Gephardt: “Obvious” that health reform will pass
Dick Gephardt
WASHINGTON — Dick Gephardt receives a lot of money these days for the advice that the people of his St. Louis congressional district got free for 28 years.
His Gephardt Group lobbying firm is raking in millions, he’s on the board of Ford Motor Co., among other jobs. And he’s still connected with a big law firm, DLA Piper, which featured him today in a what’s really going on seminar for its lawyers, clients and a few other Washington types.
Gephardt had some things to say about health-care, the issue of the moment, and this time his Democratic Party allies weren’t raising their eyebrows.
Last week, Gephardt sounded a discordant note when he said that a public option was “not essential” to health reform, something many Democrats — if not most of them — might dispute. But with Democrats looking ahead now that the public option was beaten down in the Senate Finance Committee yesterday, Gephardt’s latest pronouncements might be welcomed.
Here’s what he said, (mostly) unedited:
“It’s been obvious to everybody from the beginning, or at least to those who have been through this, that there’s going to be a health care bill. It probably won’t get a lot of Republicans — maybe a few in the Senate, maybe the same handful in the House, but it will be a moderate bill …
“It won’t be pleasing altogether to the left in the Democratic Party, which I was always a part of. It won’t be pleasing to the far right of the Republican Party. To get to 218 (votes in the House), to get to 60, it’s obvious that a public option can’t be part of it … I do think the president will have a bill on his desk and I think that it will happen by the end of the year …
“When I was a leader, the only time you could actually get a vote done is to back it up to a big holiday. I don’t mean a small holiday. Because people want to go home …
“To get this thing over the finish line, the president is going to have to get into the House and get into the Senate and work hard to get that moderate bill. This will be the ‘Perils of Pauline’. Trust me. I’ve been there; I kinow what it’s like. They will go to the floor, maybe on Christmas Eve, and they will not know whether they have the votes.”
As far as climate change legislation — the other big bill in Congress — you don’t need a high-priced lobbyist to tell you that it will be tough sledding. Gephardt (who has Peabody Energy as a client) remarked on how thard he thinks it is.
“I think that global warming is the toughest political transaction in the history of the human species,” he said. “Even if we were perfect on global warming, and we aren’t, if you can’t get China and India to follow, it doesn’t mean a thing.”
This country DO NOT need a Bill passed just for the sake of saying that a Bill was passed. Of course Gephardt like every other Blue Dog Democrat is on the side of Corporate America.
The next reform that the people must push for is legislature that these politicians cannot go to work for any lobbying company or become Founder of any Lobbying firm as Gephardt has done here for at least 10 years after out of political office. Or, become employed in anyway or sit on boards of companies where they have had legislature in front of them concerning that industry. Who in their right mind would listen to the owner of a Lobbying Firm? Crazy!
Dick Gephardt is the perfect picture boy of what is wrong with American politics.
Other than the insurance industry, I think corporate America should welcome health care reform for two reasons. First, health care is sucking up $$$ that could be spent elsewhere, in sectors that would actually generate revenue. (I don’t think profits made off of sick folks get re-invested in manufacturing, R&D, etc. Like sugar is empty calories, I think they’re “empty profits.”)
Second, getting health care costs under control would be a stabilizing influence in the work force, ESPECIALLY if the focus shifts to wellness and prevention. Fewer sick days taken+happier, more secure employees=more productivity. And if benefits stops being the Frankenstein’s monster of HR, maybe it’ll be easier to staff your organization.
> the people of his St. Louis congressional district got free for 28 years.
Didn’t know Congressmen worked for free. And even if they did, their work costs us a bundle. Of course, that is precisely why he is able to get big bucks after being a Congressman for all those years. Disgusting.
I’m sorry, but this is a terrible job of reporting. The public option is far from dead. Everyone knew from the very beginning that the Senate Finance Committee is far more conservative than any other committee, and far more conservative than the Senate as a whole. Of course *they* aren’t going to vote out a bill with a public option, but fortunately there are 4 other committees that have voted out bills with public options. Senator Harkin (chair of the HELP committee) guaranteed a public option a couple days ago; why isn’t Lambrecht reporting on that? Senator Schumer (#2 in Senate leadership) said there’s a good chance for a public option even after the votes on Tuesday: why isn’t Lambrecht reporting that? Unfortunately, Bill seems to be stuck in the Bush administration paradigm of assuming that the “middle” is halfway between the most conservative Democrats and the far right. There’s a whole other world out there Bill and the sooner you open your eyes to it the better your reporting will be.
Sorry, I should add that this is a classic example of “high Broderism,” and in particular of pretending to be passively sharing “objective” information when in reality you are selectively passing on the story that you want to believe. When Democrats everywhere (including those in leadership positions) are saying the public option is alive, and Lambrecht chooses to pass on only that Democrats are “looking ahead” (with the implication that this is all or most Democrats), he is not acting as an objective reporter but rather is shaping the very political environment he’s supposed to be reporting on.
The Democrats can get a health bill passed… or they can keep control of the government, they can’t and won’t do both.
Hey Dick, we’re still waiting for that Federal money to run Metrolink. Dick… Dick….
The “Public Option” better not be dead but, regardless of it passing or dying, “Pro-Public Option” Democrats must get a Bill before the House and Congress and signed into legislature a law which prohibits our Congressmen and women to hold jobs in the Lobbying industry at least 10 after they leave office.
This must be done immediately! This is ridiculous to not have been done many blue moons ago and people actually have to wonder why America is in her present condition. The people must push this and stop allowing citizens best interests to be ignored in favor of Corporate America.
In fact if such a Bill prohibiting taking Lobbyist jobs after office is placed on the table, you will see real fast how very little you mean to many of these politicians and where their true loyalty is very clearly.
It would also show us how blind and stupid a great segment of our citizens are because you can be sure that there will be many working against such a bill at their and this country’s detriment.