Yes!
I have been increasingly worried that health care reform was going the way of reform of mortgages (killed by the bank lobby) - and that pharma and the insurance lobby were going to roll congress by spending millions of dollars in bribes- i.e. we'll pay to get you re-elected if you abandon the public option.
Earlier, Robert Reich had an excellent post at TPM on this issue - how Snowe was being groomed as a stalking horse to kill the public option.
I have two liberal Senators from Massachusetts, and Ed Markey in the House - so I am not worried about them caving - and casting about for what to do, I decided to write the White House.
more after the jump
Earlier I sent Obama a letter basically imploring him to step up and campaign for the public option.
Dear President Obama:
Please help Congress stand up to Pharma and Insurance lobbyists in Congress.
during your campaign you repeatedly talked about how our government was effectively controlled by special interests who used their lobbying money to defeat ideas that would help the common good.
Nothing is more important than reforming health care. Yet individual Senators and Congressmen will not be able to withstand millions of dollars of lobbying money and reelection support given them by pharma and insurance companies if they kill the public option in health care.
You repeatedly promised Americans access to the same publicly funded health plan available to members of Congress. Do not go back on this pledge.
You have to stand up and lead us in demanding that a public option is included so that those who are denied coverage, cannot afford coverage, or are stuck in areas of the country with inadequate coverage, have the option of joining a public plan. etc etc.
Now comes this- from the New York Times:
Obama to Forge Greater Role on Health Care
But Mr. Obama has grown concerned that he is losing the debate over certain policy prescriptions he favors, like a government-run insurance plan to compete with the private sector, said one Democrat familiar with his thinking. With Congress beginning a burst of work on the measure, top advisers say, the president is determined to make certain the final bill bears his stamp.
This is the fight over health care. As many have said here, without a public option, the insurance companies and the drug companies will craft a program to maintain their profits- not to give the U.S. the same level of health care as other industrialized countries.
I was thrilled with this - because leadership in this cycle is coming from the top - not from Harry Reid and the committee chairman - who are still mired in the go along get along type of politics they have been used to.
We need to get behind this in a big way - so the public option is present in all media discussions etc
Update Rec List. Thanks. Here is anotherlink - this to Matt Bai's article in the Sunday NYT magazine - on Obama's strategy on the Hill - basically he is saying Clinton pushed on the leaders - while Obama is focusing on huge numbers of rank and file Senators/Congressmen/women - and suggests that Obama has hired many of their top staffers to provide back and forth ties - Also says Max Baucus not firmly against public option - but waiting to see how wind is blowing-
Final Link - I have to go to bed. If you haven't read Atul Gawande's article in the New Yorker on health care costs, please do. It is the best, and most hopeful, thing I have seen recently that says if control is taken away from insurance companies there are real ways to get more quality care at lower costs, by rethinking doctor incentives.
Highest health care costs in the nation are - you guessed it - Texas. He shows direct link between degree of privatization - i.e. doctor owned for profit hospitals - and costs - that is why the public option and lower costs are inextricably linked. Otherwise health care is simply gamed to make money for investors, (HCA anyone) and insurance companies.