I'm loving the new and aggressive labor approach to primaries.
As health care reform enters its do-or-die stage in Congress, union leaders on Tuesday began threatening that they will work to 'take out' Democratic lawmakers who vote against the bill [...]
In a series of conversations with the Huffington Post, many of labor's leading voices pledged to launch a massive, arm-twisting effort to help persuade skeptical lawmakers to pass health care legislation into law. And in addition to their traditional ammunition -- from email campaigns to town hall events -- talk also centered on exacting electoral revenge against those who end up voting against reform.
"I hope this sends a message to Congress," Gerald McEntee, president of 1.6-million-member AFSCME, told the Huffington Post. "I think we have to demonstrate that we are not going to stand aside, that we are going to take them out if they don't help us at all."
We spent the last several months fighting for improvements to existing legislation. We were successful in some instances, not so successful in others. However, the clock has run out on the base legislation. It's either we take this important first step toward a truly equitable health care system, or the GOP and the insurance industry wins, and we see nothing for the next generation or two.
I'm not particularly happy with the Senate bill or its modest reconciliation fixes. But it is a foot in the door, and it will help millions of Americans get the health care they are currently denied.
I'm convinced that the insurance companies are too greedy and corrupt to play nice. And every time they violate the spirit of the new regulations, it'll provide added impetus for the kind of true systemic change that will fix our broken system. Remember, Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts had all but killed the impetus for health care reform, until Wellpoint-Anthem announced their ill-timed (for them) double-digit premium increases.
I still want to see a separate Senate vote on the public option -- we currently have 40 signatures on letter demanding the vote. One way to hold our party accountable and identify the roadblocks is by forcing these elected officials to go on the record with their votes. Those who vote against the public option will have a big, fat target painted on their backs in 2012. Absent a vote, I'm happy to consider the public option letter evidence enough.
And that target will be whale-sized for any Democrat who votes with the GOP and insurance industries against final passage of this legislation. It's not just me making idle threats. Otherwise Democratic health care reform opponents could justifiably laugh it off. It's the heavy hitters of the progressive movement, finally tired of the Democratic Party's inability to govern thanks to insidious internal obstructionists. Blanche Lincoln is getting a taste of it right now, and plenty more should expect that treatment in 2012.
Vote, fix, and keep fixing. But there will be nothing to fix, only the status quo, if we come out of this battle with nothing on the books.