Al Franken Went On Heated Rant At Obama Adviser During Meeting: 'I'm Just Livid'

A frustrated Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) launched a profanity-laced diatribe directed at Obama's top adviser, David Axelrod, following meeting between Obama and Senate Democrats in early February, according to the Washington Post.

"I'm there in the arena with you," Obama told Senate Dems before departing with members of the press, but some lawmakers seemed unsure of his actual commitment.

"Goddamn it, what's the deal here?" Franken heatedly asked Axelrod, the Post reported. "You're talking platitudes, and we have to go home and defend ourselves. We're getting the crap kicked out of us!"

Other reports of the meeting also indicated that it was a tense session. One Democratic senator told Politico: ""There was a lot of frustration in there." Another said: "People were hot."

According to the Post report, Axelrod stepped in to defend the president: "This thing would have been dead 15 times before now if he hadn't been persistent and committed. I don't know anybody in my memory who has expended more of his own political capital on an issue than he has on this one...Al, if you've got 218 [House] votes in your pocket, hand me the list."

But in a subsequent interview, Axelrod sought to play down the intensity of the back-and-forth between him and Franken.

"We had a very good exchange," Axelrod said in an interview with C-SPAN. "He expressed his feelings about this. I thought [I] responded very candidly to him. And it was a good airing of views."

Comments

[collettethehedgehog]

05:29 PM on 04/29/2010

GD and crap. Profanity laced? See Ted Nugent. And by the way my answer to the headline is "About GD time somebody did."

[tompoe]

10:49 AM on 03/25/2010

All their nonsense stems from some idiot's decision to take Single Payer, and the no-brainer cost savings, off the table. I have no sympathy for them.

[3fingerbrown]

05:46 PM on 03/24/2010

Clever: On the Politics page they cast the headline in the present tense, sounding like it happened today. Once you get here, you find out the story's a month old. Still, interesting background. Franken sounds like he's got the stones to be a party leader. (But I'll be really impressed when he tries it with Rohm.)

[Loni Wolf]

09:58 PM on 03/24/2010

HE doesn't have the cojones to take on Rhambo!! Rhambo would decimate him with his missing finger!!

[Russ Kirk]

04:56 PM on 03/24/2010

Pretty bold statement from a man who stole an election.

[pdsimdars]

05:05 PM on 03/24/2010

That one's over, Franken won. Obama is the president now. Get used to it and get on with your life, if you have one.

[PNOGUY]

11:00 PM on 05/05/2010

Hey, you sound just like the folks who tried to calm down the Gore Losers.

[tompoe]

10:51 AM on 03/25/2010

Please give us the details. Sounds like you know what you're talking about. Don't forget to include your assessment of his opponent.

[jayburd]

03:47 PM on 03/24/2010

This is non-news.

A Senator had a heated discussion with a top White House aide in a meeting? Over a month ago???

Stop the presses!!!

[meko]

03:53 PM on 03/24/2010

Leaks like this are about providing cover for "progressives" when the volunteers on the left feel betrayed and decide they won't fight for them anymore. The party fought to get rid of everything the left wanted that would have controlled consumer costs: drug re-importation, Medicare direct drug price negotiation, a public insurance option, Medicare buy-in, a central provider reimbursement negotiator or a national regulator. The "progressive" representatives caved on everything.

First Rockefeller is for the public option, then he says he won't vote for it in reconciliation. First Grayson proposes an amendment to allow a Medicare buy-in, then he pulls it (and then he puts in a new bill). First Bennet writes a letter, but he says that challenging him to put forth an amendment is just a press release and not leadership.

It's back and forth and back and forth. A bit to look like a good guy and raise funds, and then take one for the team and get a big donation from pharma. It's a game.

[Winston120]

03:32 PM on 03/24/2010

Obama swooped in to take all the credit after the House vote.

It is disgusting given the fact that Obama played this cat and mouse game with his own party for months.

[FrankenPC]

04:18 PM on 03/24/2010

Not true. Obama repeated over and over that this was a victory made possible by the people. If we (the ones in favor of HCR) hadn't done all that we did to harass the congressmen this would have never worked and Obama knows it and he is grateful.

[gra8whit]

11:03 AM on 03/26/2010

I suspect that you have an Obama swooping in problem on another issue. Evidently you didn't find Hillary's tactics disgusting - planted questioners with planted softball questions, the Tuzla lies, and minions scouring Indonesia for Obama dirt didn't say you. I can tell you something that's more disgusting - a McCain-Palin victory and another four years of Republican ineptitude. Some things you've just got to get over and keep the eye on the prize.

If you want big ups for the girls, celebrate the fact that Nancy Pelosi is the true hero who kept this thing alive. That's girl power I can believe in.

[3dtrix]

12:53 PM on 03/24/2010

Thanks Al - I'm counting on every American trying to rebuild this damaged nation going on heated, profane rants when called for - and something tells me they're called for quite a bit...

[meko]

02:49 PM on 03/24/2010

He's a senator. He can do more than just rant. He can propose amendments to the reconciliation bill.

Any senator can propose an amendment to the reconciliation bill. Over 50 Democratic senators said they'd vote yes on the public option. The public option would save over $100 million, so it relates to the budget and just needs a simple majority (50 + the VP). The language of the senate and the house bills must match word-for-word, so the House will probably have to vote on the senate bill again anyway. The house passed the public option before, and since Supak got what he wanted, there's no reason to believe they won't support it now.

Besides, even one change in the wording of the reconciliation bill, however minor, would force it to go back to the House for another vote. While if the changes are indeed minor, getting 216 votes on it again shouldn’t be too heavy a lift, the entire premise of the Senate leadership whipping against amendments was predicated on the idea of avoiding another House vote. In this case, whipping against amendments that may make the bill more popular seems like a terribly short-sighted strategy.

Every cost control was eliminated from this bill: drug re-importation, Medicare direct drug price negotiation, a public insurance option, Medicare buy-in, a central provider reimbursement negotiator and a national rate regulator were all dropped.

So I don’t understand why he wouldn’t go for it.

[tnlcallen]

11:56 AM on 03/24/2010

What an odd world we live in.....Al Franken goes to Washington and is actually a good Senator.

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

01:25 PM on 03/24/2010

Well I never doubted he would be a great senator. He works hard for his state and I wish he was my senator. I hope the people of MN realize what a good senator they have. Yes he is very passionate about the things he believes in. What was good about him was one of the first bills he sent up was to help a young woman who was raped in Iraq by employees of Blackwater. She wanted her day in court yet Blackwater prevented woman from going forward. It passed.

[awake108]

11:53 AM on 03/24/2010

We progressive need to elect more people like Frankin and Grayson. we need to get to work. Join the Coffee Party.

[meko]

02:50 PM on 03/24/2010

They get to do more than talk. They can propose things and stick with them till they're voted on. Grayson never should have pulled his Medicare buy-in amendment from the House bill. Franken can add a public option amendment to the senate reconciliation bill now.

[Ospree19]

11:51 AM on 03/24/2010

Two zio nists arguing. Oy!

[meko]

11:09 AM on 03/24/2010

If Franken is really serious about making this bill something that will help Democrats in November, why not propose a public option amendment to the reconciliation bill?

Any senator can propose an amendment to the reconciliation bill. Over 50 Democratic senators said they'd vote yes on the public option. The public option would save over $100 million, so it relates to the budget and just needs a simple majority (50 + the VP). The language of the senate and the house bills must match word-for-word, so the House will probably have to vote on the senate bill again anyway. The house passed the public option before, and since Supak got what he wanted, there's no reason to believe they won't support it now.

So why shouldn't Franken propose the public option? If he thinks it's necessary, he has the right as a Senator to propose it. We as citizens deserve to know where our representatives stand. The Public Option still is more popular than the bill that just passed. Adding it now will only make Democrats stronger in November.

[DoubleKR]

12:27 PM on 03/24/2010

I think he and everyone else wants a public option, but right now it will muck things up and no one wants anything that will derail this accomplishment. I think the strategy is to use this legislation as the foundation and introduce the public option very soon. Whether or not that can pass, we'll see.

[meko]

01:30 PM on 03/24/2010

No it won't. What's there to muck up? The main bill passed.

Even one change in the wording of the reconciliation bill, however minor, would force it to go back to the House for another vote. While if the changes are indeed minor, getting 216 votes on it again shouldn’t be too heavy a lift, the entire premise of the Senate leadership whipping against amendments was predicated on the idea of avoiding another House vote. In this case, whipping against amendments that may make the bill more popular seems like a terribly short-sighted strategy.

[Aerows]

11:08 AM on 03/24/2010

Al Franken just makes me like him more every day.

[Funkylicious]

11:08 AM on 03/24/2010

The Man
-
-

the stare ...
the point ..
the voice ..
the truth
the conviction .
the steely cool
the intellect
the fight
the goodness
the courage
the determination
the style
the heart
the non-whiteness of his skin

THE PRESIDENT OF THESE UNITED STATES!

priceless (.) period..

(CHANGE HAS COME AFTER 100 YEARS ...WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW OVER THE NEXT 7 YEARS ? )
( endless possibilities with the true support of a CLEAR majority of the american people Sir .)

Slainte ..I salute you !
God bless you ...god bless the United States of America !

[meko]

11:14 AM on 03/24/2010

Nobody fought to get insurers their 30 million forced customers and their billions in premiums like he did. No one fought against real cost controls like drug re-importation, Medicare direct drug price negotiation, a public insurance option, Medicare buy-in, a central provider reimbursement negotiator, the right of states to set up their own single-payer, or a national rate regulator like he did.

Obama is true to those who he represents and he gets what he wants. Mandates.

[Pippen]

11:24 AM on 03/24/2010

Your confused meko, this is the HUFFPO website. You want the Fox Website. now scoot along and join your other kids and let the adults discuss U.S. Policies.

[gra8whit]

11:08 AM on 03/24/2010

Al knows this isn't a great bill and probably supported the public option which Obama/Emanuel never truly supported. The thing not mentioned is that health insurance companies can deny coverage and only pay $100/day. They're really good at math, so if you need treatment for leukemia or something deadly and rare, their calculations probably won't be in your favor. So, the frustration is understandable.

[laaambchop]

03:42 PM on 03/24/2010

But, but, but....

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1974757,00.html?xid=rss-politics-huffpo

[Lahonda]

10:13 AM on 03/24/2010

Plenty of exchanges like this occur daily. Senator Franken has more experience to draw from when he was outside the beltway. Go Al!!!

[meko]

11:12 AM on 03/24/2010

This is about providing cover for "progressives" when the volunteers on the left feel betrayed and decide they won't fight for them anymore. The party fought to get rid of everything the left wanted that would have controlled consumer costs: drug re-importation, Medicare direct drug price negotiation, a public insurance option, Medicare buy-in, a central provider reimbursement negotiator or a national regulator. The "progressive" representatives caved on everything.

First Rockefeller is for the public option, then he says he won't vote for it in reconciliation. First Grayson proposes an amendment to allow a Medicare buy-in, then he pulls it (and then he puts in a new bill). First Bennet writes a letter, but he says that challenging him to put forth an amendment is just a press release and not leadership.

It's back and forth and back and forth. A bit to look like a good guy and raise funds, and then take one for the team and get a big donation from pharma. It's a game.