I wrote a letter to the President. I emailed him. I know many will comment that this is futile. But I figure this is one of the arrows in a democrats quiver, albeit a small one. And besides, every time I write one of these, it hones for me what it is I believe. So if nothing else it was a useful exercise.
The body lies below the fold, for what it's worth.
Dear Mr. President,
This morning I read that you intend to give an address in the next week or so to make plain what needs to be in the health care reform bill you sign. I was heartened to see that. However, the same article intimated that a robust government-run health care option in the Health Care Exchange you plan to make available to the uninsured will not be one of those requirements. I sincerely hope that part of the article is inaccurate, and if it is not, that you'll change your mind.
I was one of the thousands who came to your primary rally in front of the Texas Capitol to hear you promised health care reform. I became a precinct 136 captain for your primary campaign, made calls, registered voters and herded hundreds to the polls and caucuses that night in March. I stayed until 1:30 a.m. to make sure I was counted for you.
Later that year I again registered voters, made calls and worked the polls for you. One of the main reasons I did this was the position you took on insisting on a public health care option to contain costs and foster competition. I pointed people to you website where that promise was prominently displayed. It sealed the deal on convincing many a voter to vote for you.
Not keeping this as a must in any bill that comes to your desk is not sacrificing the perfect for the good, or settling for half a loaf. It is dropping the loaf in the street and watching it get trampled under foot. Without this provision, and assuming a mandate to buy insurance, you are simply giving the health insurance industry an additional 45 million forced customers and a hefty government subsidy without any way to curb their avarice or force a new paradigm.
I've heard about co-ops, Mr. President and it is clear they will not work. They are not a cost containment mechanism. No other viable cost containment mechanism has been proposed, so why not insist on a public option as that mechanism since no one has offered a viable alternative?
This is personal Mr. President. My brother is unemployed, uninsured and has a pre-existing condition--arrhythmia and tachycardia. Without a public option for him, I'm sure he'd rather flout the law than to go back to private insurance. He had it when he had to be hospitalized for his condition, and the portion he was responsible for almost bankrupted him. He is one of the people you campaigned for, Mr. President, and he will suffer if you do not stand strong.
Bipartisanship requires good-faith partnership, Mr. President and it is clear that all Senators Grassley and Enzi meant to do in the so-called "gang of six" was to delay and water down a bill they never intended to vote for. This bill was going to be a Democratic-only bill in the end, anyway. You might as well have it contain the best policy, invite Republicans to join you and if they won't, screw your courage to the sticking place, and fight like hell to get the bill through.
This will not hurt Democrats with voters, especially after the dust settles and the truth of what's in the bill is clear. When people are polled honestly about the public option being one choice in a menu of options in the health care exchanges, 77 to 83 percent of the people are all for it. It is only the confused and ignorant who oppose it.
If you look at Research 2000's latest poll showing slipping approval numbers for you and Democrats in Congress, you'll notice that Republican number did not improve. You and the Democrats in Congress have lost ground to "not sure/undecided" and you're losing them among Democrats and independents. My suspicion is that they not don't know if they can trust you and Democrats in Congress to stand firm and fight for the right policy, including the public option. They feel betrayed by the wavering and fear that Democrats will capitulate, once again, to discredited right-wing arguments.
Just any old bill won't do, Mr. President. That is not change we can believe in. That is a betrayal of all the hours and dollars that I and others like me spent to get you and other Democrats elected in 2006 and 2008. And just like elections have consequences, so do policy decisions and lack of courage. I speak for no one but myself, but I suspect many, many others like me won't give one thin dime, or one moment of time to those who betray us in this fight.
I've already let the DNC, DSCC and DCCC know that they will not get one dime from me if Blue Dogs betray those progressives who help put them in office. They can go to the health industry lobbyists for succor for all I care, and I will give only to Act Blue, DFA and progressive organizations who make sure only progressives get my support. I am not stupid enough to not know when I've been kicked in the face.
The late great Senator Edward Kennedy told his son Patrick when negotiating, never be afraid to compromise on a bill to serve your principles, but never compromise your principles. He surely would not compromise here. He did not when President Bush and the Republican Congress reneged on their deal with him for Medicare Part D while the bill was in conference. He railed against it and tried to kill the bill. Alas, he failed. Do not fail him.
Draw a line in the sand on the public option. Those of us who worked so hard to elect you will have your back. For my brother and those like him, I'm asking you to have ours.