Franken lays into Axelrod over Health Bill

By: Charles Cooper
Topics: In The News

(AP)

Watching the president gather the Democrats for their latest group therapy session, the Republicans have to feel a special satisfaction knowing that their cross-aisle colleagues are as lost as the sheep in that goofy Carly Fiorina ad that's gone viral in the last few days.

Compensating for their smaller numbers with a mix of moxie and street smarts, the Republicans have handcuffed Barack Obama on health care reform while convincing independents and many "moderates" that the Democrats are a bunch of feckless spendthrifts with more fondness for the likes of Das Capital than for the tenets of free-market capitalism. It's remarkable, really. Even better than the wildest dreams of a professional word spinner like Frank Luntz.

Most remarkable of all has been the absence of a ballsy Democrat with the charisma and the brains to counter the brilliantly acerbic attacks launched by the Limbaughs, Roves and Becks of the world. You had to wonder whether these guys were on lithium. When it came to winning hearts and minds to support the president's agenda, the party could not find someone who could effectively make their case. Every time Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi would get in front of the cameras, I'm sure the White House must have cringed. Fairly or not, Obama's Congressional minions came across as tired pols without passion or principle.

In the end, the confusing cobbling together of healthcare reform legislation - topped off by scandalous last-minute payoffs to secure the support of wavering "Blue Dogs" - was a mess. Who wants to bet that the GOP forgets to remind voters about this public lesson in legislative sausage-making come November. They'd be crazy not to.

But there are latent signs that at least some Dems still have a pulse. Late Thursday I came across Politico's remarkable retelling of Al Franken's dressing down of the White House's senior adviser David Axelrod.

"Democratic senators are frustrated that the White House hasn't done more to win over the public on health care reform and other aspects of its ambitious agenda — and angry that, in the wake of Scott Brown's win in the Massachusetts Senate race, the White House hasn't done more to chart a course for getting a health care bill to the president's desk.

"In his public session with the senators Wednesday, Obama urged them to 'finish the job' on health care but did not lay out a path for doing so. That uncertainty appeared to trigger Franken's anger, and the sources in the room said he laid out his concerns much more directly than any senator did in the earlier public session."

This is probably the first time that anybody from his party has gotten in Axelrod's face. It's an overdue wake-up because the Dems don't seem to have any sense of urgency. And after a relatively quiet first few months getting used to the ways of the Senate, maybe the real Al Franken is about to come out of his shell. At the very least, that would spice up a white bread Senate with some real entertainment.

During his race against Norm Coleman, critics dismissed Franken as a show business type. (Unlike all those fascinating marketing and sales and legal types who clog up the chambers.) Politics is show biz and Franken is funny and smart and interesting. Not to mention that he has a lot of brass. As Politico notes, Franken called out both Tennessee Senator Bob Corker as well as South Dakota Sen. John Thune on separate occasions. Unfortunately for the Democrats, though, Franken stands out as the exception. That's why November's looking increasingly "fugly" - unless you're a Republican.

Charles Cooper is an executive editor at CNET News. He has covered technology and business for more than 25 years, working at CBSNews.com, the Associated Press, Computer & Software News, Computer Shopper, PC Week, and ZDNet. E-mail Charlie.

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by bradkt1 February 7, 2010 5:03 PM EST: So...the President left it up to Senate and House Democrats to get something done on health care (like they wanted) and they produced nothing.

And, of course, it is now the President's fault.

Right!; Reply to this comment


by enwr77 February 7, 2010 10:35 AM EST: This story lacks complete disclosure. It says that Al Franken lashed out without much detail on why and what. The Politico story mentions other lashing outs with even less detail. Both article concentrate on what is called a lashing out without information for readers to form their own opinion.; Reply to this comment

by Bubba1800 February 6, 2010 3:58 PM EST

We need to start by firing every single incumbent that is in office. We can't get honest representation until they understand that they are under the "pay for performance" type of mandate. The clowns that are in there now aren't doing us any good, so let's fire all of them.

Reply to this comment


by soap-suds February 6, 2010 5:39 PM EST: I am with you. We get to vote and replace the whole House of Representatives and a third of the Senate. All of the people that are complaining only have themselves to blame for the mess if they do not vote accordingly!


by starleo146 February 6, 2010 6:58 PM EST: I THINK 41 REPUBLICANS WOULD JUST BE RIGHT

by johnpatrick1 February 6, 2010 1:15 PM EST

The yearly death rate for UNINSURED AMERICAN CITIZENS as stated by the New England Journal of Medicine is between 18,000-40,000 in any given year...and if that is not INTERNAL TERRORISM practiced on Americans by American CAPITALISTS then I don't know what is.Bin Laden is a piker compared to the death rate we impose upon those of us who fall through the floor boards or are not members of Congress who have Public Health care and the SMUG morons working in rich Corporations. TOO MUCH OF A "I'V-GOT-MINE-TO-HELL-WITH-EVERYONE-ELSE" attitude in this so called great nation. We are some 100 years behind the times and still don't get what a joke we are to other more advanced nations with Universal Health for ALL CITIZENS AS A RIGHT NOT A PRIVILEGE. Backward war mongering nation is how we are viewed.

Reply to this comment


by ffoulkes-2009 February 7, 2010 6:29 AM EST: You are missing the point. I've got mine...BARELY...and if you tax me more, I WON'T have mine.


by MedicareForAll February 5, 2010 11:10 PM EST: Franken is right. President Obama, when are you going to LEAD on healthcare? Please, don't leave it in the hands of the gutless Dems in Congress, like you did for the last year. We need a strategy to pass healthcare reform. When are you going to push a SPECIFIC STRATEGY? Do you even have a strategy? 45,000 Americans who are going to die this year for lack of healthcare want to know.; Reply to this comment

by sandog1960 February 5, 2010 4:38 PM EST

Our government is completely disfunctional. Can't we impeach the whole bunch?

Reply to this comment


by Mortar_29 February 5, 2010 4:44 PM EST: That would be a good start!


by starving1968-3 February 6, 2010 10:05 AM EST: If we impeached all of our government leaders, we would end up like Haiti or Somalia.

That might be fine for anti-Americans like Mortar_29, but the rest of us would like to live in America and see it's problems fixed.

Not abandoned like a newborn puppy in a dumpster.

by rykatspop February 5, 2010 4:19 PM EST

Which has a stronger spine? Jelly fish or a Democrat senator? You got it. Pound for pound, the jelly fish will give you more sting, too.

What do you get with 30 Republican senators at the bottom of the sea? A good start.

Reply to this comment


by Mortar_29 February 5, 2010 4:37 PM EST: Were we supposed to laugh?


by slownewsday_____ February 6, 2010 5:18 PM EST: Ahhh, Mortar shows his true colors.

He pretends not to support the Republicans, then makes a comment like that. You're transparent, Mortimer.

by infantryman1968 February 5, 2010 3:42 PM EST

Franken lays into Axelrod over Health Bill

I guess we know who Rham Emanual was talking about this week....

Al Franken, Once a Clown, Always a Clown. At least he has something to fall back on.

Reply to this comment


by M_Aurelius February 5, 2010 4:58 PM EST: I trust Franken more than any of the others.....sad to say.

by JourneyHomeBurke February 5, 2010 3:21 PM EST

?Use Senate reconciliation and expand Medicare via the Senate?s buy-in provisions. The CBO has already signed off on this as a means of saving money.

More importantly, if more Americans can do a buy-in with Medicare, it creates more cost control (because there?s a genuine ?public option? competitor).

It also helps to solve the problems of pre-existing conditions, because Medicare does not deny coverage on this basis.

Allowing a Medicare buy-in to Americans under 65 would give people a genuine alternative to private insurance and thereby render the pre-existing question moot.

It would also lower Medicare costs by expanding the risk pool of patients (the great bulk of medical expenses are accounted for by a small number of people, mostly the elderly, requiring very expensive treatment).

And it would substantially enhance the global competitiveness of American corporations. After all, in what other country in the world is health care a marginal cost of production for business?? - Roosevelt Institute Marshall Auerback

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by velma179 February 6, 2010 5:52 PM EST: Great to post on a news website, Journey.

But you have to contact your Reps in Congress. If they are (D) or (R) let them know what you want done.

It seems the we-the-people who want reform have been far more guilty in the abdication responsibility than the president.

Speak up. Lead, people -- it's YOUR country. Tell Congress what you want, the anti-reform people have sure been able to stir up a lot of noise... we must counter act it and we must do it NOW!

Pass this on to everyone you know that wants Congress to get this done.

The American people (whether they know it now, or not) will thank you.


by ffoulkes-2009 February 7, 2010 6:26 AM EST: Are you kidding me? Medicair is where the price increases began. Adding to it will simply increase the speed of inflation for all things medical.


by tngreen February 5, 2010 1:47 PM EST: Of course the Dems have no sense of urgency. They would rather run in circles appearing (in their own minds) to be doing something than to take actions that would effect change. These clowns are just running out the clock while they collect their salaries and kickbacks, fearful of alienating the electorate. I suggest that we fax every one of them the page of the dictionary that defines "leader," since none of them seems to know the meaning.; Reply to this comment