No Surrender

Greg Sargent quotes CPC head Raul Grijalva:

Dem Rep. Raul Grijalva, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is issuing a strong rebuke to fellow liberals who may be inclined to accept a compromise involving a public option “trigger,” saying it would amount to waving a “white flag” and “a surrender.”

Grijalva made the claim after I checked in with his office for a comment on today’s Roll Call story reporting that some “key” House progressives are open to such a compromise. In a statement emailed to me, Grijalva said that most House progressives would in fact stand firm and still vote against a bill with a trigger:

“The vast majority of CPC is not prepared to wave a white flag on public option. A trigger would be a surrender.”

If the “vast majority” of the five dozen or so House progressives did vote against the bill, as Grijalva vows they would, it wouldn’t pass.

Also noteworthy: Grijalva’s description of a trigger as “surrender” leaves liberals no wiggle room to support it. When it comes to the trigger, House progressive leaders are refusing to budge.

No, there is no wiggle room. Bravo, Raul: you've figured out that the White House must learn that it cannot ever take progressives for granted, and that no amount of screaming Rahm Emmanuel can change that.

The White House has clearly decided it wants to jettison the plan, if not in public: Jane Hamsher points out that behind the scenes the progressives are getting "hammered" by the White House. All the more reason to stand firm.