Do it for Teddy.
We won this round!
What went through was not what we were hoping for, but it was a good start anyway. We still need the public option, Medicare buy-in, or — what the heck, go all the way — single-payer. So don’t delete all your bookmarks. There’s still work to do.
Inform yourself
- Health Care for America NOW!
- Congressional Progressive Caucus
- Democracy for America
- AARP
- Firedoglake
- Americans United for Health Care Reform
- Setting the Record Straight, a service of Organizing for America, to debunk the lies that are being spread by the opponents of reform
Americans United for Health Care and Insurance Reform has a page debunking myths- The Fact Check from Campaign for America’s Future
- An FAQ page on single-payer health care from Physicians for a National Health Program
- Do the Right Thing, Paul Krugman (a call to by-pass the filibuster by passing the Senate bill unaltered)
- Pass the Health Care Bill — Then Improve It, Peter Dreier (E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics at Occidental College)
- And the Rest Is Just Noise, Jonathan Chait (why the health care bill is the greatest social achievement of our time)
- Why I’m Not Joining the Call to “Kill the Bill,” Wendell Potter (CMD’s Senior Fellow on Health Care)
There is also what we have to say.
Talking points
There are a few things to concentrate on getting out of the conference process:
- The Senate bill contains an “opt-out,” inserted by Sen. Bernie Sanders, allowing states to establish their own single-payer systems. (The Canadian system was set up first in the provinces.)
- The Senate bill also seeks to require insurance companies to spend at least 80 per cent of premiums on actual care. This should be strengthened and preserved.
- Both bills are too restrictive on abortion rights, but at least the Senate bill allows women to buy their own coverage.
- Remember that the only thing required for small-d democratic legitimacy is that the final vote have 51 votes in favor — or 50 plus the Vice-President — and otherwise it doesn’t matter if we have “played fair” with the obstructionists.
It is disheartening that we have to deal with matters as basic as these, but here are a few:
- The claim that the health care systems in other countries don’t work is a flat-out lie — as proved by the fact that no democratic country with a national health care system has ever even tried to abolish it. It must be doing something right.
- For all the noise about rationing or denying health care for seniors, American seniors have had full-fledged socialized medicine (Medicare) for forty years. And the seniors who come to the town halls to scream about “socialist” health care aren’t demanding that theirs be abolished.
- The “free market” solutions to health care problems generally involve lowering prices by discouraging people from going to the doctor so much. (If you had to pay out-of-pocket, maybe you would think twice about getting that colonoscopy.)
- Looking at the screaming crowds at the town hall meetings, it is doubtful that many of them voted for Obama and the Democrats last time. Now they’re spitting mad because Obama is trying to keep the promises he made to those of us who did vote for him. Last time I looked, that was a proper thing for an elected official to do.
- Remember that the only moral restriction on getting something through the Senate is that it must have 51 votes. If it takes busting a filibuster or ramming it through on a reconciliation, too bad. The majority has the right to rule on this.
Get active
To contact the President, your representative, and your senators, you can use the service provided by Congress.org. Alternatively, you can contact the White House, your senators, and your representative directly. (To find your representative, you may need your four-digit ZIP code extension, which is available from the Postal Service.)
The conference committee has not yet been picked, but special pressure should be brought to bear on:
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
- House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MA)
- Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC)
- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
- Deputy Leader Richard Durbin (D-IL)
You can, of course, also write a snail-mail letter. The President is at:
The White House1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
The other addresses can be found at Congress.org.
Letter-writing is being coordinated at Organizing for America.
You can also use Publishaletter.com.
Remember the usual rules:
- Respond to something you’ve seen in the paper.
- Stick to one subject.
- Keep it short — no more than 200 words, and 100 is better.
- Include your full name, address, and phone number. (They will very likely check.)
Widget courtesy of firedoglake
- National Organization for Women is fighting against the Stupak Amendment.
- Democracy for America is trying to pressure the “Blue Dogs.”
- Organizing for America has a page to Call’em Out to provide rapid reactions by Twitter and Facebook to lies about reform.
Join with Others
- ActBlue is raising money for members of Congress who pledge to stand fast for the public option
- Health Care for America NOW! (a broad coalition working on reform)
- Physicians for a National Health Program (focused on the drive for single-payer care)
- Health Care Reform Facebook group
Broad Progressive Groups Working on the Issue:
- Organizing for America (the continuation of the Obama campaign)
- Moveon.org (one of the main on-line activism sites)
- Firedoglake (a major progressive blog)
- Democracy for America (based on the Howard Dean campaign)
- Campaign for America’s Future
