Objects are closer than they appear (photo: Aubrey Arenas)
One sure sign that the Senate health care bill is dead as a doornail is the inevitable appearance of the anonymously-sourced, finger-pointing articles. And in a novel twist, we have one blaming Rahm for the failure to pass health care reform that appears to be written by Rahm:
The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.
Lack of experience — rather than being a corporatist hack who negotiated the PhRMA deal right out of the gate, which compromised not only the ability to control health care costs, but poisoned public trust once word got out.
[O]n 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.”
One stenographer journalist after another told us that the White House was letting Congress take the lead on health care, and the administration was sitting by with its thumb in its mouth until a bill arrived on the President’s desk. Well, I guess that particular fiction is finally dead now that the blame game is in full swing.
No Democrat is calling for Emanuel’s resignation, even privately, and they acknowledge his hard work and straightforward approach in a very tough job.
Rahm’s a hard working guy. Nothing he needs to resign over. . .
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.
Yes, because over and over again, Mitch McConnell and George Bush jammed through their legislation by courting Democrats and tailoring their legislation to their fine sensibilities. So now, the answer is to be nicer to Republicans, just like they’ve been saying all along.
Hello, McFly?
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.
Yes, poor Rahm. Just because he’s been giving one vanity interview after another to the New York Times taking credit for running the health care show out of his office, now he was only reluctantly doing what the President wanted.
The senator said that Emanuel allowed White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, who had worked 15 years for Baucus, to take more of a lead in the upper chamber. The lawmaker said that was a mistake that allowed Baucus more time than necessary to negotiate with Republicans.
Blame Baucus Messina! Well, you could see that one coming down Sepulveda when the PhRMA deal was leaked.
Emanuel declined to be interviewed for this article.
Really. So, did he farm it out, or was it one of those famous “off the record” conversations?
