Obama Wins Kucinich's Vote on Health Care

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Maverick liberal Rep. Dennis Kucinich announced Wednesday he will vote in favor of health care reform, handing Democrats a crucial vote.

Then-presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich in Des Moines, 04/19/07. (photo: David Lienemann/Getty)

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-2 # Guest 2010-03-17 20:53

I do not have an address for this traitor but pass on to him that
he has lost my and many other votes. What underhanded promised did Obama promise him?

0 # Guest 2010-03-18 10:24

As a 40 year supporter of "single payer" i am convinced Dennis did the right thing at the right time for the right reasons.
There is no question that the current bill is less than what any progressive would advocate, but even Michael Moore's recent column favours a yes vote in the context of a vote on the bill as it stands versus nothing at all.
What Dennis said he will continue to do, and what all progressives should do, is keep pushing for health care as a civil right.

0 # Guest 2010-03-17 21:58

I trust Kucinich. He's not selling. He said "No." and then he said "Yes." Kucinich changed, probably because he recognizes that something is better than nothing with the lives of so many hundreds of thousands at stake.
Hopefully President Obama will listen with a more sensitive ear when a proven representative of the people is so eager to help.

+3 # Guest 2010-03-18 00:59

WTF? Probably threatened either his life or his wife. In any case twisted his arm somehow.

I can hardly bear the way this article uses the phrases "finish it's work on healthcare", "vote against healthcare", "undecided on healthcare" etc. Terrible, terrible slant. It's indecent to take a loaded term like "healthcare" (which isn't even properly one word...grr) and make it synonymous with a controversial bill like this. Really bothers me.

-3 # Guest 2010-03-18 01:15

I knew Kucinich was a sellout too.

+1 # Guest 2010-03-18 03:36

Abe Lincoln: "You can fool all the people some of the time, some of the people all the time, but not all the people all the time." Could even Dennis Kucinich be fooled?

His flip-flop on Obamacare is bad news. Kucinich is no fool. Did someone dig up something on Dennis or threaten him? Would the co-author of HR-676 change his vote unless coerced? His reported rationale is completely out of character.

If other holdouts cave in, and Pelosi's Pyrrhic victory is Rahmed through by Chicago Slick and his mob, the Republicans will make the most of it.

With the insurance industry more firmly in control with government mandated purchase of their worthless but expensive services, it will be more difficult to get single payer in the US. Especially if the recent Supreme Court dollar disenfranchisem ent stands.

But not impossible. It will be years before this complex racket is fully implemented, time for its inequities and contradictions to surface.

+1 # Guest 2010-03-18 04:24

If the US Congress thinks that the Chinese Yuan is artificially cheap, then why don't they authorize the Treasury to buy up yuan until the exchange rate returns to a "fair" value? We would keep the Sappi Paper Company in the short run, and in the long run we'd sell our yuan at an enormous profit for the American economy.

The answer is that there is codependence in the US-China trade imbalance. A lot of American billionaires are making more billions off the backs of Chinese laborers, and improving wages and safety standards for Chinese workers is the last thing on their minds.

0 # Guest 2010-03-18 04:44

Hard, but not impossible, to believe that Dennis sold the people out.

So we are now stuck with Obama care.

Sanders and Kucinich both sold us out.

0 # Guest 2010-03-18 04:56

Everything Kucinich said was wrong about the bill hasn't changed - only Kucinich has. Is it any wonder Americans no longer have faith in anything a politician says. Voting for Obama to bring change was a mistake many of us now regret. He is a slick talker with no substance. Kucinich should be ashamed.

0 # Guest 2010-03-18 05:42

Why so quick to distrust Kucinich? I firmly believe that this is incremental improvement. Prices are going to soar, fed govt will be forced to step in with a true alternative to purchasing medical insurance through private for-profit companies
I, too, would like to as the writer of the article to reflect on words chosen, perhaps in haste. This legislation is NOT about health or health care, it is about cost and who can buy the best health care.
I firmly believe that Kucinich will keep on fighting for critical changes in our approach to good health, as well as making the best medicine available to all regardless of income bracket.

+1 # Guest 2010-03-18 05:50

When I hear people express dismay at Obama's conservatism, I feel so frustrated. HELLO! He NEVER SUPPORTED A PUBLIC OPTION during his campaign. He talked all the time about BIPARTISANSHIP. So now you are surprised that he has wasted the good will he had in Jan09 on trying to make nice with neo-cons? Inexperienced, he left so-called health care reform up to legislators. Arrogant, he thought he was the first Democratic president to really try bipartisanship.
I can hear the protest now, but I've got to say it again: Hillary Clinton had NO SUCH ILLUSIONS about bipartisanship. Hillary Clinton supported public option for health coverage. DUH.
I worked for Obama after Clinton conceded, but it was obvious to me that she was the president that we needed.

-1 # Guest 2010-03-18 05:58

The whole mess is a shame (and a sham) - we need single payer, and mandating the purchase of insurance without offering a truly affordable option is a crime (maybe that part will be challenged in court?). But anyway, Obama probably convinced Kucinich that if this legislation fails, we're more likely to have Republicans elected to the next congress, and a Republican president sitting in the White House next term.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-18 06:06

Obama has never wanted The Public Option; he said early on that the CEO's "were not evil men, they just want to make a profit." He clearly told us that while he "bad-mouthed' the insurance industry, he didn't really mean any of it.
Those who use the excuse that it will save 45,000 lives to vote for this bill are not thinking straight or are lying to the public. There will be no pre-existing conditions. . . but there will also be no control over premiums. Those who cannot afford the premiums will then be subsidized by the tax payer. Our taxes need to be used to repair schools, hospitals, bridges, sewer systems, etc not to pay CEO's indecent bonuses.
And the excuse that if we don't pass this bill we won't get healthcare reform for 10 more years is bogus! If it is voted down on Monday our elected representatives can start working on getting us Medicare For All on Tuesday!
I haven't the words to express my sorrow at Dennis Kucinich's decision.

+1 # Guest 2010-03-18 06:21

I contacted Kucinich's district office yesterday & gave them hell. I mentioned to them the situation that existed in the 2008 midterm elections where the Democratic Party left him in the lurch with their financial support and where Kucinich's campaign then sent emails out to everyone for financial help. I, like many who believed in him, sent a small donation. Now, I want that money back. Those people that have come up with excuses in support of his traitorous decision remind me of those 25% of people who stuck by Bush & Cheney thru thick & thin, no matter what. The rationalization that this abortion of a health (insur) reform Bill can be improved upon down the road is a fantasy. No matter what, come Nov, the the Dems will lose many seats in Congress, & could conceivably lose control of Congress. Come 2012, Obama could very well lose the presidency. Improvements to this Bill will never happen. Loyal Kucinich supporters, stop fooling yourselves.

+2 # Guest 2010-03-18 06:35

I listened to Kucinich being interviewed this morning on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, & he would not answer simple & straight questions. All that I could hear coming out of his mouth were the same political talking points by the Congressional Democratic leadership, that we can improve upon this down the road. They also had Ralph Nader on at the same time, & Ralph painted Kucinich into a corner with the truth. I listened to Thom Hartmann on FSTV yesterday, and he's even backing Kucinich's decision. The Republican controlled state of Idaho yesterday just officially passed a law outlawing the Obamacare Bill. The Repubs are pulling out all of the stops on this. The world has gone mad. We are all living in extremely dangerous times because Obama & the Dems remain the party of wimps & wussies, who are as corrupt as the Republican party. If you don't want to vote Democratic in Nov and in 2012, please vote for the Green Party, not Republican.

+1 # Guest 2010-03-18 07:02

I have enough trust in the integrity and intelligence of Kucinich to trust that his change of mind sits squarely with his commitment to the serve the people and continue working toward long term solutions which are in every American's best interest. Contrary to some others who have commented here, I am not a fair-weather supporter of Kucinich. He has consistently honored his fundamental beliefs over the years and so I have no reason to suspect that he has suddenly stopped doing so at this time.

0 # Guest 2010-03-18 07:17

It's a sad day when Kucinich sells out on us, but the fact is, people! There is no real two party system happening here, there is only opposing sides of the SAME coin. Call it good cop bad cop, divide and conquer, whatever you like. The fact is, this is Big Money's nation, we just live work and die here, & Congress knows it.

0 # Guest 2010-03-18 07:24

Rahmbo's work? Too bad, once again we're reminded how cheap talk is. Assume the guy in that Ohio audience yelling "vote yes" was an admin plant. Why would Kucinich get on a plane with O unless the plan was already in place for his move to the dark side. Hope for his sake he was able to extract bags of $$$ from the bagmen controlling the process.

0 # Guest 2010-03-18 08:56

Poor guy. Surprised he didn't hold out and take millions from the lobbyists like Max Baucas. No one has yet to define affordable. No one has yet describe how they plan to lower costs while letting premiums rise. There is NO common sense left.

0 # Guest 2010-03-18 09:23

A very sad development indeed when a staunch advocate of TRUE health care reform suddenly agrees to support this monstrous giveaway to private insurance and pharmaceutical companies. The only possible explanation is Chicago-style arm-twisting. I doubt Kucinich could be bought, so they must have threatened him with something they dug up via the wiretapping/surveillance network under Bush III. Ain't that America, home of the free?

0 # Guest 2010-03-18 09:32

The People must continue to struggle for health care as a human right. We must continue to struggle for a government truly of, by, and for the people and not the corporations. Kucinich is only one representative in a sea of corporate controlled sell outs. We need to take our demands to the streets. The U.S. Social Forum will be held in Detroit this June. Visit www.weap.org or contact the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign for more info. We must raise our voices and raise the conscience of the nation.

0 # Guest 2010-03-18 11:37

Jil Clark, Obama did in fact not only support a public option, but even a single-payer health care system as candidate Obama. I have seen the actual videos with him expressing exactly that, several times. So please don't try to bamboozle & mislead the readers in this chat-room. Obama said anything he thought he had to say in order to win the presidency. His biggest lie of all was his promise of change, real change, from that of the Bush admin. Obama has continued Bush's war policies and has even murdered more innocent people in Pakistan than Bush had by the use of these cowardly remotely operated drones. Obama has continued, covertly, with Bush's torture policy & has also continued with Bush's illegal policy of extraordinary rendition, continuing Bush's witch hunt, kidnapping and indefinite imprisonment of human beings without any due process. Kucinich was wrong in what he did, & he has more hurt himself than helped himself by making this decision.

0 # Guest 2010-03-18 11:49

I am stunned that Dennis would cave on this. What did that thug threaten him with?

0 # Guest 2010-03-20 06:56

What we should ask any Congress person planning to defeat health care reform in a NO vote on Sunday:

If you will immediately withdraw yourself and your family from any and all special, publicly supported health care programs, we will support your anti-health-care-reform vote. But if you fail to do so, we will campaign vigorously to see that you are revealed for the hypocrite you are and see you voted out of office in November. We also urge you to pray that neither you nor anyone you love gets seriously ill or is found to have an insurance-company-identified “pre-exisitng condition.”

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