to placate a shrinking minority, with no credibility or support on this issue, is ridiculous."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Nagging Questions About Afghanistan

The Reality-Based Community's Quincy Adams:

"NBC Nightly News last week had a few minutes of a fire fight with a Marine unit. The Marines hiked up to a seemingly deserted unit, saying along the way that they expected to be ambushed because they figured locals would have tipped off the Taliban. Sure enough they set up and were attacked by about ten enemy, of which they thought they killed maybe three, with no US casualties. The Marines and the Taliban fought with essentially the same weapons, though the Marines could call in air strikes if needed. No advanced technology was in evidence on the US side. The US forces were not accompanied by any Afghani nationals. In fact, given that the 'Taliban' may have been non-Afghani forces, it's possible that no one from Afghanistan was involved in the episode. NBC saw this engagement as a success, primarily because of the lack of US casualties but what did it accomplish? Practically, nothing, except perhaps demonstrating that the US did not control the area. Why are we sending US forces to fight for no real tactical or strategic purpose and without any decisive military capability?"

LEST WE FORGET: Biden Requests To Be Named Special Envoy To Reno

From The Onion:

"WASHINGTON -- Saying there are national security matters that 'need sorting out down there,' Vice President Joe Biden requested Friday an appointment as special envoy to the city of Reno, NV. Saying he had already done some of the preliminary work necessary to establish relations with the city, Biden assured President Obama that he had even made significant headway with a local dignitary named Candi. 'Though the United States has not, historically, found it necessary to establish diplomatic relations within our own boundaries, the vice president did make a very convincing argument,' White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said. 'Although I'm not sure why he was so insistent about getting diplomatic immunity for the weekend.' While Obama was noncommittal about the appointment, he did grant Biden the special 26E2BVP license plate the vice president had been asking about for months."