( – promoted by buhdydharma )
Now that we see the shape of the bill that will come out of Sen. Baucus’ (Insurance Lobby, MT) finance committee it is there are some things we need to recognize. First off, just because he and the other lily livered Dems on that committee can’t seem to get a real bill that meets not only the President’s minimum requirements and the countries minimum needs does not mean it is all over. There was always going to be a Conference Committee on this set of reforms. So just because Sen. Baucus (Putz, MT) has drunk the bipartisan Kool Aid does not mean the game is over.
“Originally posted at Squarestate.net“
There are two very important things if we are to make sure there is a public option. We must have a vote in the House this week (even if it means on the weekend) and we must pass HR 3200 .We have a policy in this bill, it has individual and business mandates, it has payment mechanisms, it has a public option from day one. This is the law we need, so our first action must be to support the passage of it. By doing so, we put the House in the stronger position in the Conference Committee and that makes the overall passage of a real bill that begins to meet the needs of the people of the United States that much more likely to become law.
While the Netroots have been focusing on the Senate and its bill, what is really needed this week, today in fact is action on your Representatives in the House. The Dog is going to ask you for action today, it is going to be easy, it will be three or four phone calls and the same number of stamps, envelops and paper.
What we need is every person who is reading this to go to their Representatives website and call all of their offices. When you get a staffer the message is simple:
Hi, my name is (your name). I am constituent of Representative X and I am calling today to urge the Representative to vote for H.R. 3200 when it comes to a vote in the House. This is an important issue for the nation and for me personally, this is why I am calling today.
Thank them for their time, hang up and call the next office. The point here is for all Reps Democratic and Republican to get the message that people who matter to them, voters in their districts are making the effort to be heard on this bill. Everyone of them is up for re-election next year and this will make an impact. The reason to call all of their offices is the fact while they will take your name down, they won’t forward all the names to the Washington office, they will just forward the numbers pro and con. This multiplies your effect.
Next the letters; the Dog knows it is drag getting out an envelope and finding a stamp but the impact of paper letters on Congressional offices is not to be underestimated. They know it is a hassle too, so they take the points of view which come this way with more weight than e-mails or phone calls. Since we are trying to give the very real impression there are 75% of their district wanting a public option this is another way to multiply the impact of your action. Below is a sample letter you can use:
Dear Representative (insert name);
I am writing today to very strongly urge you to support H.R. 3200 when it comes to the House floor. This bill provides much needed reform of the health care system in our nation. It allows those who want to keep their insurance to keep it while providing choice for those who want a choice.
Currently 94% of the insurance markets in the nation are what the DOJ calls “highly concentrated” this means one company has 42% or more of the market. In 13 States two companies control 90% of the insurance markets. As long as there is no real competition there is no real choice. This also means there is no price pressure in those markets.
I have talked to my neighbors and most of us feel we must have a public option in order to provide coverage for all Americans and to reign in the constant increases in health insurance prices which far exceed inflation every single year.
Please vote in favor of H.R. 3200, it is the right thing to do for our nation and the people of this Congressional District.
Sincerely,
If you are not sure of who your Representative is, you can find out here. Then all you have to do is follow the link to their website. They will have contact information for all of their offices there.
This is crunch time citizens. If you want the reforms offered in this bill, if you want a public option, this is the action that is needed now. Don’t wait, don’t make excuses, this is what being involved in your nation’s politics is all about. ACT!
The floor is yours.
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Please, do the work and reap the rewards!
and was directed to a ‘live’ call he was doing, where all his callers were local gazillionaires connected to Merck and other pharmas or had incomes in the stratosphere; where Lance was complaining about taxes on folks/small businesses with $280 k income as if this were the US ‘middle class’ [are you KIDDING me? I thought], and telling eachother how important was the need for tort reform to reduce health care costs [as if crappy expensive health care in MacNeil TX – where Tort Reform is TX law – and as exposed in that viral New Yorker article – had not already put the lie to the bogus claims re tort reform].
I was slated to ‘eventually’ get on the call with my pre-cleared Q which was whether there was a connection between Repr Lance’s failure to seek reductions in the price gouging by the health care insurers and the fact that his two highest campaign contributors were the insurance industry and health care industry.
Unfortunately I got physically sick listening to this rich Repre and all the greedy rich callers in our rich district complain about taxes. Lance is the preacher to a local choir of the [mostly] obscenely wealthy, greedy and already-converted.
Sorry Ministry but folks like Repr Lance of NJ are already a lost clause. I had to hang up just to preserve my sanity.