We are reaching a tipping point on the public option.
- If health care reform without a robust public option cannot pass the House;
- If not passing a health care reform is considered politically unacceptable by both the White House and the Democratic Congressional leadership;
- And if we have the 50 Senators needed to pass health care through reconciliation;
If we have all three of those things, then passing a public option--either through reconciliation or by convincing all Democrats to not filibuster--becomes by far the easiest move for the White House and Congressional leadership to make. Once we reach that tipping point, we will win this campaign.
According to our latest whip count, 45 Senators favor a public option. That puts us on the brink of the tipping point.
With your action, we can reach the tipping point today. Start by sending faxes to the following four Senators, asking them where they stand on the public option. These are the top targets:
Why are we focusing on these five to start out?
In addition to both courting and receiving netroots support (including $342,823 for Tester on Act Blue in 2006, $286,175 for Begich in 2008, not to mention Mark Warner's famous 2006 Yearly Kos party and keynote), Senators Begich, Tester and Warner are freshmen. In fact, they are the only three Democratic freshmen still on the "maybe" list in the whip count. The other seventeen frosh have all made public statements of support. Can three freshmen Democratic Senators really shoot down the central tenet President Obama's domestic agenda, not to mention the central tenet of the Democratic Party's domestic agenda for the past twenty, even forty years?
Carper may be a Conservadem leader, but he is also from a blue state, and is up for re-election in 2012. Toss in Vice-President Biden, and Carper should be reachable.
As for Wyden, He appears very open to the public option, but has not yet stated that he supports it. Your faxes will include a question asking him if he supports the public option in the Senate HELP bill, putting to rest questions of Wyden's support once and for all.
If these five Senators make statements in favor of the public option, we will reach the tipping point on the public option as soon as today. Send them a fax now:
If you receive a response from anyone you fax, report it over email to Response@DemocracyforAmerica.com or go to http://healthcareforamericanow.org/page/s/swdd
We can win this fight. We are winning this fight. Cover their office floors with your questions on the public option. Send a fax now!
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