House Leadership Strips Rep. Griffith of Committee Positions

The House clerk read several communications removing Representative Griffith of his committee positions following his switch to the Republican Party.

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/vidLink.php?b=1261587779&e=12615878...

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[freewngs]

He will likely lose the Republican primary, good riddance either way.

[w41duvernay]

Too bad this couldn't be this to the weasel Leiberman, when he threated to derail health care reform, if it had a public option. This guy is more worried about himself and his wife getting $400K from a medical company in Conn. This was more important to getting Americans off of corporate profit medical insurance. He's clearly trying to set himself up to be a medical insurance lobbist in 2012.

[electango]

LBJ's Medicare 1965 institution was a huge healthcare reform. Now, Medicare is not perfect, but most people who have Medicare are happy they have it. And Medicare is a single payer system. If Obama were not such a weak, inexperienced and unimaginative leader, he would have merely instituted a process whereby every 5 or 10 years another cohort of eligibles would be allowed to join Medicare. First, over 60's then over 55's and so on. Obama was elected to get things done, not to make excuses.

[rumpole33]

@E: to be honest & to be historically accurate, u have to acknowledge that congress was never as rightwing or neo-con as it is in modern times, beginning in the 80s. also, after ww2, healthcare lobbyists gained ground. even t. roosevelt couldnt pass it. &campaign reform never got anywhere since ww2 w/ the 80s bringing about more lobbying power via the neo-cons. so, if u want to ignore reality, go ahead. but u had all this time to make sure the neo-cons never had power, but now it's too late.

[electango]

FDR successfully created Social Security. LBJ successfully created Medicare. They fought the same corrupt lobbyists who defeated the Obama health care reforms and won. These were strong domestically focused, reform oriented Presidents who bent Congress to their wills. Clinton and Obama, on the other hand, were much more passive. In fact, they were more like observers than hands on leaders on health care reform. Obama's weakness will delay single payer for at least another generation.

[rumpole33]

@E: fdr/lbj didnt create those prog.s w/o congress...

again, clinton tried it YOUR WAY, ELECTANGO, but YOUR WAY didnt work, REMEMBER?

so, obama is going about it in a way in which congressman feel the burden of passing a plan, then they will take more effort in wheeling/dealing in order to pass a plan. get it?

[electango]

The implementation of single payer will take strong Presidential leadership and obviously a Democratic Congress. This time we had the Democratic Congress, but we lacked strong Presidential leadership. FDR created Social Security. LBJ created Medicare. For Obama to think that Congress would put forth anything but corrupt programs designed by corrupt lobbyists shows extreme naivete. And yet he gave the job to Congress. That shows weak leadership and weak leadership is why the reform failed.

[rumpole33]

@E: actually & AGAIN, obama didnt create a healthcare reform plan. sheesh.. he handed it to congress as he learned from clinton's experience. bill/hillary=interchangeable when it came to the healthcare plan.

listen, if teddy, harry, lyndon, dick, clinton, couldnt get it up & running, & they were all VERY expert politicians, then what's ur prob w/ obama when he's not even the one in charge of coming up w/ a plan? that's congress' baby.

[electango]

Obama's health care reform failed due to his inexperience and his incompetence. By handing the reform over to the corrupt thieves known as Congress, Obama doomed it to failure. Clinton did not fully back his health care reform. He delegated it to his wife who bungled it. Then he let her take the blame. What's needed is a President with the experience, the competence and the willingness to take the hands on, up close and personal ownership of the issue needed to get it done..

[rumpole33]

@M: that sounded like a really lame excuse for not spending a few minutes looking it up and blaming it on someone/something else.

the representatives followed the rules - they took away the chairmanship - nothing illegal in that. i dont see what ur problem is w/ that.

[rumpole33]

@E: actually it's been going on since teddy roosevelt, not truman. & the healthcare ind. got strong after ww2.

again, clinton tried to 'cram' single payer down the legis. branch, but the repubs/congress wouldnt take it. so, obama is letting congress do it, since it didnt work the other way around the other time.

[electango]

The struggle to reform health care by installing single payer has been going on for over 60 years--at least since Truman. And every time the health care lobby has defeated it. It's not rocket science. Various interest groups are making huge fortunes with for profit health care and they are not going to give it up easily. For true reform, reformers are going to have to cram single payer down the insurance companies' throats. That kind of strong, steadfast leadership is not the Obama Way.