You Don't Say

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I hope you're sitting down. It appears that conservative organizers and Tea Party activists aren't really interested in some kind of bipartisan reform of the health care system, or watered down Democratic proposals. Their goal is to protect the status quo at all costs. Greg Sargent reports:

On a private conference call, a group of top Tea Party and conservative organizers offered a surprisingly frank description of their goal, according to a source on the call: Completely blocking any kind of bipartisan compromise, and completely preventing any type of health care reform bill at all from ever becoming law.

The source who got himself on the call was an organizer for the AFL-CIO, and AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale provided me with the organizer's notes. It's certain to be seized on by Dems to argue that organized Tea Party opposition to Obama has no constructive intentions and is fomenting public "concern" about Obama's plan solely to prevent any reform from ever taking place. GOP officials would argue that they don't share these goals.

The call consisted of representatives of top conservative groups, such as the American Liberty Alliance, the "Tea Party Patriots," and RecessRally.com, the AFL-CIO's notes say.

According to AFL-CIO's notes, the moderator on the call said, "The goal is not compromise, and ANY bill coming out this year would be a failure for us." Another organizer added, "The purpose of Tea Parties is not to find a solution to the health care crisis -- it is to stop what is not the solution: Obamacare."

A spokesperson for the American Liberty Alliance told Greg that these sentiments "may have been expressed" on the call, though she isn't sure about the exact language.

Every time I hear about this, I think back to that Frank Luntz memo to Republicans earlier this year. "The status quo is no longer acceptable," Luntz advised his party. "If the dynamic becomes 'President Obama is on the side of reform and Republicans are against it,' then the battle is lost and every word in this document is useless.... Acknowledge the 'crisis' or suffer the consequences."

At least in private, conservative activists are willing to do whatever it takes to ignore the crisis and keep the status quo just the way it is. When will they "suffer the consequences"?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/