White House Denies Report Obama Is Considering Scaled-Back Reform Plan

[cal04]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/24/white-house-denies-report_n_475980.html

Administration officials with knowledge of current health care negotiations pushed back Wednesday evening against a report that the White House is readying a paired-down version of reform should the current proposal fail to win sufficient congressional support.

Hours before Thursday's much anticipated White House health care summit, the Wall Street Journal reported that the president and his team are "working on a more modest Plan B", just in case. This alternate approach would provide insurance to approximately 15 million uninsured Americans, or half as many as the current plan, and would include modest expansions of Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program -- all in all, a far cry from the current legislation under consideration.

The Journal reported that "no final decisions had been made" with regards to the Plan B approach. But one administration official who spoke to HuffPost insisted that while a fallback option had been developed, it is not even on the administration's radar.

"This proposal was developed because the president wanted to know what the impact would be if he had to go small post-Massachusetts . It's not where we are," the official said.

[DURHAM D]

1. Here is how I see this.

First Rahm spoke with his guy at the Wall Street Journal - mostly on background but with enough red meat on the record to get this story out.

Then he spoke with Sam at HuffPost and denied the story. The story is out - Rahm saw to that. He can always deny it later but he is moving the ball toward a more conservative health insurance bill that fixes absolutely nothing but more profits for his friends.

How long before Obama fires his ass because he is running his own agenda by strategic "leaking" and manipulation of the media and public opinion? Rahm was repeatedly warned to stop this shit in the Clinton WH but overtime he could not help himself and was eventually canned for being a leaker and running his OWN agenda. Obama knows this so he should be able to keep Rahm on a short leash and if he doesn't can him very soon I have to assume he is running Obama'a agenda as well.

Sad, sad, sad.

[thereismore]

2. Fuck Rahm. nt

[Donnachaidh]

4. I was going to say that perhaps we should assume Obama is aware

of Rahm's machinations and is totally in agreement with them? You beat me to it.

[brand404]

3. No Surprises...The real goal is to rob Americans not save them...so a Plan B def. exists.

[Orsino]

5. Absolutely untrue. He's *promoting* a scaled-back reform plan. n/t