For the past three weeks, the unions such as AFSCME and AFL-CIO, are going after Senator Ron Wyden, who wants to kill the public option in health care reform and substitute it with his own cockamamie plan to tax employer health benefits.
In my previous diary about the unions going to bat for us, they targeted Senator Wyden because of what he said to them in a meeting earlier this month below the jump:
When Ken Allen, the union’s Oregon state chair, came out of a meeting with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) he told a gathering of fellow union members outside that the senator "wants to force everyone to buy health insurance and has no public section of his health care bill to cover the uninsured. We pushed him very hard on a public plan and he wants to tax our health benefits." The union members booed. Allen promised that unions in Oregon "will put the whoop on" Wyden to shift his positions.
The AFSCME and the AFL-CIO have created an action item, such as this e-mail form for us to use to send to Senator Ron Wyden. I would suggest that you edit the letter form with your own thoughts, rather than just sending it off with this boilerplate letter.
Now, it's not just Senator Ron Wyden that we have to fight. It's Senators Max Baucus, Ben Nelson, and others who want to push the public option SEVERAL YEARS into the future by having the public option as a "trigger" in case private insurance fails to offer us affordable coverage. Uh...I'd like to offer this news alert to them below:
NEWS ALERT: PRIVATE INSURANCE HAS ALREADY FAILED! IT'S THE TRIGGER FOR THE PUBLIC OPTION!
Democracy For America has asked for our help to fight this stupid "7-year trigger" plan by the so-called Senate moderates such as Senator Ben Nelson. Once again, let's remind ourselves of what he said on this below:
Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat and another member of the finance committee, said he favors the idea of a "trigger" that would expand government-provided health insurance only if other new attempts at expanding health-care coverage through the private sector appear inadequate. Nelson said he is wary of a big expansion of the government’s role in providing care.
The public option, he said, should be seen as a "backup."
Please CALL Senator Ben Nelson below at (202) 224-6551 and let him know that you don't agree with him on using the public option as a back-up.
- Tell Senator Ben Nelson that you DO NOT want the trigger for the public option, and that you want him to support a strong, robust Medicare-like public option. We NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option NOW, not more of the SAME broken system that's given us unaffordable premiums, little private insurance coverage, and rising co-pays. Also, don't TAX OUR EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFITS. Instead, follow the proposal by President Obama to tax the wealthy above $250,000, eliminate the overpayments in Medicare Advantage, and put tax capital gains to help fund health care reform.
Please CALL Senator Max Baucus at (202) 224-2651 with this message below:
Tell Senator Baucus that you DO NOT want the 7-year trigger for the public option and take it off the table, and that you want him to support a strong, robust Medicare-like public option. We NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option NOW, not more of the SAME broken system that's given us unaffordable premiums, little private insurance coverage, and rising co-pays. Also, don't TAX OUR EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFITS. Instead, follow the proposal by President Obama to tax the wealthy above $250,000, eliminate the overpayments in Medicare Advantage, and put tax capital gains to help fund health care reform.
Please CALL Senator Charles Schumer at 202-224-6542 with this message below:
Tell Senator Schumer that you DO NOT want the 7-year trigger for the public option and take it off the table, and that you want him to support a strong, robust Medicare-like public option. We NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option NOW, not more of the SAME broken system that's given us unaffordable premiums, little private insurance coverage, and rising co-pays. Also, don't TAX OUR EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFITS. Instead, follow the proposal by President Obama to tax the wealthy above $250,000, eliminate the overpayments in Medicare Advantage, and put tax capital gains to help fund health care reform.
Here's also the suggested script from Democracy For Americato use in calling your own Senators:
Supporter -
Republicans have figured out that they can't beat us on healthcare reform if they fight inclusion of a public option head on. So, instead they are looking for different ways to kill a public option without actually calling it that.
This week they launched their first real attempt and it is already picking up a bit of steam among so-called Senate moderates.
They call it "the trigger."
They want Americans to keep the same broken system we have now and give the insurance industry one more chance to fix it on their own. Then, if insurance companies fail, the bill would "trigger" the public option -- you know, in like 7 years or so.
We need to act right now. Call your Senators and tell them that a so-called trigger is a no go.
Senate Switchboard
(202) 224-3121
Suggested script:
"I oppose the healthcare trigger. Please ask the Senator to stand up against the insurance industry and the so-called ‘trigger' for a public option. We need the choice of a public healthcare option now, not more of the same broken healthcare system for years to come."
The real fight has begun. We need to act fast, make our position clear and fight for real reform. Please make your calls right now.
Tell Congress we didn't vote to wait -- We voted for change.
Thank you for everything you do.
-Charles
Charles Chamberlain, Political Director
Democracy for America
Also, can you please CALL these THREE chairmen in the House of Representatives, especially Rep. Waxman who's leading the charge on health care reform below?
Ways and Means Committee Chair Charlie Rangel ((202) 225-3625)
Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman ((202) 225-2927)
Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller ((202) 225-3725)
So, PLEASE CALL and let them KNOW that you want a Medicare-like public option in health care reform! Ask them not to pass a bill out of the House that does NOT include a strong, robust Medicare-like public option.
I'll include the comments line for the White House here again. Please ask President Obama to fight for us in support of a strong, robust Medicare-like public option in health care reform, and that you need him to lead on this. Tell him the public option is the line in the sand for you, and that it won't be real health care reform without the public option, and NOT TO TAX OUR EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFITS.
CALL the White House at: 202-456-1111 and E-MAIL them as well!
The public option IS THE LINE in the sand for me. Is it the line in the sand for you as well? Then make these calls TODAY and don't let up on the pressure!
Also, don't forget to help out Netroots Nation 2009 by donating to Democracy For America to help out more people like me attend Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh!
I hate to do this, but this diary is dropping down the list. We really NEED to make the calls today, so can you please REC this diary UP so that people can see this diary and make their own phone calls?