‘I’ll Try to Be Less of an Idiot’: Read Obama’s Defiant Letter From the White House
We obtained documents revealing how the former president dismissed calls to bypass Senate roadblocks to deliver public health insurance.
This story is being published in partnership between Zeteo and The Lever.
As Democrats debate how and whether to use power if they regain control of Congress and the White House, former President Barack Obama has lambasted his party for failing to more aggressively challenge or circumvent obstructions to enacting their campaign promises.
“There’s been some unwillingness on the part of Democrats in the past to break down some of the institutional barriers for us getting stuff done, just because, well, it’s always been done that way,” he lamented to a YouTube host earlier this year.
Obama said he was frustrated during his presidency with Senate filibuster rules, which require 60 votes to pass most legislation. He suggested it was a mistake for Democrats to preserve the filibuster “when it blocks us from making government effective,” arguing that it “makes people feel like government is corrupt.”
However, amid Obama’s media tour unveiling his new $850 million presidential center, documents obtained by Zeteo and The Lever through an open records request show Obama as president scoffing at demands that he more forcefully navigate those same barriers on healthcare policy, when he and his party controlled the White House and large majorities in Congress.
The documents also show Obama’s staff cheering him on after he rebuffed a supporter who was disappointed by the president’s surrender on his promise to enact a public health insurance option – a proposal that conservative Democrats continue to tout today as an alternative to Medicare for All.
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