I'm so tired of these stupid Blue Dog Democrats trying to hold up health care reform in the House of Representatives. It's a good thing that we have the Congressional Progressive Caucus working to hold the line for a strong, robust Medicare-like public option in health care reform.
In a separate closed-door session in the speaker’s office, Pelosi and Hoyer urged Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) to heed the concerns of moderate Democrats.
Enough is enough with these Blue Dog Democrats holding up progress, and leaders like Hoyer and Pelosi urging the rest of the Democrats to listen to these Blue Dog Democrats!
Moderate Democrats have been warning their leaders for weeks against pushing proposals that undermine the private market, particularly a so-called public option that could dissuade consumers or businesses from purchasing private insurance. In a letter to their leaders last week, fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats said a public option should be created only if insurance market reforms and increased competition don’t lower costs on their own.
Rangel and Waxman have both rejected this argument.
“Everyone can’t get everything,” Waxman told reporters Tuesday. “Why should private companies object to competition?”
Rangel and Waxman are RIGHT. They, along with George Miller, are the ones shepherding through health care reform with a public option in the House of Representatives. They're facing a lot of pressure from these turncoat Blue Dog Democrats.
IT'S TIME TO SHUT IT DOWN NOW.
Tell Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer to STOP listening to these turncoat Blue Dog Democrats and to LISTEN to US instead!
CALL Speaker Nancy Pelosi at (202) 225-0100
CALL Majority Leader Steny Hoyer at 202.225.3130
CALL these three House chairmen with these talking points below, and add that YOU DO NOT want them to listen to these turncoat Blue Dog Democrats.
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)
Here's the talking points that you can and should use when calling in favor of a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, and remember, the "trigger" may happen if we don't let up in our opposition to it in our phone calls:
Tell [Name] 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 an affordable strong, robust Medicare-like public option. We NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option NOW OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS AND AFFORDABLE, 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. TELL YOUR MEMBER NO ON THE SCHUMER COMPROMISE.
CALL the White House at: 202-456-1111 and E-MAIL them as well!
Please CALL Senator Max Baucus at (202) 224-2651
Please CALL Senator Olympia Snowe at (202) 224-5344
Please CALL Senator Charles Schumer at 202-224-6542
Please CALL Senator Edward Kennedy at (202) 224-4543
Please CALL Senator John Rockefeller at (202) 224-6472
Please CALL Senator Ron Wyden at (202) 224-5244
Please CALL Senator Kent Conrad at (202) 224-2043
Please CALL Senator Jeff Bingaman at (202) 224-5521
Please CALL Senator John Kerry at (202) 224-2742
Please CALL Senator Blanche Lincoln at 202-224-4843
Please CALL Senator Debbie Stabenow at (202) 224-4822
Please CALL Senator Maria Cantwell at 202-224-3441
Please CALL Senator Bill Nelson at 202-224-5274
Please CALL Senator Robert Menendez at 202-224-4744
Please CALL Senator Thomas Carper at (202) 224-2441
It's really important that we CALL these Senators on the Senate Finance Committee because some of them are still SERIOUSLY considering the 7-year trigger for the public option in case private insurance fails. Well, here's a frickin' news alert--private insurance ALREADY has failed us.
We have to get them to stop considering the public option as a "fall-back trigger" seven years from now, because we NEED a Medicare-like public option NOW that is affordable and OPEN TO ALL Americans.
ALSO, CALL ALL OF THESE BLUE DOGS AND TELL THEM TO STOP HOLDING UP PROGRESS AND TO SUPPORT A STRONG, ROBUST MEDICARE-LIKE PUBLIC OPTION WITH NO TRIGGERS OR CONDITIONS!
Use this congressional hotline to do so: Capitol Hill 800-828-0498
Blue Dog Leadership Team
Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy
Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA-03), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications
Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11), Blue Dog Whip
Blue Dog Members
Barrow, John (GA-12)
Boren, Dan (OK-02)
Boyd, Allen (FL-02)
Bright, Bobby (AL-02)
Cardoza, Dennis (CA-18)
Childers, Travis (MS-01)
Costa, Jim (CA-20)
Cuellar, Henry (TX-28)
Davis, Lincoln (TN-04)
Donnelly, Joe (IN-02)
Ellsworth, Brad (IN-08)
Giffords, Gabrielle (AZ-08)
Gordon, Bart (TN-06)
Griffith, Parker (AL-05)
Hill, Baron (IN-09)
McIntyre, Mike (NC-07)
Marshall, Jim (GA-03)
Matheson, Jim (UT-02)
Melancon, Charlie (LA-03)
Michaud, Mike (ME-02)
Minnick, Walt (ID-01)
Mitchell, Harry (AZ-05)
Moore, Dennis (KS-03)
Nye, Glenn (VA-02)
Peterson, Collin (MN-07)
Pomeroy, Earl (ND)
Salazar, John (CO-03)
Scott, David (GA-13)
Shuler, Heath (NC-11)
Space, Zack (OH-18)
Tanner, John (TN-08)
Taylor, Gene (MS-04)
Make them regret they ever tried to hold up progress on a strong, Medicare-like public option in health care reform.
If you want a strong, robust Medicare-like public option, then the time to fight is here and NOW! Let's not stop on making these calls!
A strong, robust Medicare-like public option is the line in the sand for me. Is it the line in the sand for you as well?
Cross-posted to my blog at The Line In The Sand.