Dan Pfeiffer, Helps Explain Pres. Obama's Position on Health Care

My local Show Me Progress blog does a wonderful job of keeping me up to date on all the stuff I need to know of things a lot of other blogs and MSM doesn't bother with. This is one of those things.

Dan Pfeiffer, who is a Deputy Communications Director in the White House held a Blogger Conference call after the President's speech Wednesday night. Here is the highlights and you can click on the link above to see the entire conversation as they transcribed it.

Even if you aren't from Missouri, they are a great blog to follow and read. They do a great job of keeping up with National news too..and cover the President quite well. With all the lack of real news reporting lately any source that can be found to show the truth is good.

But, here is some things I thought were pertinent from Dan's talk with the bloggers.

...Question: ...I was looking at the President's plan that you posted on the White House web site. And I was just wondering what parts if any are negotiable? What parts aren't?

Dan Pfeiffer: I think that the principles thee(sic) President laid out for the plan are not negotiable. The need for competition, the need for choice, the fact that we need to provide more, the insurance, the fact that we need to provide more security and stability for Americans who have insurance, the fact that it, that would, this, back up a step. I would say that the basic principles are non-negotiable as he said in, in his remarks. And he is open to good ideas. He wants to listen to members of Congress from both parties on how to proceed. And wants to work with the Congress. But the very, the core guarantee that Americans who have insurance will get to keep their insurance but get more stability and security. Americans who don't have insurance will get it, be able to achieve it affordably. And that the overall effort is [garbled] to the deficit. Those are the issues that will be part of any bill the President signs.

Question: ...This, this list that you put out, it's not just core principle, it's specific proposals. And so what I'm trying to get a sense of is, are these specific proposals that he's saying this is what I want or this is sort of what I want? Is it all negotiable [crosstalk]?

Dan Pfeiffer: He's, he's saying, he's saying, he's saying this is what I want. I'm not being, the mechanisms for achieving those goals will work with the Congress [garbled] to find the best way to do it, but he's very clear that the, those principles I laid out are, or that he laid out in the speech are what he believes to be real health reform. And he, his intention is to sign a real health reform bill.

It doesn't say who is asking the questions, it could be anyone. Bloggers from across the country are invited to participate in the call.

Dan Pfeiffer: I think that we, I mean, every, couple things, one, there is shocking, frankly shocking amount of agreement amongst all of the bill, the four bills that have been marked up between Senate HELP, Energy Commerce, Ways and Means, etcetera. So, that's good news. There are a lot of details to be worked out amongst them. The, also the good news is that all of them achieve the President's goals. Every American will have access to affordable coverage, Every American will have more security and stability in their health care. There is a mechanism in there that promotes competition and choice and keeps the insurance companies honest. So there's, they all achieve that. There are clearly a lot of, there's a lot of work that needs to be done to meld all of those together. It's probably not constructive at this point to try to pick each one apart. We're gonna continue to work with the Congress to move it, to move them all towards one final solution. If it's, one of the things that is, has sort of stalled progress here has been a series of big questions that have loomed over August. How do you, how do you pay for it? Where's the President come down on some of the financing? We know, what are we gonna do with the public option? What about the individual mandate? What about the employer mandate? Where, where does the White House stand on that? The President has let the legislative process play itself out, but tonight he stood up before Congress and the nation and answered the big questions. Which we believe will, and leaders from the House and Senate agree with us, will give a boost, tremendous boost of momentum to the process....

....Question: ...I'm wondering how you guys are gonna define affordable? I know the, the Baucus bill that just came out yesterday expects basically median income families with a significant medical event in a year to pay thirty-one percent of their income that year, leaving them just seven thousand dollars for things like utilities and education and debt and clothing. And I'm wondering if that is considered affordable.

Dan Pfeiffer: I have read the, some, some of the reports you have about what the Finance Committee is planning on doing. The chairman hasn't released a mark yet. I believe he's not planning on doing that 'til, I think it's in the middle of next week, so we'll have to look at that when it comes. The President did not lay out a specific number tonight, but one of the things he's committed to doing is working with all of the committee, all of the various committees here to make sure that we have one that common, the common sense will tell you was affordable that works. This is a very, this is a critical part as you may remember from the primary campaign. The President was very clear that an individual mandate only worked if you were able to lower the cost to make it affordable for people. And that's something he's committed to in this process.

Question: So common sense is the best measure that you can offer? [crosstalk]

Dan Pfeiffer: Well, what I, what I , what I, kind, the, common sense is not the, it is a critical component of it. We will work with them, but I don't have a number, a specific dollar amount or percentage for you tonight. But we're committed to working with the Congress to make sure it's one that is affordable and that we're not putting undue burdens on middle class families trying to have health care for their family....

-snip- This is the last of the questions but I think it is the MOST IMPORTANT..

.

Question: ...It seemed to me in the speech that the President was open to some sort of trigger for public option. And I am curious if he is actually going to push for a trigger as a sort of compromise between a public option immediately or in twenty thirteen and a certain public option in twenty thirteen and, and the other side. And if so, what kind of trigger are we talking about? What would the level be set at? How would it be triggered? And how does this jibe with the President's end comments about having to do this right now and having to insure the basic principles which include competition right now?

Dan Pfeiffer: Okay, let me, several questions there, let me sort of deal with them one by one. First, I think it's important to take a step back and look at what the President said about the public option. He was very clear about his support for it. He's very clear that it, it is in his plan. It is, he is going to work to make sure it's in any bill, but he is clear that it is, that he, his focus is on the goals here and he's open to other ideas. And he mentions the possibility of a trigger. Now you would have to construct it in a way that it actually, actually increased competition, allowed the consumer choice, and kept the insurance companies honest. There are ways you could design it that would not achieve that. And that's not something that the President would support. So, if, if that is route that, that Congress decides to go we will work with them to insure that it, it achieves those goals. But there was a lot of speculation heading into this about what the President would say about the public option. A lot of people saying that he was going to throw it aside, but he did not do that, he did, I think, in fact, the opposite. I mean, he's clear, he, he wants to be very clear that this is not all health reform and it's not the only way to achieve his goals, but he thinks it's a very valuable tool and it's one that he supports and is willing to push for. In terms of the timeline, you know, it is gonna take some time to get the system, an overall health reform effort up and running. That just, it's a logistical fact of it and we're. We're gonna do that as quickly as possible in order to address some of the immediate concerns. We're gonna work [garbled] very quickly, get the insurance guarantees in place. And, as I mentioned earlier, have this high risk pool available to people with preexisting conditions, many of whom cannot buy insurance even, even the well to do with preexisting conditions who are buying on the individual market or cannot get insurance. So we'll have this high risk available as soon as we, as soon as possible to allow people to get into it to buy catastrophic coverage which will allow them, that will insure them that, if they have a chronic disease, a serious accident, a serious injury, they will be protected from bankruptcy. And frankly all of the, the taxpayer who ends up paying for some of these cases, which are by far the most expensive and take up a significant percentage of health spending in this country, will not be, will not fall on the taxpayer dime. [crosstalk]

Question: I'm sorry, just to clarify, that, that pool, that high risk pool, is that a public program?

Dan Pfeiffer: It, it would have to be started that way, yes.

All right, thank you everyone. We hope to do this again as we move through the process. I hope folks found it helpful and I hope you enjoyed the speech tonight. Thanks so much...

So, once again, this is someone in the White House, close to the President stating that he is strongly supporting the Public Option. I am stating this because I heard again this morning Joe Klein and Howard Fineman say on Tweety's show that the public option was dead.. These idiots get paid so much money to be wrong.

After the speech Wednesday, the Rally in Minnesota yesterday and now this.. how can they continue to say it is dead. The President and all of his spokes people are on the same page here as far as I can tell.. it is the moronic talking heads who are out of step.

Take a look at the rest of the call with the bloggers at Show Me Progress if you would like. I only brought the highlights over..

One More Time, The President Supports a Public Option

Again, Robert Gibbs, on This Week this morning, states, strongly, plainly and without any waffling that I could see, the President supports the Public Option and wants it in the bill he expects Congress to pass.

What more does anyone expect?

Later George Will says.. and I don't have video of that.. you will just have to take my word for it.. that the President has stated this 111 times according to Mark Steyn.

111 times.. Good grief people.. what more can you want?

My Frustrations Boiling Over Again

You see that picture.. That's what I was talking about the other day. I think that is a disservice to Sen. Kennedy. He did NOT support Medicare for all at this time. Simply because he knew it would not pass.

Yes, he would have loved it, and at one time I think that's what he wanted.. but it is not what he wanted now. If he had, don't you think that's what he would have written in the bill he wrote for the Senate committee he chaired?

The President has now released the logs of visitors to the White House. Everyone was clamoring for them. Now they have them and are bitching about them because they don't like what they see. I am sorry, but to me this is just hypocrisy.

Yes, the President and some of his staff have been meeting with Insurance Company big wigs and Pharma. Isn't that how you make agreements and try to get people to make concessions? By meeting with them? At least that's what I always thought.. but gee, maybe I am wrong.. maybe you don't meet people you want to try to get to lower costs and make concessions with, maybe you are supposed to just shove them away and tell them to go out and cause problems.

Yes, that's what they have done. We have seen that. But still, at least the President and his staff has been attempting to do something. I know, I have my Pollyanna showing again.. or as someone else said.. my head in the sand.

I have been accused of all kinds of things. I just want to have a little faith and trust in my President again.. Is that too much to ask. No, I don't agree with 100% of everything he has done. But I don't expect to have done so with anyone that was elected. But I damn sure agree with a lot more of what he has done than disagree, and I certainly think he has done more positive than negative.

Yesterday, late in the afternoon there was a story out about a phone call between the President and Progressive members of Congress. But for the most part it went unnoticed. And what did get reported was only part of the conversation..The part that went like this. From Greg Sargent at the Plum Line:

I just got off the phone with Dem Rep. Raul Grijalva, one of more than two dozen House progressives who held a conference call with President Obama today to discuss the public option’s fate.

Says Grijalva: The call left him with no doubt that Obama understands House libs are dead serious about not backing any bill without a public plan in it.

“He understands how serious we are about this,” said Grijalva, one of the co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, in describing the tone of the conversation. “For many of us this is not a political dance. He got that point.”

Grijalva says Obama asked how far liberals were willing to compromise on the public option, another sign, Grijalva noted, that he grasps that they mean what they say. He added that Obama asked a number of “frank” and “probing” questions, though he declined to say precisely what they were.

But the part that seems to get left out is the last of the conversation.. Where Representative Grijalva goes on to say this:

In another newsworthy tidbit, Grijalva says Obama signaled that discussions about the public option would continue even after his big speech before a joint session of Congress next week. That may be an indication that Obama won’t be mentioning the public option in his speech, but doesn’t want liberals to despair at that prospect.

Said Grijalva: “I didn’t come away from this discussion feeling that we were dead.”

Emphasis mine, and as I have stated numerous times, I don't feel like the President has given up on the Public Option.

If we on the left side of politics could hang together and be as strong as the ones on the right.. if we could just hold our line and be like the right.. we could get this done.

Right now we need to concentrate on the same group I have pointed out before. Instead of attacking the President and saying he has sold us out, we need to be after the members of Congress who have not committed to the Public Option.. We need to make sure we still have the support of those 45 Senators that Governor Dean listed at his site Democracy for America and the ones that have not committed need to be reminded that we are counting on them to vote for the Public Option.

This is what the President said on August 20th when he met with and talked to the people who were his "base and supporters" in Organizing for America, Health Care Forum:

So that is absolutely critical. Now, one of the options we want to provide them is a public option, and there's been -- this has been a confusion around this -- (applause) -- there's been a lot of confusion about this, so let me just clarify. I think a public option is important. And let me explain why.

We're going to have a marketplace where people can select the options that work best for them, the insurance plan that works best for them. A lot of those choices, the overwhelming majority of those choices, will be private insurance options, just like members of Congress have -- they're allowed to choose from various proposals or various plans that are part of the federal employees' health plan.

But what we do think is if we have a public option in there, that can help keep insurers honest; it can provide a benchmark for what an affordable basic plan should look like. And so even though we've got a whole bunch of insurance regulations that ensure that any private insurer that's participating in the exchange is giving you a fair deal, this is sort of like the belt-and-suspenders concept -- it means that not only do they have to abide by these regulations, but they also have to compete with somebody whose interest is not just profit but instead is interested in making sure that the American people get decent care.

Now, having said that -- (applause) -- having said that, I want everybody to be clear that the public option is just one option. It will be voluntary. Nobody is talking about you having to be in the public option. Only -- the only thing that we're talking about is this being available to you as a choice, expanding consumer choice. And we think that's a good idea.

Now, there are a whole bunch of other aspects to health insurance reform, though, that people have to understand. We want to make sure that, for example, insurance companies can't prevent you from getting health insurance because of a preexisting condition. That will be the law whether you're in the health insurance exchange or you're just keeping the insurance that you already have. You should be able to keep it regardless of preexisting condition. You should be able to purchase it. There shouldn't be lifetime caps or yearly caps where you bump up against it and suddenly you've got huge out-of-pocket costs that drive you into bankruptcy. We've got to make sure that there are basic consumer protections on that.

You should be able to keep your health insurance if you get sick or you lose your job or you change jobs. And all too often what happens is when you need insurance most, that's when the insurers decide to drop you. And we've got to make sure that that is against the law. And that's part of what health insurance reform is all about.

So it's going to bring down skyrocketing costs, it's going to save families money, it's going to save businesses money, and it's going to save government money. We are going to make Medicare more efficient, guaranteeing today's seniors better benefits than they have right now. We're going to make sure that that doughnut hole in the middle of their prescription drug plan, that that doughnut hole is closed, because we want to make sure that seniors who are already living on fixed incomes during difficult times aren't having to dig even deeper to increase drug company profits.

So I just want everybody to understand that in addition to providing health insurance for people who don't have it, even if you have health insurance, you've got a stake in this debate. Fourteen thousand people are losing their health insurance every single day. Millions of people all across the country are vulnerable to exclusions because of things like preexisting conditions. Millions of Americans have experienced the fact that premiums have gone up three times faster than inflation and faster than incomes.

And if we go at the pace that we're going right now, there are going to be a whole lot of families who make the decision that they can't afford health insurance because the costs are simply unsustainable.

And if you're a deficit hawk, then you should be especially concerned about passing health care reform, because at the pace we're on right now, Medicare is going to run out of money in eight years. It won't be totally broke, but it will be in the red, because the costs are going up a lot faster than the money that's coming in.

So when you're talking to seniors out there, tell them, number one, nobody is talking about cutting their benefits. Talk to them about the fact that, by the way, Medicare is already a government program -- (laughter and applause) -- so when people say, "Keep government out of our health care," make sure they know that Medicare is a government program. But also explain to them that part of what we want to do is strengthen the program so that it's going to be there over the long haul. We don't want a situation in which Medicare runs short of money because we did not make the changes that were needed early on.

I am absolutely confident that we can get this done, but I want everybody to remember, this has never been easy -- never been easy. When FDR proposed Social Security, all across what was I guess the equivalent of today's Internet, right -- (laughter) -- all the newspapers and the radio shows and all that -- he was accused of being a socialist. He was going to bring socialism to America. How dare he.

When JFK and then Lyndon Johnson proposed Medicare, everybody suggested, this is going to be a government takeover of health care; it's going to destroy your relationship with your doctor. The same arguments that are being made now have been made every time we've tried to propose a significant change that ultimately made people more secure, improved our health care, improved our quality of life.

So we cannot be intimidated by some of these scare tactics. We have to understand that there a lot of people who are invested in the status quo and make a lot of money out of it. We've got to also understand that people are understandably nervous and worried about any significant changes when it comes to something as important as health care, because it touches on your lives, it's very personal -- and so they're more vulnerable to misinformation.

And that's why what all of you do is so important, because people trust you -- your neighbors, your friends, fellow community members -- they trust you. They know you. And if you are presenting the facts clearly and fairly, I'm absolutely confident that we're going to win this debate. But we're going to have a lot of work to do and I'm grateful that you're willing to do it. Let's go get 'em. Thank you very much, everybody.

Again, the President has stated right there, he is in support of the Public Option.. but does anyone talk about this.. NOPE.. we ignore it.. so does the media because it doesn't fit into what they want to say. It doesn't feed the hype of the President abandoning his base and the Republicans winning the battle. And that's what this is all about. The Republicans and big business winning the battle.

Big business, Insurance Companies, Big Pharma and the Republicans.. all part of the Corporate Media and all part of the same pattern of the Rushbos and the Hannity's and the Becks who want the President and the Democrats to fail, so that they can get back in power.. That's the name of the game.

As long as the people who believe the media spin, who feed off this stuff and keep hyping it, it will continue. So keep going... The bill we need to be pushing, if you want to invoke Teddy Kennedy is the one he wrote.. The one from the HELP committee. It can be found here at the HELP committee web site.

That's the full text of the bill, it is only $600 billion over 10 years as scored by the CBO. You can see that in the summary of the bill at this site here.

As I stated before, this bill should be considered bipartisan, with 160 amendments written by Republicans. They have tried to say they didn't have a seat at the table, but that is an out and out lie. The shear hypocrisy of them is astronomical.

The Progressive Caucus Letter To Pres. Obama

Here is the letter sent to President Obama... Nowhere does it seem to me they are warning him or sounding worried he is dropping the Public Option... If he has supposedly sent letters to different organizations saying he was dropping it.. that's according to the reporting today. Yet this letter doesn't say anything like that. They are just letting him know how they feel and where they stand and asking him to meet with them and to help them support the Public Option.



Congressional Progressive Caucus

83 Strong and Growing: Open to New and Different Ideas

September 3, 2009

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, D.C.

Dear President Obama:

Thank you for continuing to work with Members of Congress to draft a health reform bill that will provide the real health care reform this country needs.

We look forward to meeting with you regarding retaining a robust public option in any final health reform bill and request that that meeting take place as soon as possible.

Public opinion polls continue to show that a majority of Americans want the choice of a robust public plan and we stand in solidarity with them. We continue to support the robust public option that was reported out of the Committees on Ways and Means and Education and Labor and will not vote for a weakened bill on the House Floor or returning from a Conference with the Senate.

Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, a public option built on the Medicare provider system and with reimbursement based on Medicare rates-not negotiated rates-is unacceptable. A plan with negotiated rates would ensure higher costs for the public plan, and would do nothing to achieve the goal of providing choice and competition to keep rates down. The public plan with set rates saves $75 billion, which could be lost if rates are negotiated with providers. Further, this public option must be available immediately and must not be contingent upon any trigger.

Mr. President, the need for reform is urgent. Every day, 14,000 Americans lose their health care coverage. We must have health care reform that will effectively bring down costs and significantly expand access. A health reform bill without a robust public option will not achieve the health reform this country so desperately needs. We cannot vote for anything less.

We look forward to meeting with you to discuss the importance of your support for a robust public plan, which we encourage you to reiterate in your address to the Joint Session of Congress on Wednesday.

Sincerely,

s/
Lynn C. Woolsey
Co-Chair

s/
Raul Grijalva
Co-Chair

I Am Angry & Fed Up With People Who Are Not Supporting the President

I have been seeing a lot of people pushing this "Single Payer" for all, Medicare for all and other things. I have also seen people say, the President should never have dropped Single Payer off the bargaining table in the Health Care debate.

You know, I don't consider myself very smart in lots of things. Certainly I am not as smart as our President, and I am sure a lot of these people doing the shouting out there and saying these things are not either. However, they seem to think they know more than he does, and they know more than anyone else knows about what happens in the matter of Health Care and in Congress.

At this time the best thing we can do is stand with our President and support what he has said he is supporting. Numerous times he has stated he supports the Public Option. He has called it an Exchange, he has said it is the only way to bring down costs and hold the insurance companies accountable for what they are doing to this country and to the people who have insurance and to the people who don't.

I also keep hearing these same people (and they are all on the left side of politics) saying the President has not done enough.. do you really realize how much this man has done.. all on his own.. because there really hasn't been anyone else helping him.. all he has had is people sniping at him and saying do more, speak louder, do you really support that, and on and on.

Greg Sargent says this today in his blog post:

By now you’ve heard that President Obama is set to deliver a major speech to a joint session of Congress next Wednesday, as part of a newly-energized health care push.

I don’t normally link to Fred Barnes, but this rundown of the speaking that Obama has already done on health care does seem like useful context:

Between July 20 and July 30, President Obama was a busy man, barely out of the public eye while campaigning furiously for his health care initiative. He did four town hall events, spoke at two hospitals, delivered a radio address, was interviewed on two network TV news shows, and held a prime time press conference–all devoted to promoting his health care plan. On this issue as on no other, Obama personally took his case to the people.

That doesn’t even include what Obama may have done in August. All that speaking didn’t help the numbers, obviously. Indeed, Obama was so visible this summer that aides reportedly concluded he’d been too visible. What will Obama say that’s different this time?

He also goes on to say that now they think he did too much and was in the spotlight too much... As I said.. never happy are we liberals... Either he has done too much, or he has not done enough...can't have it both ways now can we...

Today E. J. Dionne has an excellent Op-Ed in the Washington Post.. I love to read about someone else calling out the so called "Liberal Media". I have long said that is so completely a false hood, but people like to say that, especially when it suits them to make their case for an argument.. of course if it is the other way, they are silent.

E.J. has this to say...

But what if our media-created impression of the meetings is wrong? What if the highly publicized screamers represented only a fraction of public opinion? What if most of the town halls were populated by citizens who respectfully but firmly expressed a mixture of support, concern and doubt?

There is an overwhelming case that the electronic media went out of their way to cover the noise and ignored the calmer (and from television's point of view "boring") encounters between elected representatives and their constituents.

It's also clear that the anger that got so much attention largely reflects a fringe right-wing view opposed to all sorts of government programs most Americans support. Much as the far left of the antiwar movement commanded wide coverage during the Vietnam years, so now are extremists on the right hogging the media stage -- with the media's complicity.

Over the past week, I've spoken with Democratic House members, most from highly contested districts, about what happened in their town halls. None would deny polls showing that the health-reform cause lost ground last month, but little of the probing civility that characterized so many of their forums was ever seen on television.

-snip-

Rep. Frank Kratovil hails from a very conservative district that includes Maryland's Eastern Shore and says it didn't bother him that he was hung in effigy in July by a right-wing group. "As a former prosecutor, I consider that to be mild," he said with a chuckle. The episode, he added, was not at all typical of his town-hall meetings, where "most of the people were there to express legitimate concerns about the bill, wondering about how it was going to impact them" and wanting "to know the truth about some of the things that were being said about the bill."

The most disturbing account came from Rep. David Price of North Carolina, who spoke with a stringer for one of the television networks at a large town-hall meeting he held in Durham.

The stringer said he was one of 10 people around the country assigned to watch such encounters. Price said he was told flatly: "Your meeting doesn't get covered unless it blows up." As it happens, the Durham audience was broadly sympathetic to reform efforts. No "news" there.

Rep. Chet Edwards of Texas is one member who did attend gatherings dominated by boisterous opponents of health reform.

At a meeting in Waco, a man asked him what constitutional authority the federal government had to get involved in health care. Edwards replied, "Article One, Section Eight," which empowers Congress to provide for the "general welfare of the United States." Then Edwards asked the man if he opposed "the federal government being involved in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and children's health care." The man said he was, and the room roared its approval.

"I will wear it as a badge of honor that I was shouted at by people who oppose Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and children's health," Edwards said. The shouters, he added, did not speak for most of his constituents, but for "the Ron Paul libertarian position that represents 2 to 5 percent of the country."

-snip-

The money quote of the article.. emphasis mine and his...lol.

But the only citizens who commanded widespread media coverage last month were the right-wingers. And I bet you thought the media were "liberal."

Yes, the President took the Single Payer option off the table early in the game.. but he had to, because there was NO WAY it would ever pass the Congress. How can anyone think it would, when the vitriol and the rancor we are seeing is so strong just for the Public Option? They are scared to death the Public Option is going to lead to Single Payer as it is.

Give it a rest people... drop this demand for the Single Payer and support the President. Give him all the support he needs and get behind him for the Public Option in health care.

Call the White House, write the White House, EMail the White House, and let them know exactly how you feel... But drop the Single Payer nonsense, support the President and ask him to stand firm with the Public Option, and then start calling the Senators I listed in my last post about this. You can find that list here in this blog post.

There is another post I did here that showed all the names of the Senators who needed phone calls and emails that needed to be sent so our voices could be heard. Again, drop the demand for Single Payer.. just support the Public Option and the President.

Sorry, I just had to rant a little.. I just get angry seeing these complaints and the talking heads on my television telling me all the time the President is failing. No one knows what the President is going to do as of yet, however I just don't believe he has given up on the Public Option yet...I won't believe it until I hear him say it. Call me Pollyanna..

The Public Option is Dead? Why No, NO It Is NOT!

Why is everyone assuming the Public Option is dead or should be dead? Just because a few talking heads and GOPers say it is? Since when have they ever counted for anything special?

I just can't believe we are just giving up so easily and neither does Robert Reich in this article in Salon.com. He says the same thing I do.. that just because a few pundits talk it up and say that it is so, just doesn't make it so.. and he goes on to say that now is the time to go big.

In addition, we've come to the point where healthcare incrementalism won't work. To be sure, the health-insurance industry is powerful and will fight reforms that threaten their profits. But they won't fight if they know their profits will be restored when everyone is required to have health insurance. (This isn't just conventional authoritative wisdom; it's political fact.) Obviously, in order to require everyone to have health insurance, tens of millions of Americans will need help affording it. The only way the government can possibly pay that tab is to raise taxes on the rich while also getting long-term health-insurance costs under control. And one of the surest ways to get long-term costs under control is to force private insurers -- which in most states and under most employer-provided plans face very little competition -- to compete with a public insurance option that can use its bargaining clout with drug companies and medical providers to negotiate lower prices.

-snip-

Sometimes reform has to occur in a big way, everything or nothing, if it's to happen at all. That's the way it is with healthcare reform at this stage. Every moving piece is related to every other one. That's also why a public option is necessary.

So forget the authoritative sources. Mobilize and organize. We can get comprehensive, meaningful healthcare reform if we push hard enough. And we must.

The emphasis is mine, because I think it is well worth noting what he said in that last bit, this is what I have been saying for a long time. I still think there are enough votes to get this done and so does Dr. Dean.. or Gov. Dean..

At his web site, Democracy for America there is a Whipcount, which at this time stands with 45 definite YES on the Public Option, and a total of 16 Maybes... who can be persuaded to Yeses.. or I think most of them can be. If not, then lets get them out of office. They don't deserve to be Democrats if they can't support the Democratic platform of Healthcare for all.

Now, those 16 Maybes are these and some I think are Yeses and have just not been updated as need be, Mark Begich, (D, AK), Blanche Lincoln, (D, AR), Mark Pryor, (D, AR), Thomas Carper, (D, DE), Johnny Isakson, (R, GA), Mary Landrieu, (D, LA), Olympia Snowe, (R, ME), Max Baucus, (D, MT), Jon Tester, (D, MT), Kent Conrad, (D, ND), Ben Nelson, (D, NE), Ron Wyden, (D, OR), Mark Warner, (D, VA), Robert Byrd, (D, WV).

Now, again, I believe most of these and probably all of these can be turned..well all the Democrats.. There are 2 Republicans in this list..the one, Olympia Snowe..I am not sure about.. she may vote with the Democrats if it is put to her on a moral and a fiscal premise in strong enough premise. But, there are some I believe need to be updated...if you know of some of these who are not correct, please send Dr. Dean an update..

I think if we push the issue.. make the Republicans filibuster this and all of them vote against it.. all 40 of them.. and if they do.. they will pay the consequences in 2010 and beyond.

There is a push to rename the Health Care reform for Teddy Kennedy... The bill he wrote that the HELP (Health Education Labor and Pensions) Committee passed on July 15, 2009 is the counterpart to the House bill known as HR 3200. This bill has everything we need in it.. and it has been scored by the CBO as only costing $615 billion over 10 years.. that is over 400 billion less than anything else anyone has come up with.

Since he largely wrote this bill, and was the chairman of the committee, it is fitting this bill be named for him. This bill I believe could be passed and with 160 amendments in it from Republicans should be considered bipartisan.

The full text of the bill is here at the web site of the Senate site. There is also a condensed version that is available by going here.

Either way, both contain the Public Option and will do everything we need done in the way of Health Care Reform and Health Insurance Reform. No, I don't believe the Public Option is dead.. I believe the pundits, the media and the Republicans want us to believe it is, so we will give up and stay home, quit writing emails, quit calling our Senators and Representatives and just stay quiet.. But that we can't do.

We have to keep fighting for this. We have to continue to speak out, just as they are. We have not been loud enough, we have not been vocal enough. It is time for us to start to speak a little louder and a little longer...

Let our Teddy Voice be heard... let it ring in the debate and let it be what people remember in these next few weeks... don't let this chance die with Sen. Kennedy.. let his life's work be realized and let his voice continue on.. through us.

President's Weekly Address August 22, 2009

This week President Obama again speaks of Health Care. From his address this are the closing lines and the heart of the subject. My words can say no more than this. People must decide on their own.

President Obama debunks the myths around health insurance reform, and discusses the public option proposal in which many of them are rooted -- but he focuses his address on the stark moral and historical turning point at which we find ourselves: "This is our chance to march forward. I cannot promise you that the reforms we seek will be perfect or make a difference overnight. But I can promise you this: if we pass health insurance reform, we will look back many years from now and say, this was the moment we summoned what’s best in each of us to make life better for all of us. This was the moment we built a health care system worthy of the nation and the people we love. This was the moment we earned our place alongside the greatest generations. And that is what our generation of Americans is called to do right now."

What's Actually Going on With the Public Option?

Yesterday evening and this morning that was the question on everyone's mind and tongues. Was the President backing away, is he dropping the Public Option. Has he sold us out?

That was the topic of conversation at the places I frequent the most on the web. Everyone had their opinion and most of them was that the President and Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary had sold us down the river and done away with the Public Option, and gone the way of the Co-Ops.

Ezra Klein wrote about it today in his column at the Washington Post and he said about what I felt about it.. it is much ado about nothing, to borrow a phrase. People are so used to being screwed over they are parsing every word and can't wait for this President and everyone around him to just dump on them.

This happens every few days or about every other week. Here is what Klein said,

I wish I'd had the foresight and vision to keep a Word document tracking every time the administration "hedged" or squirmed or twisted on the public option. I've lost count of the number of headlines and blog posts I've read accusing the White House of throwing the public option overboard. This week, the big news is that Kathleen Sebelius said the public option should not "be the only focus of the conversation." Which is, you know, true. She also telegraphed an openness to Kent Conrad's co-op compromise. This story is currently on A1 of The Washington Post, the New York Times, and pretty much everywhere else.

But is it news? I remember when the problem was Nancy-Ann DeParle saying the president supported the public option because you needed a way "keeping the private plans honest," but then qualifying that statement by saying, "if there are others ways of doing that [than a public option], he’d be open to talking about it." That was in April.

And I remember Sebelius saying that "you could theoretically design a co-op plan that had the same attributes as a public plan.” That was in June.

As far as I can tell, there's been no change in the administration's position. It has always supported a public plan option. It has never claimed it essential, or the only path to competition in the insurance market. The one deviation came in July, when Obama said the words "must include" in a sentence that also had the words "public option." But it's not clear whether he was talking about the health insurance exchange or the public option. And that only happened, to my knowledge, once. That statement, not this one, was the deviation.

The question has never been whether the White House supports the public option. It's whether Congress -- and, in particular, the Senate -- has the votes to pass it. Sebelius's statement this week does not change the administration's position. But it is being widely reported because it comes in context of the sagging popularity of health-care reform, and the changing conventional wisdom on the legislative politics. Namely, many think it increasingly likely that the White House will have to compromise on the public option because it will not be able to find sufficient votes in the Senate and is growing more desperate for a deal. That may or may not be true, but that's the actual story here. Blowing up Sebelius's comments is just a backdoor way of getting at it.

I agree with Ezra.. There was no change.. but it caused the White House or Gibbs or some other spokesperson to have to come out and say forcefully that the President still supports the Public Option and has not changed his mind.. Yet, the papers and blogs and all the cable channels this morning are still screaming that he has.

People, get a grip... the media is not our friend. Don't believe what they say. They are in the pocket of big business and they are going to do whatever they can to kill Health Care reform. Listen to the President when he speaks. Listen to Dr. Dean, to Pres. Clinton, but don't listen to these idiots who are out there making a buck trying to interpret what the President is saying.. like Chuck Todd.. Who said today and Saturday and Friday, the Public Option is dead. The Co-Ops are what we are going to have.

Sorry, Chuck.. I think you are very, very wrong.

I believe we have the votes in the House to pass a bill possibly HR 3200, which is a pretty good bill all things considered, with a strong Public Option.

In the Senate, Bob Cesca has a piece up and he writes that Guru Nate Silver has it all figured out:

According to Nate Silver and Chris Bowers, there are currently 43 senators who support the public option. There are an additional five who appear to be convincible. And there are seven who are against the public option, but who haven't said they'd vote against a reform bill with the public option included. Lumping the convincible five on top of the 43 definites, that's 48. Two more and Joe Biden gives us a majority.

The blue dogs could actually, in a back-door way, vote for the public option without literally voting for it. Ten of them could vote against the GOP filibuster and against the final bill. There just needs to be the political will from the White House and congressional leadership to thread this needle.

So, all the gnashing of teeth, wailing, whining and pulling of hair is really just us reading the papers and listening to the talking heads and playing right into the Rethuglican hands. That's all it is.. As long as we think it is dead and roll over and let them have it, they win...

So, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and stop it.. quit listening to every word out of everyone's mouth like it is stabbing you in the heart. Trust me, NO ONE.. NO ONE is giving up or dropping the Public Option. Got that...

Let me repeat that... One more time..

NO ONE, MOST ESPECIALLY THE PRESIDENT, IS DROPPING THE PUBLIC OPTION

Now, that doesn't mean we should just sit back and do nothing... We need to stay involved and stay busy... so here is what we need to do. Again, I go back to Bob Cesca, because he put this all together for us, Bob does great work and I appreciate it immensely.

The New Coalition of the Corrupt & Spineless:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461


Harry Reid (D-NV) (just because)
Phone: 202-224-3542
Fax: 202-224-7327


Max Baucus (D-MT)
Phone: 202-224-2651
Fax: 202-224-0515


Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) (supports public option, but needs reinforcements)
Phone: (202) 224-5521
Email

Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) (supports public option, but needs reinforcements)
Phone: (202) 224-4843
Fax: (202) 228-1371


Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Phone: (202)224-5824
Fax: (202) 224-9735


Kent Conrad (D-ND)
Phone: (202) 224-2043
Fax: (202) 224-7776


Joe Lieberman (I-Douchebaggia)
Phone: (202) 224-4041
Fax: (202) 224-9750


Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Phone: (202) 224-5623
Fax: (202) 228-1377


Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Phone: (202) 224-6551
Fax: 202-228-0012
Email

Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Phone: 202-224-5274
Fax: 202-228-2183


Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (supports the public option, but needs reinforcements)
Phone: (202) 224-6542
Fax: (202) 228-3027


Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Phone: (202) 224-3841
Fax: (202) 228-3954


Tom Carper (D-DE)
Phone: (202) 224-2441
Fax: (202) 228-2190


Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Phone: 202-224-3441
Fax: 202-228-0514
Email

Mark Warner (D-VA)
Phone: 202-224-2023
Fax: 202-224-6295


Mark Pryor (D-AR)
Phone: (202) 224-2353
Fax: (202) 228-0908



THE POLLS:

CBS/NYT:
Overall: 72 percent
Dem: 87 percent
Ind: 73 percent
Rep: 50 percent

NBC/WSJ:
Overall: 76 percent

EBRI:
Overall: 83 percent support

Lake Research:
Overall: 73 percent
Dem: 77 percent
Ind: 79 percent
Rep: 63 percent

Consumer Reports:
Overall: 66 percent

Kaiser Health:
Overall: 67 percent
Dem: 80 percent
Ind: 60 percent
Rep: 49 percent

Now, my advice is this... Go to Senate Locator and then find the EMail addresses for each of these Senators, then open your email program, write a short email and use the poll numbers in your email.. Remind them that you are a Democrat and so are they. DO NOT MENTION THAT YOU DO NOT LIVE IN THEIR DISTRICT. THAT'S WHY I AM SAYING TO USE YOUR PERSONAL EMAIL, IF YOU USE THE FORM ON THEIR WEB SITE IT WILL ASK FOR YOUR LOCATION AND IF YOU DO NOT LIVE IN THEIR DISTRICT THEY WILL IGNORE YOU.

Keep your emails short, courteous, and polite, thank them and sign your name. Again... only your email address.. no phone number, no home address..

Now, you have your marching orders... lol Thanks to Bob Cesca, Ezra Klein and everyone else for all your hard work... Don't be discouraged... and please.. don't parse words.. The President has not changed his mind, neither has anyone else..

Just to show how funny this all is.. someone even said that Kathleen said the same thing over and over again... So she is consistent... So what made yesterday different that threw everyone in a tailspin? That's what Ezra Klein was pointing out in his article.

Thanks, and get to work.

One more thing... again from Bob..

-House Ways & Means - PASSED - "Strong" public option
-House Education & Labor - PASSED - Public option
-House Energy & Commerce - PASSED - Public option

-The reconciled final House "Tri-Committee" Bill passed with a strong public option.

-Senate HELP Committee - PASSED - Public option
-Senate Finance Committee - The name for our pain

Just a reminder....We have a bill from the House.. All we are waiting on is the Senate Finance Committee.. then Reconciliation. So, why are we worried?

California One Care, Our Insurance At Work

This is what we have now, or sometimes it seems that way. Nonnie @ Hysterical Raisins dropped this off for me in the comments and I had to share it will you all..

I hear the Joke yelling about he bill we have not covering everyone and how much it is going to cost, how it will raise everyone taxes and I yell at him, Hey Stupid, THERE IS NO BILL YET!

Because, there isn't any bill at this time, they are still working on them. There is a bill in the House they are working on with the 3 committees that is in Mark UP, and they are tinkering with it.. Very Good Bill....

The one from one committee in the Senate, I believe the HELP committee, is okay, but it isn't the best. That is the one they are talking about that is supposed to cost so much and doesn't cover everyone. It was't even complete. How can you look at something or judge something that is NOT FINISHED? But that is what they are trying to do.

The other committees from the Senate haven't even submitted their bills yet, and until they do, then reconcile them with the HELP bill, there is nothing really to talk about. This is all just process. As they term it...Making Sausage.

But, to hear the Washington Media tell it, and the "insiders" this process is over and the President is failing badly... I say, Don't count them out yet...

But, ENJOY, and Thanks NONNIE.. This is great..

Urgent All Hands: Daschle/Dole compromise

This post from DailyKos is what I have been talking about. Read it and then tell me I am crazy. This is what we have to do. It goes right along with what I have posted below and what I have posted before.

If we don't stay after this we won't have health care for all this year, and we can't let this happen. We have to stay after our Congressional leaders.

Thanks all.


Urgent All Hands: Daschle/Dole compromise & HELP Comm. needs spine & calls [Update]

Posted using ShareThis

New Poll Shows Tremendous Support for Public Option Health Care

There has been a lot of talk about how people don't really want a Public Option Health Care. Well this poll, EBRI, shows that is wrong.

According to this poll, which was sponsored by several businesses which you wouldn't think of as being the ones doing the study, finds that 83% want a public option.

The list of businesses are a diverse group including insurance companies, telecommunication companies, oil companies and others. Here is the list from the site.

This survey was made possible with support from AARP, American Express, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Buck Consultants, Chevron, Deere & Company, IBM, Mercer, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Principal Financial Group, Schering-Plough Corp., Shell Oil Company, The Commonwealth Fund, and Towers Perrin.

Not exactly who you would think of when you think of someone supporting the option the President wants for all Americans now is it. And not exactly what I would call a "Liberal" group.

Here are the numbers for your perusal:

Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose the following:
Creating a new public health insurance plan that anyone can purchase:
• Strongly support—53 percent
• Somewhat support—30 percent
• Somewhat oppose—5 percent
• Strongly oppose—9 percent
Having national rules requiring insurance companies to cover all people, regardless of their health problems:
• Strongly support—55 percent
• Somewhat support—25 percent
• Somewhat oppose—9 percent
• Strongly oppose—9 percent
Expanding government programs, such as Medicare or Medicaid:
• Strongly support—45 percent
• Somewhat support—30 percent
• Somewhat oppose—9 percent
• Strongly oppose—12 percent
Requiring all employers to pay toward subsidized health insurance for employees:
• Strongly support—42 percent
• Somewhat support—33 percent
• Somewhat oppose—10 percent
• Strongly oppose—12 percent
Requiring everyone to participate in some kind of health insurance plan:
• Strongly support—38 percent
• Somewhat support—30 percent
• Somewhat oppose—13 percent
• Strongly oppose—16 percent

Once again, it is amazing to me how our representatives in Congress can ignore the will and the voices of the people. Yet they are. But, with the amount of money that flows from the insurance companies to our representatives it is not really a surprise, because they don't want anything that might interrupt that cash flow.

So it is up to you, you have to let your voices be heard. Remind your Congress person who they work for.. not the insurance company, but you, you pay their salary, you vote them into office and you can vote them out.

Most of us want this and we need to remind them we do. It is time to let Congress know where we stand.

h/t Bob Cesca