Tomorrow (Tuesday) is a critical day in the saga of the public option. Democrats Charles Schumer (New York) and Jay Rockefeller (West Virginia) are introducing an amendment to include the public option in the bill to be reported out by the Senate Finance Committee -- the committee anointed by the White House as its favored vehicle for getting health care reform.You can find the full text of Reiche's piece here. You can find contact info for your senator here. And it will take the vote of your Democratic senators. Republicans will not be on board. Unfortunately, too many Democrats are bought and paid for, too.
Before you read another word, call and email the Senate offices of Democrats Max Baucus (Montana), Tom Carper (Delaware), Robert Menendez (New Jersey), Kent Conrad (North Dakota), Jeff Bingaman (New Mexico), John Kerry (MA), Blanche Lincoln (Arkansas), Ron Wyden (Oregon), Debbie Stabenow (Michigan), Maria Cantwell (Washington), and Bill Nelson (Florida) -- telling them you want them to vote in favor of the public option amendment. And get everyone you know in these states to do the same. Hell, you might as well phone and email Republican Olympia Snowe (Maine) and make the same pitch.
Background: Every dollar squeezed out of Big Pharma and Big Insurance is a dollar less that you'll have to pay either in healthcare costs or in taxes to cover healthcare costs. The two most direct ways to squeeze future profits are allowing Medicare to use its huge bargaining leverage to negotiate lower drug prices, and creating a public insurance option to compete with private insurers and also use its bargaining clout to get lower prices and thereby push private insurers to offer lower rates.29 September 2009
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Last Thursday, for example, the Senate Finance Committee rejected Ben Nelson's amendment to require Big Pharma to give some $160 billion in discounts to Medicare -- thereby reducing the bonanza Pharma would reap from the healthcare bill. Not surprisingly, all Republicans voted against the amendment. But it was defeated only because Dems Baucus, Carper, and Menendez voted with the Republicans.
Addition: Votes were held on two public option amendments today. In both cases, the public option failed to pass.
The first amendment, the more "liberal" of the two, but also ironically the more fiscally conservative, was put forward by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D- WV). The vote against it was 15-8. Democrats who failed America today by voting against this amendment, joining all of the Republicans on the committee in so doing, were Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and Tom Carper (D-Del.).
The second amendment, put forward by New York's Charles Schumer, failed to pass 13-10. Again, all Republicans sold out their constituents. Joining them were Democrats Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). Lincoln voted by proxy, not even bothering to show up for the vote.
There will be no public option in the Senate Finance Committee's "health care" bill.
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