As I said last night, the one thing Bambi had to do in his State of the Union speech was provide Senate Democrats the political cover they needed to push health care reform through the reconciliation process. Instead for providing a decisive commitment and a dash of real leadership, however, what Bambi gave them - as even Sully the Slurper admits - is little more than an opportunity for "more debate".
As you can imagine, Democratic Senators are thrilled:
If President Barack Obama hoped his State of the Union speech would revive the health care debate on Capitol Hill, signs of movement were not immediately apparent Thursday.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said health care reform “is on life support, unfortunately,” and the president should have been more specific with how Democrats should move forward.
“He should have been more clear, and I am hoping that in the next week or two he will because that is what it is going to take if it is at all possible to get it done," Landrieu told reporters. "Mailing in general suggestions, sending them over the transom, is not necessarily going to work.”
The president's criticism of the Senate in the speech was "a little strange, a little odd," Landrieu said.
"Moderate Senate Democrats, who give the Senate the 60 votes, come from states that have to appreciate a broad range of ideas," Landrieu said. For a president who ran on post-partisan platform, "it doesn't do a great service to then say everything the House caucus passes without Republican votes, the Senate should take. It is the reverse."
"He and his administration, his staff could step up a little bit of strengthening, tailoring their help to move this through Congress," she said.
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said it was “a real possibility that health care is at a stalemate and you can’t solve it this year.”
“It is hard to see how last night fundamentally changes it,” Pryor said.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on health care reform, Democrats are “thinking about it and how to move on it.”
But, he added, jobs are the current high priority and that is what we are going to work on for now.
Democratic lawmakers said they wanted to hear from the president before deciding on a way forward on the issue. But the muted reviews suggest health care may not get the immediate jolt that some were hoping.
Before the speech, congressional aides said lawmakers were unlikely to make any decisions before next week.
Rough Translation: If Barack Obama thinks we're going to walk the plank for him, while he dicks around with shitty little budget freezes and deficit reduction committees, he's out of his mind.
But don't worry, Democrats! Bambi challenging Sam Alito to a best-of-three falls mud wrestling match over the Citizens decision should have Independents back in the fold before you can say "David Axelrod is Bob Schrum's two-headed love child." I mean, what's the urgency of a shitty economy compared to that?
The Once™ is scrambling for relevance, especially since he's tanking just about everywhere. Not surprising, given his very first year in office was a succession of gaffes, screw ups, failures, and colossal failures.
Obama has very few successes, and those congresscritters with a modicum of intelligence know it full well. Not only will they not walk the plank, they'll fight being thrown under the bus. Again.
Posted by: JeffS | January 28, 2010 at 03:54 PM
Hey, maybe Obama is being courageous in his own way. He's willing to fight for the bill right down to the last democrat Senator.
Obama is just surprised they were able to figure it out so quickly. Come to think of it, I am kind of surprised that they did. It did however take a republican to win Kennedy's old seat to do it.
Posted by: Allen | January 28, 2010 at 04:30 PM
That calling out SCOTUS had to be the funniest and most pointless aspect to the entire speech. I'm sure the justices were just terrified. Not. And although it's just speculation on my part, I'll bet it didn't just piss off the Gang of Five - I'll bet it pissed them ALL off. It's going to make it all the more enjoyable to see the court hand Chicago it's ass on a platter in McDonald v Chicago.
Posted by: Mike C. | January 28, 2010 at 04:54 PM
Fearless Leader is now in full Headless Chicken mode. Watch out for flying feathers.
BOOT!
Posted by: Joe Redfield | January 28, 2010 at 05:25 PM
Poor Mary. Still looking for a way to ditch responsibility for selling her constituents down the river.
Posted by: aelfheld | January 28, 2010 at 05:45 PM
Mike C.-
I'm only surprised Bambi hasn't invited Sam Alito to the White House for a beer with he and Uncle Joe.
Worked last time...
Posted by: Dennis The Peasant | January 28, 2010 at 05:55 PM
Gee, Landrieu got that message pretty clearly considering she doesn't answer her phones...
Posted by: richard mcenroe | January 28, 2010 at 09:10 PM
I think the Dems will sandbag 2010. Seriously. Retirements, run crappy candidates, don't spend any money.
The Obama presidency is over. He still wants cap and trade, still wants socialized medicine, instructed his Democrats to legislate against the first amendment, and announced he would impose spending limits by executive order...
The only policy agenda left for the Democrats is losing majority status before the crash.
Buckle up.
Posted by: TmjUtah | January 28, 2010 at 11:36 PM
So he was just kidding when he told them all to suck it up and ram healthcare through even if it meant losing.
Posted by: guesst | January 29, 2010 at 07:07 AM