CALL YOUR SENATORS!!!
"We have 50 votes to do something significant in healthcare, in education, in infrastructure, in energy, and in the process we can create (over a period of time) millions of good paying jobs." - [I-VT]: Bernie Sanders (on The Rachel Maddow Show, Wednesday February 17, 2010]
WOW!!! I just progressively messed my liberal trousers!
Clean up over the jump...
In her segment last night entitled "The Public Option is Dead. Long Live the Public Option", Rachel Maddow interviewed Senator Bernie Sanders who gave an impassioned explanation of how the Democrats could pass healthcare reform by doing what he and [at the time of broadcast] 10 other senators had just done, "calling for the return of the public option through the magic of reconciliation" [quoting Rachel] presented in letter form to Senate Majority Leader[?] Harry Reid.
Shortly afterwards, as first noted and diaried by "nandssmith" [h/t Cedwyn] and followed up by "mediafreeze's" Rec List diary here at Big-O, 14 Senators had "indicated support" for passing HCR using reconciliation. The 11 senators of which Rachel spoke had actually signed the letter sent to Leader[?] Reid.
I could go into detail on this, but I would much rather defer all of you to last night's 8 minute segment on TRMS.
From what I understand, a vote under budget reconciliation for healthcare and/or some or all of the other aforementioned measures could occur in as little as 24 hours.
So if the Dems could get those lumps out of their throats and instead put them in their pants [referring to the male Senators of course because female lumps in pants don't... well... you know what I'm saying]...
GROW A PAIR YOU COWARDLY DEM F*CKS! [figuratively speaking, for teh ladies]
Ahem... yes, well, I almost made it through a diary using civil discourse. Yet again, my/our anger at the inaction [for now?] on healthcare reform and other legislature has gotten the best of me.
Therefore, I will quote from last night's EPICsode and leave it to She [that's right, in her case "She" deserves capitalization IMO] who is much better than me [yes, I know it's supposed to be "I" - but it didn't rhyme - I'm a poet and didn't know it! =P] to summarize the ONLY way that we will see ANY important legislation get passed by this Congress for Obama, his administration, but most importantly, for all of us Americans:
"Democrats have to do this alone."
- Rachel Maddow
UPDATE:
(an excellent, and appropriately "illuminating" comment from fellow Kossack, "lighttheway" - I'm clever!)
60 came close to destroying the party. (1+ / 0-)
Perhaps they already have for the next election or two. That remains to be seen. But 50 can put us back on the path that we all voted for in 2008. This is their last chance. If they blow it, we are doomed. I pray they figure it out soon. The window is closing on them fast.