Public Option Reporting And Activism Updates

by: Chris Bowers

Thu Jun 04, 2009 at 11:07


Two quick updates on the public option this morning:
  1. Up to 37 Senators In Favor Of Public Option: Last night, a reader from Washington wrote in to say that he had called Senator Patty Murray's office concerning her support for the public option. The reader reported that Senator Murray was "open to a public option as an alternative to private insurance." Given that Senator Murray is currently listed as "Don't Know" on the "Stand with Dr. Dean" crowdsourcing page on the public option, that adds one more to the total in favor of the public option. This brings the total to 37, only 13 away from passage with reconciliation and a tie-breaking vote from Vice-President Biden.

    Great work! If you want to contact any of the 22 remaining Democratic Senators who are currently "unknown" on the public option, choose from a list here. The page has both email and telephone contacts. We only need 13 of those 22 Democrats, and Al Franken should be able to provide one of the votes soon. This is a winnable fight.

  2. Kennedy trying to score Enzi: There had been talk of Senator Ted Kennedy releasing his health care plan, which will frame the Senate discussion on health care from the left, back on Monday. I have heard that the reason for the delay in the release of his plan is that he is trying to convince Republican Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi to be a co-signer. The idea is that Enzi would add a bi-partisan flavor to the bill.

    Now, this may seem like a longshot, but there are still two reasons it is a good move from Kennedy. First, if Enzi did sign, then it would practically guarantee passage of Kennedy's bill, as it would outflank many reluctant Democrats and even a few reluctant Republicans. Second, even though he is a stalwart progressive, Kennedy is actually considered the most bipartisan Senator by Republicans. If anyone can pull this off, it is Kennedy.

    On the off chance that you happen to either be from, or currently living in, Wyoming, give Senator Enzi a call at 202-224-6441. You can also send him an email here. Ask him to co-sponsor the Kennedy health care reform plan.

We are making some progress, and we have over four months to win this fight.
Chris Bowers :: Public Option Reporting And Activism Updates

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Public Option Reporting And Activism Updates | 8 comments
Question for Chris (and others) (4.00 / 2)
There are public plans and public plans.  Single payer, for example, is a public plan but that is, infamously, "off the table."

A public plan "with a trigger" is also a public plan, and it seems to be the consensus that we should actively oppose that.  (We've done so.)

Given that we are not committed to supporting any public plan, my question is on  Schumer's "level playing field" proposal.  There is concern that it would function as a poison pill resulting in a national implementation of the Massachusetts system which is turning out to be a fiasco.

Should we regard the "level playing field" option as a dealbreaker, as we have the trigger?

If not, why not?

Patrick Murphy against Blue Dog plan (4.00 / 3)
I glad you guys are on top of this... (4.00 / 2)
I just called Feinstein, my senator who is still wishy-washy on a public option. I talked to her staff and passed on the message.

Again, for me, this is the #1 thing I want from my representatives this year. So I want to thank you guys for keeping me informed as the issue progresses, so I can let them know what I think early, when it counts.

enzi? (4.00 / 1)
I'm suspicious...
Could be legit... (0.00 / 0)
...one of the concerns from our Maine Senators is that there are too few private insurance choices in rural areas.  Oklahoma certainly fits that bill.

If Enzi actually cares more about his constituents than pleasing wingnuts, it could be legit.  His seat is uber safe, so he can afford to take that risk.... and a public plan would probably be very popular in WY once its implemented.

REID: Voting against us was never part of our arrangement!
SPECTER: I am altering the deal! Pray I don't alter it any further!
REID: This deal keeps getting worse all the time!

[ Parent ]
Stand with Dr. Dean or we will make him run in 2012 (0.00 / 0)
We need a major figure who will scare the crap out of the Washington establishment bi-partisan corporatists.  If the American people don't get something for all this pain we are going through while the banksters and Party of Davos are getting rich, then we will run our own candidate.  
Four months? (0.00 / 0)
Has there been a change in the timeline for the healthcare reform bill?  I thought they were planning to begin mark up in mid June and trying to get it passed before the August recess.
there has been some ambiguity... (0.00 / 0)
i think they are trying to push the bill out this summer, but are also talking about october as a deadline...
[ Parent ]
Public Option Reporting And Activism Updates | 8 comments
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