Please, we need you now! Today! The HELP Committee needs an immediate spine transplant.
Didn't we win the election? Didn't we give President Obama a mandate to deliver us authentic healthcare reform? There is no room, none whatsoever, for bipartisan compromise on healthcare reform.
[Update]
Just received an email followed by a phone call from someone with knowledge of the HELP committee negotiations vis a vis the Public option and the reason for its delay in the mark up.
Here's what I'm told is happening.
Seems there are not the Democratic votes on the HELP committee for a strong public option. Hagan and Bingaman are the obstructions. They are attempting to water down the public option, probably this source said, into something resembling a co-op.
Hagan and Bingaman need to hear from their constituents and all outraged Americans.
Were this to happen, the HELP committee would risk losing Bernie Sanders, who we know would not allow a shit public option to be included.
[update continued]
I am told, there are negotiations underway to get Hagan and Bingamen on board with a strong and authentic public option.
Call Hagan and Bingamen NOW and tell them the train has left the station and to get on board for the public option.
Returning to mcjoan's excellent diary which she posted yesterday. Read it for a clear and precise understanding of what's happening and why your input is so urgently required.
Here's the take home message from a contact mcjoan has on Capitol Hill:
"We're still hearing conflicting things, but there is a very real danger that the HELP committee is considering going ahead without putting a public option in the bill, making it necessary to add the public option in via amendment as opposed to protecting it from being stripped. This would stack the deck against the public option and make it much more likely we couldn't get the votes in committee to add it at all, or would have to weaken the public option to get it passed. Bottom line, going forward without a public option in the bill is like starting the game down by 10 points."
51 Votes. 51 votes.
Why isn't the HELP committee carrying the legacy of its Chairman, Senator Kennedy?
Wasn't Senator Dodd supposed to be carrying the torch for his very ill colleague?
Tell Dodd, Reed, Cantwell, Harkin and the others, we need the public option to be embedded in the bill, to do otherwise would be like going into the ring against George Foreman with one arm tied behind your back.
The mark up of the bill is happening at this very moment.
Dodd's U.S. Senate web site is live streaming the hearing at this very moment. Click here for the live stream. This is why calls all day today are urgent.
Call Sen. Dodd, who is Kennedy's standard-bearer on this one, and tell him a robust public option must be included in the draft that goes to markup: Tel: (202) 224-2823 | Fax: (202) 224-1083. You can also e-mail the committee: help_comments@help.senate.gov. While you're at it, here's the rest of the Democrats on the committee:
Tom Harkin (IA): (202) 224-3254
Barbara A. Mikulski (MD): (202) 224-4654
Jeff Bingaman (NM): (202) 224-5521
Patty Murray (WA: (202) 224-2621
Jack Reed (RI): (202) 224-4642
Bernard Sanders (I) (VT): (202) 224-5141
Sherrod Brown (OH): (202) 224-2315
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA): (202) 224-6324
Kay Hagan (NC): (202) 224-6342
Jeff Merkley (OR): (202) 224-3753
Help the HELP committee help all of us, but making them hold the line on the public option. While you're at it, call the White House at (202) 456-1414.
Tell the White House, no more compromising on healthcare, we demand a robust and authentic public option. No triggers. No co-ops. Remind President Obama, we won and we funded his campaign.
DASCHLE DOLE COMPROMISE COMING TODAY:
Still not angry? Wonder how much money Daschle and Dole are being paid for this?
Former Senate Leaders Press Compromise Plan to Fix Health Care
June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Former Senate majority leaders, including Democrat Tom Daschle and Republican Robert Dole, are promoting a health-care overhaul plan aimed at bridging differences between Republicans and Democrats and overcoming objections by doctors, hospitals and insurers.
Daschle, Dole and Republican Howard Baker are scheduled to release a bipartisan plan today that would tax some employer- provided health-insurance premiums, require individuals and large employers to buy health insurance, and create public insurance pools run by states instead of the federal government.
The proposals were put together over 15 months by the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center, which was started by Daschle, Dole, Baker and former Democratic Senate leader George Mitchell. Congress is drafting a bill to revamp health care, which President Barack Obama calls "the single most important thing we can do for America’s long-term fiscal health."
http://www.bloomberg.com/...
I just got off a a very urgent and truthfully, very worried, healthcare conference call. Things are in a state of extreme flux and the forces of the status quo are well-funded and supremely well-organized.
These were the final words of the conference call.
"We've got our work cut out, there's not a minute, an hour or a day we can lose."
Dear Kossacks, it's up to us.