In a front page post yesterday, mcjoan summarized a conference call between the Obama administration and bloggers. The folks on the call asked good and pertinent questions.
But rather than recap their questions or the president's answers, many of which were designed--and properly so--to reassure the left, I listened carefully to the president's opening remarks with an ear toward what he and his administration would like for bloggers to do in order to move health care reform forward at this point in time.
Through that filter several things stood out. The most pertinent is that they would like for blogs to focus more on "the human cost" of inaction.
Below the fold, I'll recap the areas where I gleaned the Administration would like our help along with some pertinent data of the human costs the administration has particularly asked blogs to focus on.
For those who haven't heard about this call yet, the gist is that President Obama, David Axelrod, and Nancy Ann DeParle (whom the Prez called a "chief member of his health care braintrust") engaged with the blogosphere to "make sure that [bloggers and their readers] hear from him directly." He also answered questions from several well-known folks in Leftblogistan, including Kossacks mcjoan and dday (who diaried his experience).
Thanks to John Amato over at Crooks and Liars, I was able to listen to the audiofeed of the call. During President Obama's opening remarks, he laid out three basic tasks for the blogosphere, the third seemingly the most important from his point of view.
Task #1: Keep calling out Democrats, including using special interest money against them.
This task was more veiled than the subsequent ones, and the president has plausible deniability regarding the inclusion of Democrats. The subtext I heard was that pressure from the left is welcome on this issue no matter whom the target.
The president said,
"The special interests and some of their representatives in Congress are going to pull out everything they have to stop [reform]."
He as much as said that the Congress members impeding progress are tools of lobbyists. He reminds us that those in opposition to reform have not offered alternatives and that anyone defending the status quo is "defending the indefensible".
Task #2: Spread the word: The plan the president wants is deficit neutral, and most of its opponents who use cost as a reason for inaction were MIA on deficits for the past 8 years.
What he said:
"One of the things I know the blogs are best at is debunking myths that can slip through a lot of the traditional media, a lot of the conventional wisdom...for example, the idea that the legislation I sign is going to be a source of record deficits is simply not true."
He's insisting upon a bill that is paid for over the next 10 years; he estimates that as much 2/3 of the cost will be borne by "reallocat[ing] tax dollars that are already into the system" by ending "unwarranted giveaways, hundreds of billions of dollars, to insurance companies".
And, p.s., he inherited a HUUUUGGGE deficit.
Task #3: Keep the pressure on Congress. Make them feel their constituents' pain and desperation.
President Obama said,
"There's a default position of inertia here in Washington...making sure that people [in Congress] feel the desperation that ordinary families are feeling all across the country every day when they're worrying about whether they can pay their premiums or not, or how to deal with a loss of insurance when they lose their job, people have to feel that in a visceral way."
How can we make Congress feel that? Viscerally? This seems to be the priority the administration has for bloggers. mcjoan tells us:
Axelrod continued to reinforce the urgency of this effort, and of the necessity for the netroots to keep talking about the "enormous human price of inaction."
So anyone who has a personal healthcare horror story, please make sure it gets shared. Email it to your congresscritters. Share it on the Organizing for America site.
If you don't have a personal story to share, tell your Congresspeople how many folks in your state will lose insurance during their August recess.
I found a very useful .pdf through an organization called Families USA, which is "a national nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans. Working at the national, state, and community levels, [Families USA has] earned a national reputation as an effective voice for health care consumers for 25 years."
The orginal document, which includes their seemingly sound methodology, is located here.
I can't imagine there's much that's more powerful than telling a senator that during his/her vacation over 2,000 constituents will lose their insurance.
And, as always, look for action diaries from nyceve and slinkerwink.