It should be a no-brainer that a strongly Democratic Congress, under a newly-elected, popular Democratic President with a mandate, should be able to enact meaningful healthcare reform. It also seems like it would be obvious as a matter of electoral politics that failure to enact healthcare this year would be a disaster for the Democratic party -- the Republicans certainly realize this, hence their unanimous obstructionism.
But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is dithering and temporizing, particularly on the core principle of a strong public option. So we need to do everything we can to hold his feet to the fire and make him realize that we will no longer accept such behavior. It's important for all of us to contact Senator Reid now, and keep the pressure on. It is time for him to act like the leader of his party for a change. More below the fold, with contact information.
We have a strongly Democratic Congress. We have a newly-elected, popular Democratic President who came close to a landslide, and ran on healthcare reform. In other words, we have a mandate. As I stated above, it also seems like it would be obvious to any Democratic member who's spent his or her life in electoral politics that, strictly as a political matter, failure to enact healthcare this year would be a disaster for the Democratic party -- the Republicans certainly realize this, hence their unanimous obstructionism. They know that blocking healthcare is their only hope for a near-term comeback.
So it follows that Harry Reid, Democratic Majority Leader of the Democratic Senate, should be doing everything in his power to make sure that healthcare -- meaningful healthcare, with a robust public option -- gets out of committee and through the Senate, sooner rather than later. But for some reason Reid is waffling -- he's encouraging the misguided, dead-end Finance Committee negotiations with Grassley and Enzi (even though both have indicated that their goal is to kill healthcare reform), and he's waffled on the public option. Sometimes he sounds like he's for it, other times he makes noises about a "privatized public option", whatever that means (you can be sure nothing good -- probably something along the lines of Conrad's ineffective co-op).
It's time for Reid to start acting like a Democrat, and like a leader. We in the progressive community need to make it clear, in a respectful way, that the current situation is unacceptable and that, as Majority Leader, he needs to do everything within his considerable power to make sure President Obama's healthcare reform geths through the Senate, including a strong public option -- not some watered down figleaf that won't attract any Republican support anyway.
You can contact Senator Reid as follows. Please keep your communications polite, but make them forceful -- he has to learn that the Democratic base simply won't tolerate business as usual on this issue. We need real reform now.
E-mail Senator Harry Reid http://reid.senate.gov/...
Hand written letters are good, but given the anthrax issue and congressional mail screening, letters hand delivered to a local office would probably be most effective. Phone calls are also fine -- anything to keep the pressure on.
DC Address: The Honorable Harry Reid
United States Senate
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-2803
Carson City
600 East William Street, #302
Carson City, NV 89701
Phone: 775-882-7343 / Fax: 775-883-1980
Las Vegas
Lloyd D. George Building
333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8016
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: 702-388-5020 / Fax: 702-388-5030
Reno
Bruce R. Thompson Courthouse and Federal Building
400 South Virginia Street, Suite 902
Reno, NV 89501
Phone: 775-686-5750 / Fax: 775-686-5757
Rural Nevada Outreach Contact
Matt Tuma
Phone: 775-686-5750 / Fax: 775-686-5757
Washington
528 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-3542 / Fax: 202-224-7327
Toll Free for Nevadans: 1-866-SEN-REID (736-7343) -Restricted to calls originating from area codes 775 and 702