ACT NOW TO SAVE PUBLIC OPTION

From FireDogLake:

Sixty-five members of the House drew a line in the sand: no public option, no health care bill.

Unfortunately, the "Blue Dogs" have drawn their own line in the sand: Blue Dog: Votes aren't there to go it alone on public option

You can sign this petition to progressive members to let them know you have their backs, and to remind them that they cannot vote for anything but a public option in both the House bill AND the conference bill. But you will also need to call - call every day - to urge Ron Kind and leaders in the house and senate.



Think we can afford to do nothing?

Without reform, health insurance rates to nearly double in 11 years

"Democracy" and Health Care Reform

During the election of 2008, Ralph Nader was roundly excoriated for his election night comment, "To put it very simply, he is our first African American president, or he will be, and we wish him well. But his choice, basically, is whether he's going to be Uncle Sam for the people of this country, or Uncle Tom for the giant corporations."

With the latest health care/health insurance "reform" debacle, it's pretty clear that Obama has chosen Tom over Sam.

A recent column by Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com makes the case:

"The Obama White House isn't sitting impotently by while Democratic Senators shove a bad bill down its throat. This is the bill because this is the bill which Democratic leaders are happy to have. It's the bill they believe in. As important, by giving the insurance and pharmaceutical industries most everything they want, it ensures that the GOP doesn't become the repository for the largesse of those industries (and, converesly, that the Democratic Party retains that status). This is how things always work. The industry interests which own and control our government always get their way. When is the last time they didn't? The "public option" was something that was designed to excite and placate progressives (who gave up from the start on a single-payer approach) -- and the vast, vast majority of progressives (all but the most loyal Obama supporters) who are invested in this issue have been emphatic about how central a public option is to their support for health care reform. But it seems clear that the White House and key Democrats were always planning on negotiating it away in exchange for industry support. Isn't that how it always works in Washington? No matter how many Democrats are elected, no matter which party controls the levers of government, the same set of narrow monied interests and right-wing values dictate outcomes, even if it means running roughshod over the interests of ordinary citizens (securing lower costs and expanding coverage) and/or what large majorities want."

So, this is what we canvassed and called and donated and worked for? I don't think so.

Supposedly, Obama is fond of quoting President Franklin Roosevelt, who urged supporters of legislation he favored to "make me do it." On the surface, this sounds like an invitation to participatory Democracy - get out there and fight for the policies you believe in. But, when the person urging you to fight, is found to be supporting and supplying the opposition, it turns into a cruel torture.

Take the Ron Kind [not] listening sessions scheduled for the hinterlands (but not La Crosse) this week. To make things more manageable, Kind will have attendees take numbers and speakers whose numbers are drawn will have two minutes to speak. Apparently, at the Richland Center session, with 500 people in attendance, 25 speakers (five per cent) were allowed to speak. With no guarantee, based on past experience, that anything any constituent says makes any difference whatsoever in Kind's actions or votes, this, too, looks less like a democratic forum and more like something a bully might dream up.

In Afghanistan, elections have just been held. More than fifty political parties were on the ballot. Here, two, or if you believe Nader, one.

Paul Krugman's recent post on Commondreams.org, makes the case that Democrats are not evil, duopolist bullies, but rather, incredibly gullible political dimwits: "So far, at least, the Obama administration’s response to the outpouring of hate on the right has had a deer-in-the-headlights quality. It’s as if officials still can’t wrap their minds around the fact that things like this can happen to people who aren’t named Clinton, as if they keep expecting the nonsense to just go away."

Either way, we are screwed.

Just say, HELL, YES! to health care reform NOW

Feingold listening sessions - Saturday August 1

7:30 a.m. in La Crosse - City Hall, 400 La Crosse Street

10:30 a.m. in Chaseburg Village Hall

KIND HEALTH SESSION JULY 1 9 A.M.

From the Tribune:

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind will host a panel discussion on health care reform Wednesday in La Crosse.

The public forum is from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the La Crosse Public Library, 800 Main St. The panel will include a hospital administrator, physician, small-business owner and laborer, and will focus on how health care reforms would affect businesses and families in western Wisconsin.

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What do we want?

Single payer universal health care!

When do we want it?

NOW!

LOTS of important stuff!

Sorry to dump all this at once but I just have not had time to update regularly. If you can make it to one or more of these important events, please go!

It's especially important for all of us to push back against the bland and dangerous "middle" that is fast destroying our hopes for true change in environment and health care policy. See more below this event list:

Wednesday, May 27 at 6:30 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church (1010 Sill St.) - TREATMENT INSTEAD OF PRISON! sponsored by AMOS. A Restorative Justice Forum with rick Raemish, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections; Judge Elliot Levine, La Crosse County Circuit Court; Tim Gruenke, La Crosse County District Attorney. For more info, see the AMOS web site.

Thursday, May 28 at 2:45 p.m. at the Amtrak Station in La Crosse (601 St. Andrew St.) - RALLY FOR HIGH SPEED RAIL! sponsored by UW-L Environmental Council and WISPIRG. For more info and/or to RSVP visit the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=89800911125&mid=820be0G28dac05eG1bf4b0bG7

Thursday, May 28 at 7:00 p.m. at the Ho-Chunk Three Rivers House (corner of 8th and Main Streets in La Crosse) - Wisconsin's Electric Energy Future with Commissioner Mark Meyer, of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) sponsored by the Clean Energy Coalition. Also on the agenda is discussion about Governor Doyle's Global Warming Task Force. For more info, please email Bill K.

Saturday, May 30 - NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION IN SUPPORT OF SINGLE PAYER UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE - NO LOCAL RALLY IS PLANNED, but please take this opportunity to write and call your representative and senators in support of this best, most cost effective option. See Health Care Now for more details.

Monday, June 1 at 7:00 p.m. at the Franciscan Spirituality Center (920 Market St.) - Judicial Independence Forum - Should we reform Wisconsin Supreme Court elections? sponsored by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a non-partisan organization now building awareness of the Impartial Justice Bill scheduled for a May 27 public hearing: http://www.wisdc.org/pdf/joint-public-hearing-may-09.pdf

On the national front, our wonderful dear leaders are taking the middle path ensuring no significant change will occur in health care and environment issues.

HEALTH CARE - according to American Health Care Reform, the insurance and drug lobbies are buying their way into a sweetheart deal. Referencing a Washington Post March report, "Health insurers and drug makers have showered Congress with almost $6 million bucks to have their seat at the health reform table."

Seeing the handwriting on the wall, major providers and insurers apparently promised to lower costs by &2 trillion and Obama touted this as a "major breakthrough." But, this promise was quickly disputed by those who attended the meeting. And, even if it were true - $2 trillion over 10 years - who is going to hold them accountable?

And what about the reform that would benefit the most Americans at the lowest cost - single payer, universal health care? Off the table. In fact, some "moderate Democrats" have vowed to keep a public plan out of the mix of options now being considered. Ben Nelson (D-MT) has called a public option a "deal breaker."

On the other hand, in April, four major caucuses (Progressives, Black, Asian Pacific American, and Hispanic) sent a letter to Obama stating what's ON the table for them - ‘our support for enacting legislation this year to guarantee affordable health care for all firmly hinges on the inclusion of a robust public health insurance plan like Medicare.'

With big bucks and "bought" Dems (and don't forget the loopy Republicans) and Obama's mastery of making something out of nothing, unless there is a major public outcry, the best, most cost effective health care reform plan will not see the light of day.

ENVIRONMENT - Well, we knew this had to happen! "Coal, Electric Industries Big Winners in Climate Bill Deal." In fact, this bill is so flawed that major environmental groups are not supporting it.

Really, it's too depressing. Watch this Democracy Now! program for more info.