It certainly looks like our government is wholly owned and operated by our corporate overlords.

Recognize that it is not the Republicans demanding this. It is our corporate overlords demanding this. The republican party is their dedicated representation, but they also own about 75% of the Democratic Party as well.

Us human beings don't even matter in the grand scheme of things. We should just hand over our wealth and go off and die like good little sheeple.

Fuck the warning shot. Take out the lobbyists and special interests now.

@PPP: Unfortunately, that would only work if it were possible to take out everyone in Congress except Al Franken. And maybe Ron Paul.

From Crooks & Liars and please see my post earlier today at the last post you made about this.

So Obama told him to STFU. UPDATE: (I just got back from the doctor because of a bad wrist and the doctor doesn't take insurance and I need an MRI that he has to negotiate for me...I'll have more on this later.)

Is Obama just playing games? Is Rahm stating the position that Obama really supports? is the trigger the compromise? It's a muddled mess and I'm sick of the games and nobody knows for sure.
If they try to tank the public option I propose all Democratic politicians hold out and refuse to vote for anything that doesn't have a vibrant, public option.

"It's a muddled mess and I'm sick of the games and nobody knows for sure."

Right, this is why there is outrage - it's not about what Rahm has said a dozen times, it's that you are all tired of waiting for the final bill and frustrated that you are not in the same room with those that are preparing the bill. Again, the only thing you can do is to remind your own rep in Congress that you want a strong public option. All this bru ha ha is a waste of time.

All this bru ha ha has gotten some folks off their asses and walking back statements.

Bru ha ha is good. Essential in fact. Calling our 1 or 2 reps isn't gonna get it.

Whether Obama and Emanuel are playing good cop bad cop I don't know. But whatever we are doing is working because now we have Obama making comments on all of this from Russia.

I suspect Emanual and Biden will both be getting a spanking when daddy gets home.

@Jan: True, but, Emanuel doesn't write the bills. Your 1 or 2 reps do. He's not (as far as we know) getting donations from insurance companies. He's not sending letters asking for abortion specifically NOT to be covered. And I do believe it was those calls to congresspeople that led to Schumer's recent statements, and Feinstein's assholeish-ness. It's not the pressure from the Pres. that's getting to them--and it won't ever be, b/c they know at the end of the day, they have more power and are safer than he is.

Annette, I hope you're feeling better soon. I agree with you. This DOES seem like a big, screwed up mess,.

Also, can somebody please explain this to me: Here in the state of SC if you have outstanding medical bills from ANY medical facility in the state, they deduct what you owe from your tax refund. So, how is it that "big government" bureaucracies are capable of accurately administering damn near every program involved in taking something FROM us, but we're told and expected to believe they're totally incapable of administering any program involved in providing something FOR us?

Addi-
"So, how is it that "big government" bureaucracies are capable of accurately administering damn near every program involved in taking something FROM us, but we're told and expected to believe they're totally incapable of administering any program involved in providing something FOR us?"

Your question is really not about whether they are capable or not, that is not the real issue, because they are capable. In a perfect world, "collecting" would work the same as "providing". However, as we both know, it is not a perfect world. For the "providing" to work as well as the "collecting" you would have to have the element that is missing, which is funding over and above what the demand for service is. The demand for services historically has vastly exceeded the money available to pay for it all. What that means is that expectations will always exceed actual performance. Obama says we are out of money now, and that the health care proposal will have to be cost neutral. Do you believe that your expectations for health care will be met with a plan that is 'cost neutral"? Medicare, which they say is bleeding money, doesn't cover all kinds of things. What do you think a "cost neutral" version of Medicare would look like? I think that we should demand that Congress should have to be covered under the new plan just like everyone else; they should not get to keep their gold plated plan while sticking us with a bare bones plan.

Choosing Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff has been the gray-approaching-black area of the Obama Admin for me. That Blue Dog compromising, get-nothing-done same bullshit as usual. When he's on the TV, I scream at him. He will sell us out and they will get voted out in 2012. Believe that.

When I say Bru ha ha I mean posts saying "fuck you" Rahm, and claiming the President is betraying his supporters, making a big deal out of a report that came from a newspaper that is hated by the Left. That's what I'm talking about. Basically noise that is ineffective. The original focus was to contact members of Congress, which a lot of people did and with all the positive news that was coming out, you let the WSJ squash it. It really doesn't matter what Rahm wants, those in congress have said before that nothing gets passed without a public option. If both the House and the Senate put it in a strong public option, you honestly think Obama would veto it? Focus on the Senate not on Rahm.