Last week, as I discussed here on Daily Kos and I discuss in my weekly address below, I debated Republican Pat Toomey on health care:
As exciting as that debate was, there is a time for debate and then there is a time for action and accountability. After fifteen years since the defeat of the Clinton health care reform package, after the many years we all spent taking back Congress and the White House, after months of congressional hearings and negotiations, after the thousands of town halls held on health care this summer, we are entering a new phase of the health care fight.
This week, join me in signing a petition, which calls on our congressional leaders, Republicans and Democrats in the House and the Senate, to hold an up or down roll call vote on the public option.
Right now, 14,000 people are losing their health care coverage every day because our costs are skyrocketing. Meanwhile, too many politicians in Washington, who seem to be ignoring the lessons from Wall Street, would rather leave our health insurance reform up to the insurance companies. No matter what the final bill looks like, we deserve to know how our Representatives and Senators will vote on a public option – up or down!
In order to have an accountable government, at a minimum we need to have every member of the House and the Senate record a vote on the public option. We can work together to make sure that happens. Sign the petition today, and tell Congress that real health insurance reform requires real leadership that puts principle over politics, once and for all!