Dear DKOS members,
It was just announced that the healthcare town hall of all healthcare townhalls, the first Ben Nelson healthcare townhall, is due to take place here in Omaha on Wednesday.
We need help in formulating the most trenchant questions and brief comments, specifically those that will take apart his lack of support for the public options.
Ummmm.....here I must confess my ignorance....
I have a my growing knowledge of the main healthcare talking points and a general favorable disposition towards government action to reign in private profiteering in certain cases. I have a general trust that the progressive members of congress have analyzed the public option and decided it is best.
However, I do not feel I have a firm grip on the specifics of why a public option or government plan will challenge private insurers more than a "government-sponsored cooperative"
"Blue Cross is already non-profit" is not a sufficient argument. I need to know what specific things a government entity could do that at government-sponsored non-profit private entity could or would not.
This really seems to be the crux of the intra-Democratic battle right now.
Again, please facts, logic, not broadside vents at the insurers or Ben: you'll be wasting effort preaching to the convinced and wasting discussion space.
We need a miracle: a way to make Ben feel he can and must support (or at least back off his attacks on) the public option.
If it comes from the Nebraska grassroots (with a little help thrashing out the issues with our DKOS friends) all the better.
I am very plugged in to the Democratic and especially the progressive Democratic community here, so you can be sure that the best distilled comments and questions will be well distributed to Ben Nelson's constituents before the discussion on Wednesday.
Come on Netroots! This is where our community intelligence can really make a difference.