Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) made some pretty interesting remarks at the Building the New Economy conference today. While the topic was manufacturing and industrial policy, Brown opened by talking about the current obsession in Washington, health care and the public option. He praised the “inside/outside” strategy of activism that eventually convinced Harry Reid to add the public option (with an opt-out clause for the states) into the bill. “We were pounding on the inside, the progressives in the Senate, and you all were writing and calling and engaging in activism from the outside, and that’s what made the difference.” Brown cited this strategy as a good one to use going forward on multiple other policy solutions. “We’re going to act like we won the election last year,” Brown said.
Talking about internal health care deliberations, Brown noted that an unnamed Senator from one of the Western states kept saying “I want a bipartisan bill,” but Chris Dodd would always counter, “I want a good bill.”
Brown did not comment on the likelihood of the public option staying in the bill given the resistance from members of the Democratic caucus like Joe Lieberman and Blanche Lincoln, but from his remarks one can assume that mass public pressure from the outside only bolsters his work from the inside to push for the strongest possible bill. Brown is one of the few progressive allies in the Senate, and he can only gain in influence from having a public mass of activism behind him.
UPDATE: Earlier today on MSNBC, Brown said that a few “dissenters” won’t stop the forward motion on health care reform. He said that he and Tom Harkin count 55 votes for the public option and that the five others in the Democratic caucus won’t join a Republican filibuster. He sounds more confident than I am.
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We are PROUD to call Sherrod Brown our senator. ;->
Guess that’s one Senator that appreciates that sit-down-shut-up-trust-us isn’t the way to get what we want accomplished.
Senator Brown; The bill you champion is crap and will cause monumental hardship for a country in a depression. Words of praise for garbage can be indicative of many things, not least of which is a disingenuous desire to destroy the public option you suggest is a good one.
The House of Representatives has just put together a public option that appears to be meaningful. We will not accept the crap your house of lords hands us because we know better than to handle feces or the swine flu, or sex with a syphilitic without wearing the proper protection. The citizens of your state are likely to have something to say when they finally unscramble your words and realize you are offering them the end result of a bribery swindle that you feel is a good deal. For you.
This is hardly representation on your part is it? How much are you being paid to say good things about crap? Walk down the street in Ohio and tell your constituents why a percentage of them get to die under your wonderful plan. Republicans are sociopaths, this much is obvious to anyone trained to understand the concepts. Democrats go out of their way to emulate them. You push this through and I bet you never set foot on the streets of Ohio again without the kind of bodyguard joe lieberman and john mccain seem to need in the safest part of Iraq.
A thankful citizen that is not a resident of Ohio. Thanks Ms. Pelosi. Someone representing the people of the United States for a change.
D-Day, Can you confirm whether, under the House bill just released, the public option is available to all or if it is constrained to the currently uninsured plus smallbiz. The way I read it, large biz employees are prevented from access to public insurance options (except for those under 150% of poverty level who could go into Medicaid).
It’s confined to the exchange, and the exchange is firewalled. However, the exchange does expand over time pretty rapidly, more so than the Senate bill, and my fervent hope is that it will eventually be available to large employers as well as all individuals. That’s Ron Wyden’s bill, which should be championed by progressives.
well, I think that I was up to date as of this morning. Of course, now it’s late afternoon and, given that several hours have passed, I don’t have a clue as to what’s going on.
From what I gather, Pelosi’s bill pretty much represents a cave-in, and largely sucks.
So is it possible that the Senate will now have to carry the ball in the search for a robust public option?
Which brings the conversation back around to my cluelessness. What the heck is in Reid’s bill?
Neat stats about health care, and lack thereof, in the good ol’ USA–biggest hold-out among industrialized nations and hostage to the health care industry.
And now – for something totally different…
iow – *way* the heck OT. Has anyone seen GregB (GSD) lately?
Sorry – the thought came around on the “baby killer” thread. About a year and a half (?) ago, Congresswoman Julia Carson died. I came over to FDL, asking for some help in fighting a troll war on IndyStar.com . (representative comment = “I’m glad the ni**er bitch is dead”)
GSD popped over, lopped off a couple of heads, then went merrily on his way. I miss that guy.
GSD – Where Are You?
Five?
Blanche
Ben-Ben
Senator Wellpoint
Lying Lieb
La Mary
I was born in Ohio and lived there in my first years of life while Sherrod Brown was Attorney-General and we moved shortly after George Voinovich became Governor (he made cuts to employment at the state EPA, where my parents worked).
That sounds spot-on.
Sherrod Brown is another loser that wants credit for writing crap.
This thing is TOO BIG TO NOT FAIL. Too stuffed with PORK for the insurance companies and a PISS POOR EXCUSE FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM.
Everyone in the world knows single payer is the only thing that will work. Even Pakistan has universal care for gods sake. More than the soldiers that are killed supposedly for their cause. Lets give THEM more tax money and screw the American family again and again.
Take your puffed up attitude and wait till we see the mess that you all wrote.
As soon as your majority is gone, it will all be reversed. It should FAIL now and we should start over.
I’m tired of being played by the Obama Jack a s s Team. Including Reid, Pelosi, Frank, Dodd, Shumer, Sherrod, Levin, Feinstein, and all the freaks in Washington. I’m done. Have a good election.
And if Obama would spend more time telling the truth and doing the right thing, he wouldn’t have to be wallowing in the pathetic contaminated political toilet bowl he spends most of his time in, losing elections for people.
This is downright shameful.
Doesn’t the treason by Lieberman, Lincoln, et al open the door for progressives to join a Republican filibuster of, or otherwise block, any bill that doesn’t contain a viable public option?
How could Rahm criticize them, but not “Short Ride” Lieberman?
They should pass a bill which outlaws denial of care based on pre-existing conditions, and start over on everything else.
(BTW, is BHO still promising that we’ll all have the option of choosing the coverage that members of Congress have?)
crap – just left this on the wrong thread:
On the Ed show, he just called Pelosi’s bill “a watered-down piece of garbage written of republican toilet paper”.
works for me.
How could Rahm criticize them, but not “Short Ride” Lieberman?
ummm, because he’s Rahm?
I only speak English – is there any other language into which “Rahm” translates into “evil, incompetent, morally-vacant vessel”?
Or what? The other Senators will shun them? They have it in their heads that they can block anything they don’t like at the last moment. What are the consequences if they do vote against closure at the end, and the vote comes out 55-45? It seems we’ve already made all the concessions we can and still come out with a bill that can pass.
I missed what Sen. Snowe said today on MSNBC, and it sure looked as if she was giving a pretty full explanation of her rationale. Since I was on the phone on a business call, I couldn’t hear what she said. Anybody have any suggestions how I can get that interview back? I sure would like to have some understanding of what her thinking is that has her convinced the public option is such a bad thing.
Tropicgirl, your name is hot and so are your words. Yep, I opted out of the whole PO debacle a few weeks ago when it was apparent that it was gettin’ us nowhere fast. I am convinced that we will have to reach total breakdown before anything changes and I’m not even sure about it then. Keep on firing.
He’s like a banty-rooster masquerading as cock o’the walk.
David,
I hope that Sen. Brown is correct with his numbers also. I also hope he is correct when he suggests that the Democratic Caucus will remain intact in order to defeat a filibuster.
Yes, David. That pretty much speaks for all of us here. Thank you for your analysis, and for this whole new series for FDL. It’s wonderful.
What would Brown accomplish by claiming flat-out disaster as the only possible outcome, regardless of any efforts on his part, or from anyone else?
KingSlayer @ 10:
I was not born in OH. I’ve only lived 38 years of my adult life in OH.
If that’s not enough time to know tit from tat, I can’t change it at this point. What’s your point?
tropicgirl @ 12 & GDC707 @ 17:
C’mon. spit it out. tell us how you really feel. Oh, and what do you request for dessert after the total system collapse you apparently desire?
rafflaw @ 19:
Thank you for sane discourse. I prefer that to the total breakdown apparently desired by a distressing number of politicians on the right, those in our pockets, and many long overdue for retirement from self-serving pretense at governance.
Why are some of you jumping on Brown? Him and his wife are both supporters of Single Payer Health Care.
If you wanna be mad at somebody be mad at Obama for steering this thing from day one and for not wanting to take on the Insurance Industry, which he did have the Political Capital to do actually.
There are still a few tricks we can use to get more people covered and to give power to the States to do Single Payer. If your State is not Progressive enough to have a bill ready to rock as we do in California (for the 3rd time), then I don’t know what to say.
Let’s put in a back door to Single Payer.