March 17, 2010

Kucinich Caves After Ride In Air Force One


Dennis Kucinich - When it comes to pursuing trophy wives half his age, persevering, unrelenting, principled; When it comes to voting his conscience, not so much.

From the Cato Institute, Michael F. Cannon writes

Whether Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s (D-OH) “aye” vote will help pass ObamaCare depends on whether he asked for something in return.

Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake reports, “Kucinich told Obama that he wants a full ERISA waver [sic] and a public option in exchange for his vote.” If he gets either of those things in the reconciliation “fixer” bill, then that will trigger a backlash. His “support” could undermine the whole process.

It really depends on what kind of a negotiator Kucinich is. If he’s a good negotiator, it hurts ObamaCare. If he’s a lousy negotiator, it helps.


Here's the post on FireDogLake by Jane Hamsher (I wouldn't link to FDL even if you gave me Air Force One)

Kucinich told Obama that he wants a full ERISA waver and a public option in exchange for his vote. And if he actually gets an ERISA waver, it will be the biggest victory of the entire health care debate. As Jon Walker says, “ERISA is the 900 pound Gorilla that has fucked up America’s health care system something good.”

If on the other hand he settles for some worthless reassurances that “Obama will work toward it in the future” (which nobody but Lynn Woolsey is dumb enough to actually believe), or a meaningless symbolic vote that achieves little more than 15 minutes of futile grandstanding, good luck to him. A thousand people have donated over $16,000 to Dennis since yesterday to thank him for standing up for what he believes in. We’ll be asking him to return it.

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