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Here's the latest news on health care reform from FDL Action.
1. Teddy Partridge reports that "Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Reid) reiterated her opposition to [the] Public Option," calling it "problematic" and claiming that "government's not gonna do it better and it's gonna be more costly." All of which raises an important question for Harry Reid: "Why have you agreed to elevate to power Empress Snowe instead of requiring Democratic caucus members not to block cloture and allow a bill containing a strong public option to come to vote?"
2. Jon Walker writes about "most of the major unions in America" essentially "declar[ing] war on [the] Baucus bill in defiance of Rahm." Walker adds, "The fact that many labor unions strongly object to the Baucus bill should not be a surprise. The new excise tax on health insurance benefits would disproportionally hit middle class union members. The new tax is highly middle class regressive." Other than that, of course, the unions love the Baucus bill! (snark)
3. Jane Hamsher announces an arts contest by POP (Public Option Please), FDL's health care reform advocacy campaign. Judges for the contest will include Arianna Huffington, Marshall Ganz, Jesse Dylan (directed the "Yes We Can" video), Arlene Holt Baker (AFL-CIO), and Aaron Rose ("film director, art show curator, musician and writer responsible for the Beautiful Losers art movement and world tour"). The contest runs until October 31, and offers cash prizes and publicity to the winners. Check it out here.
4. Jon Walker reports on another new "'study' [PDF] out today, this time paid for by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association." Shockingly, Walker writes, "[t]he Blue Cross Blue Shield conclusion is that premiums would increase even faster with reform, unless we do exactly what they want...A larger government fine for anyone who does not buy their product, the ability to charge older Americans dramatically more, and to have what qualifies as minimum health insurance scaled back even farther." It's amazing how it works that way, huh?
6. Finally, Jane reported this morning that Rahm Emanuel would be "meeting with Harry Reid to tell him what the White House wants in the final Senate bill." Jane quotes Emanuel from his appearance last night on the NewsHour, where he told Judy Woodruff, "Senator Snowe has the idea of a trigger, that, in case that price isn't achieved or that competition isn't achieved, there be a trigger that then the option, a public option, would come available." For FDL Action's opinion on the "trigger," see item #5 above.
The past decade, which allowed the Bush Administration, American corporations and the great financial giants to turn the country into a dispeptic ulcer, which was mostly Bush and some Obama administered, has left us in a slump. It has taken so much energy to try and turn things around that we wonder if we can summon up more just to keep going.
I had touched on this before, but after meeting at the White House, Sen. Rockefeller leaves no doubt where he stands on the public option and the use of co-ops as a substitute.
The proposed co-op model is untested and unsubstantiated - and should not be considered as a national model for health insurance. Both the USDA and the GAO agree there is not sufficient analysis and data for health care co-ops, and the National Cooperative Business Association - the leading association for co-ops nationwide - believes that more research must be done before such a plan can be considered.
The consumer health insurance cooperatives identified by the USDA and NCBA operate and function just like private health insurance companies. There is no evidence that co-ops would bring costs down or make insurance more affordable.
I have said all along that we need a public plan option in health care reform to drive down the insurance costs that are pummeling working families. I urge my colleagues to seriously consider this troubling new information before hanging their hats - and most importantly the livelihoods of millions of Americans - on an untested concept. We can do better.
So he asked for these to be studied, just to be fair, and coming full circle is back where he started, with a scold.
I believe it is irresponsible to invest over $6 billion in a concept that has not proven to provide quality, affordable health care, when we know that a public health insurance option will rein in costs and save taxpayers billions of dollars.
To start with, PhARMA, the big pharmaceuticals lobby, is spending 12 million bucks right now on ads promoting the Baucus bill, and they've set aside a total of 150 million bucks for the rest of the campaign. This is part of the 80 billion that the industry has pledged over ten years to reduce pharmaceutical costs (although how this 12 million reduces costs, I don't know... surely they will find a way to bill this expense to the consumer).
As I wait for Obama to give his speech to the joint houses of Congress tonight, I am seeing ads all over the place pushing every possible view on reforming health care. I've seen late-night ads by independent (although obviously right-wingnut) organizations pushing every lie that has been raised on Health Care Reform, from Death Panels to to a statement that the majority of Americans are happy with what they've got. I've seen the AARP come out pushing reform in Health Care and not to shy away from changes that have to be made.
I was watching Dr. Robert Ouellet, the President of the Canadian Medical Association, on C-Span's Morning Edition as he took calls and questions on Canada's single-payer system. The most important thing he did was blow holes in the myths which are being actively promoted by the Right-wing health opponents. I wish everyone could be watching or listening to this and, if as is the case on Sundays, C-Span reruns this morning's program on C-Span 3 in the afternoon, then it would be worth catching it and listening.
In yesterday's NY Times, an article entitled A Public Option That Works showed up on the Op-Ed page. It is worth reading because the
...San Francisco experiment has demonstrated that requiring a shared-responsibility model - in which employers pay to help achieve universal coverage - has not led to the kind of job losses many fear. The public option has also passed the market test, while not crowding out private options. The positive changes in San Francisco provide a glimpse of what the future might look like if Washington passes substantial health reform this year.
Congressman Nick J Rahall (D-WV) has announced that he will be holding a series of meetings on health care starting in Princeton, WV next Monday according to a story by Alicia Suka of WVVA. You can read the report by clicking here.
BECKLEY -- Congressman Nick Rahall announces he will host a series of town hall meetings centered on healthcare. Several are scheduled in southern West Virginia. The first will happen in Princeton. It will get started at 10 a.m. Monday at the Princeton Health and Fitness Center. Representatives with Rahall's office say the congressman is hoping to hear from all of his constituents.
Evidently our Congressman, who I believe supports the President is being careful to not upset anyone has stated...
"He wants to hear from both sides. We hope to have a very productive town hall meeting. We hope to hear positive comments, negative comments and we hope to do it in a very respectful way," said Kelly Dyke, the Beckley District Director.
If you live in his District it is very important to let Congressman Rahall know that you support the public option and the President.
Clem and I are in the front row watching a panel discussion with Howard Dean discussing health care. Dean does not mince words and makes it really clear what he believes will work and will not work.
He frames the health care debate better than anyone else. He really believes that the administration will win the battle, and that we will see a health care program this year. I hope he is right. He stated that he believes that the only part of the bill that matters is the public option. Be sure and catch this discussion on second life or on Cspan.
It is now the day after Senator Benjamin Cardin's Town Hall meeting in Hagerstown, MD, and I have had plenty of time to see what the local papers and television news have covered on it... plus I spent some time looking into the web sites of organizations that pushed attendees to the meeting (like Resistnet.com) and the prearranged instructions they put out to make sure nothing was reasonably discussed.
And this is what amazes me the most: a couple of hundred people who are my age or older who came to protest the benefits which, for the most part, would serve them well and which they actually need. Thinking back to where this kind of behavior, in which ordinary citizens are convinced to work against themselves, started... the incoming of Ronald Reagan 40 years ago... I am as confused now as I was then. How do middle-class and lower-middle-class individuals justify campaigning for the things that make their own lives worse?
This is a stunning video. I think we all know at some level what 'fake grass roots' means. Rachel Maddow does a great job of laying it out in 10 minutes in the health care debate.
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