ZOMG! Yesterday was amazing. The House of Representatives finally did what we have not been able to do for about a century: enact health care reform that expands coverage to 95% of Americans and puts a check on the rapacious insurance industry.
No the bill isn't perfect, but it's a massive achievement. Huge. The Overton Window has just been moved to the other wall. For the first time in American history, we have the legally established principle that all Americans deserve access to health care. Getting rid of the insurance = access model just wasn't going to happen in this, the first step of health care reform. But it's a tremendous first step we just took and it helps propel us towards the ultimate goal of single payer.
Of course, we're not out of the woods entirely yet; the reconciliation bill still needs to get out of the Senate. So onward ho! We must continue calling our Senators and telling them to pass the reconciliation bill.
Part of that is maintaining the momentum from last night's historic vote. What exactly does that mean? Well, step one is to call your Rep and whichever other Reps you wish to thank and support; we must continue to heap praise upon Speaker Pelosi and all the members of her Dem caucus that supported and voted for the HCR bill. Since we're all still calling the Senate anyway, what's a few more dials?
Secondly, in addition to calling in our support and thank yous, we should all get the backs of Reps who are vulnerable because of this vote. They will undoubtedly be the target of every nasty GOP campaign trick and we have to come through for them like they came through for us. There is just too much at stake in November for us to not leave everything on the road for our Dems. If the GOP gets back in power, we will be two steps forward, 1.5 steps back, not just on health care, but on countless other progressive agenda items.
Thirdly, it is Pelosi's birthday Friday. Let's shower her with roses like we did Barbara Boxer after she contested the Ohio vote in 2004. Coast-to-Coast Florist is once again offering the deal they gave us for the Boxer campaign; $10 will send 3 roses to Pelosi's Washington D.C. office. Madame Speaker rocked it out on this vote and it would be just awesome to end her week with this.
Fourthly, as Tim F. reminds us, we should write Letters to the Editor wherever appropriate. The impact of LTEs really can't be overstated, especially since we know the following: the teabaggers aren't staying quiet about this, but neither are they wordsmiths. So we must take advantage of that fact in balancing the narrative with supportive messages. LTEs are especially important, again, for the Dems made most vulnerable by this vote. And while it's true that they will have the most impact now while the bill is still the hot, hot news, it is also true that they remain relevant as long as the Senate is still working on the reconciliation bill. So we should work that from both angles.
That's it for any official actiony goodness-type stuff. But since I do abhor even numbers and five is so cool and all, I'll throw in that, fifthly, we should !@#$%& celebrate! History was made yesterday and there is no reason on Earth not to be all kinds of excited about March 21, 2010. Nota bene.
Let's do this!