In his diary about our feckless majority leader, math4barack has a darn good roundup of the politics that the Public Option is being subjected to.
The reality is this, either Fightin’ Fleein’ Harry Reid includes the Public Option in the final Senate Bill that merges the Senate Finance Bill and the HELP Committee Bill or the final Senate Bill has no Public Option.
The House Bill WILL have a Public Option provision thanks to the Progressive Caucus standing strong and Pelosi supporting them. Without the Progressive Caucus, there would be no Public Option in the House Bill. (More on that in a bit.)
The next step is merging the whatever the final House Bill contains with what the final Senate Bill (that is being merged now) contains.
Traditionally and historically in the ‘small r’ reconciliation process where the House and Senate bills are merged, the House ends up “losing out” to the Senate. In other words, the language/policy contained in the Senate Bill is more “powerful” when it comes to merging the work of the two legislative bodies.
So if the Senate Bill has no Public Option then when the House and Senate go to merge It will be MUCH less likely that a strong, inclusive, non triggered Public Option will be included.
If Harry Reid presents a Senate Bill without a Public Option, it is a HUGE obstacle to overcome.
So it might seem that we are, as the Irish say….fooked.
Because NOBODY is betting on Harry doing the right thing, right?
So that leaves us only one real HOPE for CHANGE.
THIS IS OBAMA TIME!
Literally, only Obama can get Reid to include a Public Option in the final Senate Bill.
If Obama doesn’t MAKE Reid put it in, the Public Option will not be in the final Senate Bill.
It is ALL on Obama now.
For those of you who have been sitting on your hands betting on Obama to do YOUR work for you, well just keep sitting on your hands…or use them to attack the people who ARE working for Health Care Reform as you seem to so enjoy doing. Even though that just makes it HARDER for everyone.
For those of you who want to do what Obama asks us to do and NOT just wait for him to act…
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
Barack Obama
Call, fax and email NOW to hold Obama’s feet to the fire and Make Him Do It!
PLEASE do not let these ignorant people convince you that doing your duty as a citizen is in someway shameful or “UnAmerican” or somehow HURTS Obama, as they seem to want us to believe. In order to try to get YOU to shut up.
Obama WANTS us to hold his feet to the fire.
I always believe that ultimately, if people are paying attention, then we get good government and good leadership. And when we get lazy, as a democracy and civically start taking shortcuts, then it results in bad government and politics.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those that prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor — who have carried us up the long rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes we can.
Don’t let ANYONE discourage you with their attacks that are meant only to separate us into “loyal Obamaists” vs “Obama critics.”
Do YOUR job as a citizen and let your voice be heard!
Call the White House and let them now that we want Obama to include a Public Option in the Senate Bill!
Phone and fax.
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
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And we have to stick together…
Against the vast forces arrayed against us.
DO NOT let us be defeated by those who only seek to divide!
boss.
more spinach please.
what the “public option” is, or that it it be something beyond a public option in name only?
Not a criticism of your essay Buhdy, it just seems to me there isn’t much general consideration of what the term means beyond the fact that it sounds good.
does my best wiseguy routine
seems a little shaky to me. IOW, get some kind of PO, even if it’s sucky, then at least we have one that can be improved, made bigger and better. Seems like an assumption that we really can bring down big corporate America, and faith that politicians will do it. Perhaps its possible, but alot can happen between now and then.
bless her mostly frozen shriveled heart, seems to be make a valiant attempt at presenting a semblance of humanity lately. 😉
h/t Armando this morning: Pelosi: No Public Option, No Mandates?
…again and again and again…
I emailed BHO the Bro!!!
I’m really getting tired of this thit.
…wake up and see this entire scam for what it is? Everything on the table in this debate is designed to screw us. Everything from both houses on both sides. A public option may or may not be included, but if it is it doesn’t take effect until far enough in the future that no one will remember it was ever promised (thus will go away before it takes effect). It is all designed to PREVENT us from getting what we need – universal single-payer health care – and it’ll work like a charm.
So when Pelosi says: The House, she said, “will not force America’s middle income families to negotiate with insurance companies” she’s looking right into the camera and telling a baldfaced lie. Of course we will be forced to deal with insurance companies. Who does she think would run a public option? And whatever public option we might get doesn’t take full effect until 2019, so we’ll be forced to buy for-profit junk policies for a full decade to pad the golden parachutes of insurance CEOs.
It’s just another huge heist. I won’t be buying any junk insurance from the Murder-by-Spreadsheet crowd no matter what the law says. Nor will I pay a ‘fine’ enforced without charge or trial by the IRS. They need to not just go out of business, they need to go to prison. Practicing medicine without a license, premeditated murder, negligent homicide, mass manslaughter, fraud, grand theft… I’m sure we could find some high crimes and misdemeanors.