While this is nice, it's what he's said before. And then he caved. I just don't believe him. Yes, I believe he means what he's saying. I just don't believe he'll keep his word. Partly because he won't fight, sufficiently or early enough. Which leads us to his back and forth with Dem. Congressman Waxman. HuffPost reports:
"He was a little testy with the Waxman question. Essentially, Mr. Waxman was urging him to fight more," one legislator said. "The president reminded folks that he's the president sitting in that chair and he knows how to negotiate."Please. It's not like he's the first president to ever hold an opinion on something. Lots of presidents in the past have forcefully fought for their beliefs without bringing down the markets. The argument is a red herring. Candidate Obama didn't fight nearly hard enough against John McCain either, and there was a rather large blow up about it, involving the Netroots, major Obama donors, and the campaign that summer before the 2008 election. And there was no fear of hurting markets then. And do we really think the markets would have crashed had the President actually fought for the public option? This sounds like an attempt to justify a pre-existing behavior. And it's not a good sign that he still doesn't get it.
Obama also told the assembled Democrats not to count on more fiery rhetoric from the Oval Office.
"He said, 'There's a difference between me and a member of Congress,'" another lawmaker said, paraphrasing the president as saying: "When I say something the markets react, all of society reacts, other countries react. I've got to be careful with what I say. I can't just say it for brinkmanship. I've got to say it in a way so that I get what I want said, but I don't upset markets and so on."
Oh, the President also said he'll stand by Medicare (not clear what that means). Again, the words are nice. For what that's worth.
