The Public Is Far Ahead Of The US Senate On The Public Option Issue...

[Blackhatjack]

Lindsay Graham and Max Baucus can say all day long that the 'public option' is off the table, but the people certainly are demanding it.

When it appears that these senators will pay a political price for such foolhardy decisionmaking, then I predict they will change their tunes --and likely revise history to show they led the way in making sure a public option was included in the final bill.

[PDJane]

1. I'm not sure that they will pay a price.........

both men have received large sums of money from the insurance industry. They are likely to continue to do so, even if bounced from office.

[glowing]

2. Time for our own uprising.. Perhaps while we are insisting on Healthcare,

we could insist on housing, jobs that pay a living, more disposable time for our families, and public transportation with a heavy nod toward highspeed trains/ trollies/ subway systems.

[lame54]

4. don't forget the metric system

[glowing]

14. metric is not always the best method; it creates indefinate numbers.

[lame54]

3. as we were on the not going to war issue

[Blackhatjack]

5. Things are much more desperate this time... many are just hanging on...

... when people are on the verge of losing everything they tend to be more active in their demands.

What have they got to lose?

[Warpy]

6. Those corpulent asses in the Senate always lag far behind

what the people want. They are always reactive, not proactive.

If we want health care, we need to threaten their jobs.

[OHdem10]

7. Our Lawmakers continue to ignore changes in American Electorate.

The very fact that Republicans(rank and file) were willing
to vote for Obama in the election. In the past Republicans
would remain home and not vote all, rather than vote for
a Democrat. They voted for Change. They voted for Change.

Rank and File Americans have watched their jobs be shipped
to other countries, leaving them with falling wages. Losing
their jobs meant they lost Health Care Coverage. Americans
are realizing they can no longer depend on Business for Health
Care.

Americans realize we are in a globalization crisis. When
the dust settles, Americans will have a lower standard of living
than in the past. Salaries are consistently falling. The
fact that the Unions were forced to bring Autoworkers salaries
down to the same salary as the Foreign Transplants confirmed
this for them. If the Company offers Insurance in the future,
it will be a less expensive policy. Lowr Wages mean the the
Worker can only contribute so much.

Businesses say one reason for sending jobs out of country is
health care costs. Most other Countries in the Trading World,
furnish their citizens with Health Care at no cost to the company.

Knowing these things Americans realize the time is here. The
only Institution they can count on being there is the Government.

This put responsibility on the Government to do the right thing
and develop a serious good and efficient Health Plan for all.

So far the Senate seems to be more concerned over BiPartisanship
and assisting the Insurance Companies rather than what is a good
plan to provide Health Care for All Americans.

[lindisfarne]

8. This is why we all need to be encouraging folks who normally wouldn't fax & email their

reps to do that.
Phone and fax numbers & links to Senate Finance Committee members here in #1
Go to #11 for phone numbers for Senate HELP committee members.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=8473420
Go to senate.gov and house.gov to find contact info. for other reps.

[HughMoran]

9. The argument "the insurance companies can't compete with a public option" is completely idiotic

They will look like fucking ass holes arguing for insurance companies over citizens health.

They will lose.

[lindisfarne]

11. In fact, in Germany (80 million pop), private ins. exists alongside public ins. for all.

In the US we have 300+million people. Not all Germans choose to purchase private health insurance and the industry is much more heavily regulated than in the US. Nonetheless, the industry continues successfully, albeit without the huge profits of the US industry.

Even if the 83 million currently on federally-provided health insurance continue, plus Grassley's figure of 119 million choosing the public option turns out to be true, there will more people left over (100 million) than the entire German population using private health insurance (and I don't think Grassley meant 83 + 119 million - I think he mean 119 million total, including the 83 million).

83 million on federally provided health insurance = 46 million Medicare, 11 million military, 8 million SCHIP, rest are federal employees & other minor programs.

The 83 million does not include people on state-funded health insurance programs or state employees.

[customerserviceguy]

15. It actually is somewhat effective for their side

There are two groups of people in this country: one with reasonably priced healthcare that they can afford where their minor illnesses are being paid for, and another group for whom the system is clearly broken in so many ways. If the debate is couched in terms of the former group being reduced to the status of the latter group, healtcare reform is dead.

The mushy middle voted for President Obama because they were convinced that he was not likely to upset their applecart while pursuing his goals. It is imperative for the right wing to show that the upper, middle, and working classes (at least those who still have a job) will have to dig deep in their pockets to pay for the have-nots.

That was the gist of their "Joe the Plumber" sideshow last election. "Share the wealth" was turned from providing a bigger pie for all of us, into a vehicle for exploiting selfishness and greed.

The Repukes weren't successful with it in November 2008, but that won't stop them from using it again in November 2010.

[Davis_X_Machina]

10. Wait till the public gets told what it wants.

Once the advertisers and public-opinion apparat in print, on the television, and especially on the radio get going, there'll be no real reform. The economics of it don't matter.

We think we have an economy, but what we really want, and have, is a morality play. It's burnt into the pseudo-Calvininst American mythos. Our thirst for entertainment is limitless -- so you win when you can turn the issue into entertainment.

If people are presented with a choice between a satisfying narrative arc, in which the good guys win and the bad guys get punished, and an actual, functioning social provision, they'll take the coherent story over the boring social provision.

In addition, the salient fact in American politics is that there are always enough people who would volunteer to live with their family in a cardboard box under a railroad bridge, and toast sparrows on an old curtain rod over an open fire, if you would only guarantee them that the people in the next box over -- black, gay, foreign, liberal, different -- don't even get the sparrow. It's worse if you even look like you're going to take the sparrow away.

It took the depths of the Depression to make Social Security possible, and that only came to pass because the original legislation excluded agricultural workers and domestic help (i.e. colored people).

Add in the the theologians, the true-believer market-worshipers, and there's a coalition big enough to keep anything from happening, ever, given rudimentary marketing skills -- and we know the GOP possesses those.

There's a pragmatic, tactical hurdle as well. Since the elderly in this country vote in disproportionately large numbers, and their care-delivery system is already set up, there is no disincentive for them to not vote their prejudices, or their theories about capitalism, or their memories of how medical care was delivered when Eisenhower was in the White House. They can message-send to their hearts' content and their ox won't be gored.

At that point, the venality of the the average Congresscritter, while remarkable, and reliable, isn't even necessary.

The health-care status quo will outlive the Republic.

[old mark]

12. The public is not getting paid to defend the profits of the insurance business

pharma, and the AMA.

Congress is.

mark

[EndElectoral]

13. We really have lost effective representation.