Durbin: Progressives Forced Our Hand On Public Option

[kpete]

Source: Huffington Post

Durbin: Progressives Forced Our Hand On Public Option


Democratic leaders were forced to include a national public health insurance option as part of health care reform by progressive Democratic senators who refused to support anything less, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Monday.

Durbin's assessment was made to a handful of reporters following the announcement by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that after weeks of talks with his colleagues he had determined that including a public option that states could opt out of was the best way to go.

For many years, it's been centrist and conservative-leaning senators who have been scoring legislative victories by digging in their heels, so this represented a quite dramatic turnabout. It is difficult to remember the last time that progressives won a legislative victory by laying down firm demands and sticking to them. In the House, the Congressional Progressive Caucus has found its feet, too, and is locked in a final battle with conservative Democrats over the shape of a public option.

...............




Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/26/durbin-progressives-force_n_334438.html

[polichick]

1. Excellent - score one for the progressives!!! nt

[jgraz]

39. Whaddya mean "one"?

Are you forgetting Medicare, Civil Rights, Social Security, the minimum wage, labor laws, environmental protections, the social safety net, a woman's right to choose and basically every other good thing that's happened in this country?

Every one of those things happened because of us impatient, unrealistic, childish, whining, haterade-drinking, pony-wanting progressives.

[villager]

42. well, yes, but then much of that has been rolled back....

So we'd better get to heel-digging again -- for the next several decades...

[harmonicon]

60. well, all of those things were done because people wanted them

Most politicians now are not people - at least they don't seem to be. On the environmental protections side, Republicans even did a lot.... back when even some of them were human beings. These things you mention are not, or should not be, "progressive" stances, but simply those of the sane.

[polichick]

64. Just chalking up the latest "one" - I'm very proud to be a true blue liberal...

...but see us as thinking, evolved and visionary.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

98. EXACTLY!!!! I thought Dick is a progressive. He sounds like he's upset about it.

[KatherineEgan]

111. Does anyone know how much

our monthly premium will be?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. About damn time.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Frank Booth]

29. +1

[katkat]

52. tommy lee -what the crap is this

[zeos3]

53. "warm/scary welcome"??

You mean like this kind of warm/scary?

[Name removed]

55. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[The Wielding Truth]

54. So we have been horribly scary warm to you? Sorry. I guess?

Welcome. I like reggae music, too.

[bjobotts]

48. It's the only way the "reform" bill makes any real reform.Progressives knew this and refused to budg

[bjobotts]

49. It was the only way dems come out ahead on this issue.Can't compromise on the seriousness.

[bjobotts]

50. The progressive agenda is the only way our nation will change and succeed

[bjobotts]

51. Progressives are the only ones willing to lead us out of conservative hell.

[xxqqqzme]

97. Exactly!!

This nation was founded on progressive/liberal principles (except one and wouldn't you know, it was the southern conservatives then too). If this nation is to move forward, we need to embrace those principles again.

[AlbertCat]

103. except one and wouldn't you know, it was the southern conservatives then too

You mean the Northern colonies wanted women and non-land owners to vote too? Huh! I didn't know that!

[BrklynLiberal]

3. That is so satisfying to know!!! It should encourage us all to keep fighitng...

[jwirr]

4. Now go home and make me do it. FDR - We did it. Progressives.

[Thrill]

5. I also heard Durbin call out Republicans today for taking credit

for the stimulus programs that they opposed.

[2Design]

6. if this is the best they can do - forget it - they are not helping n/t

[laughingliberal]

7. It couldn't have hurt that progressive voters kept up the heat

and that polls show large majorities of Americans are in favor of it. The Republicans and Conservadems deliberately stalled legislation until after the August recess believing the media coverage of the industry sponsored temper tantrums would kill reform. In truth, it gave us time to marshall our forces and educate the public. A huge backfire on them.

[Le Taz Hot]

62. Excellent assessment. (N/T)

[dmr]

8. I think we (American people) had a lot to do with it, too.

Too many people in America have a lot at stake here, and we made it known.

All the money in the insurance lobby, the manufactured dissent in the town hall meetings, and all the media hoopla couldn't drown out the heart-wrenching cries for common sense.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

99. Yes. This isn't really a liberal/progressive victory. The polls were showing overwhelming support

for a public option. The progressives were fighting for something that the American public wants. They were actually following the will of the American people.

And in fact, what Reid did was reach a compromise: the progressives wanted a public option. Check! The Blue Dogs and DLCers wanted an opt-out. Check!

As a liberal, I'm actually thinking that I really like this opt-out plan. I think it's sheer brilliance. Let the states opt-out of the plan. The insurance industry wants MORE customers, which is what the public option will bring them. They'll just take their business to other states. And now that the industry won't be exempt from antitrust laws, they can no longer dominate in one state!! They now not only have to compete with other big insurance companies; they have to now compete with the public option and with smaller insurance companies!

It's sheer brilliance, I say! Brilliant!!

[AlbertCat]

105. Not to mention what might happen to governors who "opt out".

[Bitwit1234]

9. About da*n time too

Now if all the democrats could find that spine and tell the republicans to go soak their head. Maybe they could get some work done. Democrats should not be pushed by the republican minority....

But I am so glad the progressive group had their way.......

[Bette Noir]

10. Good for us.

[bvar22]

11. Score one for the "Fringe Left".

:patriot:
We forced "The Centrists" to throw us a crumb.

Now we need to do something about the Multi-Billion Dollar Public Money gift to the Health Insurance Industry. (Individual Mandates + a weak/restricted Pubic Option)

Long, looooong way to go.

[theFrankFactor]

79. Thank you!

What has to happen to clean the shitheads out of this party?

[bvar22]

96. Torches, Pitchforks, and Guillotines

*Send money ONLY directly to members of the Progressive Caucus.

*Never, EVER send money to the DSCC/DCCC.
If you Work for a Living, they WILL use your money against you.

The MOST effective avenue open to The Left is to use the Internet to coordinate support for Progressive challengers to a few targeted "Blue Dogs", like Evan Bayh (Indiana) who is up for re-election in 2010. Even if we are unsuccessful at unseating him, we CAN make his Primary HELL, and that would at least send the message that a policy of Ignoring the left while catering to conservatives will have some consequences.

However, most of the better known Internet based Left Leaning organizations like MoveOn have been co-opted by Rahm and the White House (Google "Democratic Message Discipline") who will be working to stamp out such a rebellion.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/04/10-1

Never-the Less, I WILL be sending money to Bayh's challenger and encouraging others to do the same.

[AlbertCat]

107. Don't send anybody money.

All candidates for any election should get the same amount of $$$$ and the same (donated) amount of air time. Lobbyists should not be allowed in the District of Columbia. Make 'em go to Fairfax at least to cut deals.

Imagine how that might change what motivates our reps.

[theFrankFactor]

110. bvar22 - Great Info - Stop By My Site and Join Us if You Like.

I'm looking for information and support to help make Democrats into Liberals and further actual Progressive and Liberal policy. There are a few of us in sympathy (and growing every week) but getting things done is still something we need help and insight with.

Thanks
http://TheFrankFactor.com

[Oerdin]

12. I'm glad progressives finally grew a pair.

But I think it is just window dressing. I mean even Obama has sold out and isn't fighting for a medicare like public option. I suspect they'll pass a bill and say it has a public option but it will be so weak and watered down it poses no threat to the insurance companies. Even worse it will probably have a "trigger" which will never be triggered. The Democratic leadership is weak, weak, weak. They like to talk about actually doing something the people want when there is an election coming but when was the last time they actually delivered? They don't seem to care much about the people or what's best for America and instead they're little better then the Repukes when it comes to forcing the moneyed interests to only screw the people six days a week instead of all day every day.

[MarjorieG]

Dupe

[MarjorieG]

26. Obama is one guy, with a great bully pulpit, but no match for the lobby and talks that pre-dated him

[Le Taz Hot]

63. Uh, Progressives never lost their "pair."

They were left at the alter by their own party in exchange for other very lucrative corporate offers. The Party of Rahm read the message boards, blogs and poll numbers and saw they were in real danger of losing MAJOR support in 2010 and 2012. Don't confuse the Party "Leadership" (I refer to them as the Milquetoast Wing of the Democratic Party) with TRUE Progressive Democrats. They are most definitely two different entities.

[ChiciB1]

70. I Soooooooooo Agree With You... But For Us "Lefties" Which BTW Has

almost become a "curse word," tell me where do I go now? I seriously feel I want a STRONG 3rd Party, but I may DIE before I ever see this happen, and I realize there are other parties out there... but NONE that have any teeth at all!

Democrats keep showing me how little spine they really have! Call them, write them, petition them, meet them in person, go to town halls... It's a JOKE! They represent THEMSELVES and not "we the people" for the most part!

There are some "good" guys out there, but you can almost count them on two hands!! I'm sick of it, but then I'm just a whining LIBERAL! Don't bother telling me once again how STUPID I am and how I'm missing the BIG PICTURE!

In time, and we have plenty of time to see how this HCR is actually pretty damn weak!!!

[fascisthunter]

87. we never lost our balls

we just weren't allowed to take part in anything up until now.

[bvar22]

93. The "Public Option" is a crumb tossed to the peasants for misdirection....

...while Multi-BILLIONS of Public Money is transferred to the For Profit Health Insurance Industry.

Do The Math:

The NEW price tag = $1 Trillion Dollars....$1,000,000,000,000.00 for 10 years.

Only 10 Million enrolled in the retricted Public Option after 10 years (BEFORE Opt Out).

THIS is the BIG Issue.

[bvar22]

108. The Democraic Party Leadership is NOT "weak".

They are STANDING AGAINST an overwhelming MANDATE for CHANGE and OPPOSING a very popular REFORM
while giving the For Profit Health Insurance Industry a Blow Job in FULL Public View.

Now THAT is "audacity".

[Jefferson23]

13. Finally!!!!

[WillyT]

14. That's Right !!!

No... Left !!!

Um... Correct... maybe???

:silly:

K & R !!!

[tb1988]

15. All of our hard work paid off!!

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!

[theFrankFactor]

81. You poor thing...

Welcome to DU. What you've just witnessed is the utter cowardice and ineffectual, corporate ball kissing that the Democrat party lives for.

First of all, do you know the details of this arrangement?

Secondly, most states have Republican governors... we got SHIT!

[whathehell]

106. They may NOT by the next election.

[ldf]

16. smoke and mirrors

did you watch rachel? pay attention to the fine print, which they haven't finished writing yet.

so we have a public option, but it isn't available to everyone, only the uninsured, and states can opt out, and those states that stay in don't get access for their uninsured until 2013.

hurrah. pardon me if i don't wet myself in celebration.

in other words, the "public option" is only available to a small portion of 10% of americans. (apparently "public" doesn't mean that all americans have a choice.) that insures that it will not be a "success", so the republicans win.

THAT's showing them what for.

:sarcasm:

if this is all they can accomplish, i'd back an opposition "progressive" party in a new york minute. schumer, my senator, will sell us out in a hearbeat.

[chadmak09]

57. exactly.

Exactly!
What is the point of a public option if it doesnt provide competition.
Most bankruptcys are people who HAVE insurance.
So what good does a public option do for the economy if those people cant switch to the public option.
The goal is universal healthcare!

This is nowhere close to that goal.

Especially since red states can opt out if they want.

This is a compromise on top of a compromise on top of a compromise.

Way to fight!
We really stuck it to them! lol.

[newspeak]

75. yeah, I watched Rachel

and if they have a public option that states can opt out, then there's a chance that the public option may not succeed and then the repugs can say, "see, it doesn't work." It seems that the repugs and some of those repug lite democrats would love to see it fail. What is wrong with the people choosing, not the state? Will we have people moving to states that provide a public option? I can see a migration of people to certain states that will provide medical care through a public option. I don't think they have thought this through except when it comes to the health industry's donations. The people should have a right to choose what they want, not states.

[FlaGranny]

59. You realize that this isn't the final bill I hope. n/t

[theFrankFactor]

82. Meaning what exactly?

You mean they can fuck it up even more?

[donco6]

17. It should have been simple common sense that forced your hand.

You dumbass.

(not you, OP, Durbin)

[defendandprotect]

18. Don't sit back ... keep at it!! And, in fact, we should be demonstrating for Medicare for All --

also, I'd like to see every Democrat wearing a button -- MEDICARE FOR ALL --

Repugs were at it again in Senate today -- how bad Medicare is -- !!!

[theFrankFactor]

83. Why is this so damn hard?

I agree and always saw the expansion of Medicare as the most logical, efficient and beneficial option. I have an idea... our party is not really about us it is about placating and creating an illusion. Corporations RUN this fucking nation, including the Democrat party.

THIS IS PROOF.

[Patchuli]

19. K&R & FU to the Unrec'er! nt

[DebbieCDC]

20. Thank you Russ Feingold, Al Franken and the spirit of the late Paul Wellstone

[sasquatch]

21. We can't rest on our asses, we got to beat them pink tutus into line

[dhpgetsit]

22. When we something passed, we can call it a movement.

And that's as far as I'm gonna go with that one!

[rucky]

23. We so crazy!

[tblue]

24. Alan Grayson and FDL, with us at their back, led the way, and the PC did not give in. Woohoo!!!

:woohoo: for Grayson! :woohoo: for FDL! :woohoo: for the Progressive Caucus! and :woohoo: for US!!!

[TankLV]

27. It's about fucking time!!! WAAAAY overdue...!!!

Now - DON'T STOP - PUSH IT EVEN FURTHER - to where the MAJORITY of the country are!!!

[Krashkopf]

28. Yay, Go Team!

Its about damned time the Democratic Party realized that they can't take us for granted!

[WheelWalker]

30. Yes we shall!

[MannyGoldstein]

31. Next Step: Let's send Emanuel, Summers, and that crowd back to Wall Street

Then let's crush Wall Street.

[PFunk]

32. Translation: The Dems are worried about the base sitting home in 2010 over this.

Good I say.

[laughingliberal]

33. As well they should be nt

[PatSeg]

34. About time!

[underpants]

35. Any way that it gets in there is fine

let "the market" take over and it will be wildly popular and successful

[optimator]

36. dont believe it till i see it

until then im sure it will be a shit sandwich

[yurbud]

37. notice how they never come forward and say lobbyists forced their hand?

cuz you don't have to force someone's hand when you are putting money in it.

[Thornleylv]

38. Navadan!

Harry Ried showed us some leadership today! Today I an extremely proud to be a Nevadan. I will help Sen. Reid get Re-Elected in any way I can.   

[debbierlus]

40. We are not finished yet. A half ass public option only available after 7 years is NOT progressive

....policy....

We aren't finished with you, yet.

[stevenleser]

41. K&R

Love it!

[AllyCat]

43. Red Herring. It's with the frickin' "opt out"!!!

[otohara]

44. Too Bad We Can't Flash Backwards

and they would have supported us on Iraq.

[harry_pothead]

45. Glory Glory K&R'jah

:kick: :kick:

[tiny elvis]

46. ooo baby, you're so big and strong

nobody ever did me so good
i wish i didn't have to take your money
big daddy says no exceptions
but you're the one i love, not him

[GreenTea]

47. What the fuck is Durbin talking about, we didn't win shit - Reid offered almost nothing

with what he called a "Public Option"....and the "opt-out" what kind of spineless bullshit compromise is that...The bill is so fucking weak and does nothing to help almost no one, if red states and republican governors "opt-out".

We'll never get a chance like this again - and this is what the democratic senators are calling a victory...for whom?

Certainly not for the 50 million plus uninsured or the people struggling to pay their premiums.... and it doesn't even kick in until 2013 giving plenty of time for republicans to weaken it even more, in order to make it non-effective & eventually non-existent...all the while the republicans will be screaming we told you so....government health care doesn't work....

This is ALL for looks so the Dem's have something to run on in 2010...this bill is an insult to every progressive & liberal who's been fighting, donating, writing, calling, signing & protesting....

This is the fucked up bill as we expected from the senate it is clearly a pile of corporate insurance kiss ass dog shit....If the congress doesn't insist on getting a much, much better bill, than we are totally fucked again by the corporate influenced democrats, the fascist republicans and the greedy insurance corporations machine who will continue to steal our tax dollars and fuck us for profit and very few if any of the uninsured will have true insurance nor any real option!

The only ones who should be happy are the fucking moderates who Durbin is patronizing pretending this is a progressive liberal victory with the weakest "public option" possible....

It's just more bullshit, a smokescreen from the weak spineless corporate owned Harry Reid...who thinks he found a way to get elected, by saying there's a public option and giving everything to his corporate masters that they wanted.

Disgusting & INSULTING!

[maglatinavi]

56. insulting!!!

I agree, we must keep the fire on their tuchatz until tHey come with a real PUBLIC OPTION... whom do they think they are kidding? Keep their feet to the fire uNtil real reform, real public option is in the bill...IN SPANISH IT WOULD BE ASKED: DOES REID THINKS WE SUCK OUR THUMBS ...(LIKE BABIES WITHOUT MALICE!)GIVE ME A BREAK!!!... BUT AT LEAST IT SHOWS THAT THE PRESSURE ON HIM, SPECIALLY IN NEVADA IS HAVING AN EFFECT... KEEP IT UP!!!

[chadmak09]

58. Thank YOU!!! +1

you hit the nail on the head.

This is not a victory.
Nowhere close!

Calling this a victory is a HUGE sign of weakness.

This is a sign of just how easily pushed over we have become.

And there are people here patting reid and thierselves on the back like we have just got universal healthcare or something.
come on people!!
This does nothing for all of us insured people who are having to pay HUGE premuims and have huge co-pays.
Bankruptcy will continue to rise, becasue the insurance companies know the insured wont be able to join the public option.
That, and they know they will continue to own red states with the "opt out".

This helps me, my family, and the rest of us stuck in the private insurance hell NONE.

THIS IS NOT A VICTORY.

WE NEED REAL REFORM!!!

AND THIS IS NOT IT!!!!
NOT EVEN CLOSE

[flyarm]

74. It's even worse than nothing..read this!!

States Permitted to Worsen But Not Improve Healthcare
posted and written by David Swanson
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6865446&mesg_id=6865446
The absence of a civilized healthcare system in the United States, almost alone among wealthy nations, results in tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths every year. But if something is to be done soon to save lives it is not going to be done in Washington, D.C. It is going to be done in Sacramento, Harrisburg, Columbus, Springfield, Augusta, Denver. And then it's going to be blocked by lawsuits from health insurance corporations and preemptive language in federal legislation.

The very best possible bills now under consideration in Congress are largely bailouts for health insurance companies at public expense. The "public option," which was originally sold to us as a path toward a single-payer solution or Medicare for all, has been reduced to -- at best -- a token mitigating factor in a catastrophically bad law. And states may be permitted to opt out of it. So most people across the country won't be allowed to use the public option, and in some states nobody at all will.

Hurray for states' rights! But this has nothing to do with states' rights. We're permitting states to make our healthcare policies worse, but not necessarily better. The driving force seems to be concern for health insurance companies' rights.

The mammoth healthcare bills being carted around the U.S. Capitol on hand-trucks are likely to deprive states of the power to take useful steps to provide their citizens with healthcare, and unlikely to allow states to waive existing federal laws preventing life-saving action.

Back in July, the House Committee on Education and Labor did something right, something that could make all the difference in the world to millions of Americans, unless we allow the congressional "leadership" to unceremoniously undo it. Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced in the committee an amendment that would effectively allow states to improve on our healthcare system if they choose to, allow them to create state-level single-payer healthcare. There are bills to do this in several state legislatures already. Such a bill has passed and been vetoed in California twice, where a change in governor is imminent.

President Obama told the committee chairman, George Miller, to oppose Kucinich's amendment, and he did so, leading off the voting with a resounding "No." But the Democrats voted 14 to 14 with one member passing and two failing to vote. And the Republicans voted 13 to 5 with one member failing to vote. That added up to 27 yes votes and 19 no votes. Some Republicans may have voted yes simply because the chairman voted no, but they said they were voting yes for states' rights. And that would be a sensible, decent, and constitutional position. Why shouldn't states be permitted to do better, as well as worse, than Washington, even if the insurance companies bring in less blood money?

Canada got its healthcare system in one province first. If California or Pennsylvania joins the civilized world and treats healthcare as a right, and eliminates the waste and bureaucracy of the health insurance companies, our whole nation may just be forced to come along, or watch half the population migrate to California and Pennsylvania.

Of course we could create a Medicare for All system at the national level immediately. It would take a far shorter piece of legislation than what's under consideration, and one that everyone could understand. It would save money. It would save lives. It would not force anyone to give their hard-earned pay to wasteful health insurance companies. And the House has scheduled a vote on doing just that, on what has come to be called the Weiner Amendment, sponsored by Congressman Anthony Weiner. We certainly need as many yes votes on this as possible. We also need as many no votes as possible on any bill that does more harm than good. Then we can come back in round two with a more honest debate, one that includes the single-payer solution.

However, the approach that congress members are currently taking should give you pause about failing to speak up for the Kucinich amendment before it's too late. A conversation I had with Congresswoman Betty Sutton is typical. She told me that the Kucinich Amendment was no big deal and shouldn't be paid any attention to. She said she wanted everyone to focus on the Weiner Amendment on which she planned to vote yes. Asked if there was any chance the Weiner Amendment would pass, she replied of course not.

From Congresswoman Sutton's point of view, a bill that will fail is far more important than a life-saving measure in a bill that might pass, because she plans to vote right on the former and brag about it to her constituents. "See, I tried. I really tried." But if Sutton's state, Ohio, passes the bill currently making its way through the state legislature and establishes single-payer for all Ohioans, the death panels, aka health insurance companies, will sue. And without the Kucinich Amendment they will win or at least hold things up for several years and several thousand deaths.

If we made enough noise now, we could force Congress not to strip out the Kucinich Amendment. A first step would be a phone call to Nancy Pelosi and your Congress member.

That being done, we could still support or oppose the overall bill based on an analysis of all the details, but we would at the very least have laid the groundwork for inclusion of the Kucinich amendment in round two or for its passage as stand-alone legislation. This would conflict with our ongoing struggle for national Medicare for All only in the twisted confines of our own daydreams.

Open up the real possibility for California to act on behalf of its residents and you create an enormous new lever for prying the insurance executives' claws out of our representatives in Congress. Think about it. Do something about it.

David Swanson is the author of the new book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union" by Seven Stories Press. You can order it and find out when tour will be in your town: http://davidswanson.org/book .

http://www.davidswanson.org


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6865446&mesg_id=6865446

[theFrankFactor]

78. FUCKING BULLSHIT! We agreeed to let Republican Gvrnr's deny the shitty Public Option!

WOW! Big fucking victory! My party is larded with a bunch of fucking idiots.

[Le Taz Hot]

61. They read the message boards and we KNOW they read

DU. The Milquetoast Wing of the Democratic party saw they were in REAL danger of losing some hard core Party followers as well as the Progressives. All of a sudden the public option is back on the table. This is one of those line-in-the-sand issues that they're not going to be able to slither away from and they know it.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

this has nothing to do wiht message boards. this has to do with people

who call their senators, write letters and organize others to do the same

[La Lioness Priyanka]

71. this has nothing to do wiht message boards. this has to do with people

who call their senators, write letters and organize others to do the same

[Le Taz Hot]

76. Well, of course, one does not exclude the other.

The use of mass contacts for one cause or another has actually dampened the effects of direct contact. Politicians know there are organizations that bombard their offices with communiques for/against whatever cause and that those communiques far exceed actual representation for said cause.

Conversely, even though most message boards have a stated agenda (DEMOCRATIC Underground) right up front, message boards represent hundreds/thousands/millions of INDIVIDUALS, making easier to spot authentic trends. Consequently, it is much harder to dismiss them.

That is not to say we shouldn't contact our respective congresscritters. We should. BUT we need to hold them accountable and not give them a pass just because the have the correct letter next to their name.

[tomp]

65. so, what will the progressives vote for in the end?

will they vote nay on a bad public option?

will enough republicans come on board for a bad public option to make the progressives look like "purists"?

it remains to be seen.

[City Lights]

66. Hooray!

Finally, something I can :bounce: about!

:party: :applause: :woohoo:

And a :toast: to everyone who held their representatives' feet to the fire! :yourock:

I :loveya: Senator Durbin!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

67. here i thought all we did was criticize obama & demand ponies

[apnu]

68. LOL yeah on this board that was true.

But there are many progressive organizations that did actually do the work. I bet a good 40% of the people on DU just sat around here and bitched and moaned.

[ElboRuum]

88. I'd up the number, honestly... n/t

[Triana]

69. Yaaay. Too bad we still ended up with a crappy one that still won't work

due to limitations in it - but well.. hmph.

[flyarm]

72. can someone tell me what the " f " we have gotten to cheer about??

please..just tell me what the f kind of "bone" they are telling you they have thrown you??

I will call it dog shit..and that is putting it mildly!
see my next post..

about this written by David Swanson!!

States Permitted to Worsen But Not Improve Healthcare
posted and written by David Swanson
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6865446&mesg_id=6865446

[theFrankFactor]

84. NOTHING. THAT'S WHAT!

Don't spend that penny all in one place.

[flyarm]

73. States Permitted to Worsen But Not Improve Healthcare

States Permitted to Worsen But Not Improve Healthcare
posted and written by David Swanson

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6865446&mesg_id=6865446

The absence of a civilized healthcare system in the United States, almost alone among wealthy nations, results in tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths every year. But if something is to be done soon to save lives it is not going to be done in Washington, D.C. It is going to be done in Sacramento, Harrisburg, Columbus, Springfield, Augusta, Denver. And then it's going to be blocked by lawsuits from health insurance corporations and preemptive language in federal legislation.

The very best possible bills now under consideration in Congress are largely bailouts for health insurance companies at public expense. The "public option," which was originally sold to us as a path toward a single-payer solution or Medicare for all, has been reduced to -- at best -- a token mitigating factor in a catastrophically bad law. And states may be permitted to opt out of it. So most people across the country won't be allowed to use the public option, and in some states nobody at all will.

Hurray for states' rights! But this has nothing to do with states' rights. We're permitting states to make our healthcare policies worse, but not necessarily better. The driving force seems to be concern for health insurance companies' rights.

The mammoth healthcare bills being carted around the U.S. Capitol on hand-trucks are likely to deprive states of the power to take useful steps to provide their citizens with healthcare, and unlikely to allow states to waive existing federal laws preventing life-saving action.

Back in July, the House Committee on Education and Labor did something right, something that could make all the difference in the world to millions of Americans, unless we allow the congressional "leadership" to unceremoniously undo it. Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced in the committee an amendment that would effectively allow states to improve on our healthcare system if they choose to, allow them to create state-level single-payer healthcare. There are bills to do this in several state legislatures already. Such a bill has passed and been vetoed in California twice, where a change in governor is imminent.

President Obama told the committee chairman, George Miller, to oppose Kucinich's amendment, and he did so, leading off the voting with a resounding "No." But the Democrats voted 14 to 14 with one member passing and two failing to vote. And the Republicans voted 13 to 5 with one member failing to vote. That added up to 27 yes votes and 19 no votes. Some Republicans may have voted yes simply because the chairman voted no, but they said they were voting yes for states' rights. And that would be a sensible, decent, and constitutional position. Why shouldn't states be permitted to do better, as well as worse, than Washington, even if the insurance companies bring in less blood money?

Canada got its healthcare system in one province first. If California or Pennsylvania joins the civilized world and treats healthcare as a right, and eliminates the waste and bureaucracy of the health insurance companies, our whole nation may just be forced to come along, or watch half the population migrate to California and Pennsylvania.

Of course we could create a Medicare for All system at the national level immediately. It would take a far shorter piece of legislation than what's under consideration, and one that everyone could understand. It would save money. It would save lives. It would not force anyone to give their hard-earned pay to wasteful health insurance companies. And the House has scheduled a vote on doing just that, on what has come to be called the Weiner Amendment, sponsored by Congressman Anthony Weiner. We certainly need as many yes votes on this as possible. We also need as many no votes as possible on any bill that does more harm than good. Then we can come back in round two with a more honest debate, one that includes the single-payer solution.

However, the approach that congress members are currently taking should give you pause about failing to speak up for the Kucinich amendment before it's too late. A conversation I had with Congresswoman Betty Sutton is typical. She told me that the Kucinich Amendment was no big deal and shouldn't be paid any attention to. She said she wanted everyone to focus on the Weiner Amendment on which she planned to vote yes. Asked if there was any chance the Weiner Amendment would pass, she replied of course not.

From Congresswoman Sutton's point of view, a bill that will fail is far more important than a life-saving measure in a bill that might pass, because she plans to vote right on the former and brag about it to her constituents. "See, I tried. I really tried." But if Sutton's state, Ohio, passes the bill currently making its way through the state legislature and establishes single-payer for all Ohioans, the death panels, aka health insurance companies, will sue. And without the Kucinich Amendment they will win or at least hold things up for several years and several thousand deaths.

If we made enough noise now, we could force Congress not to strip out the Kucinich Amendment. A first step would be a phone call to Nancy Pelosi and your Congress member.

That being done, we could still support or oppose the overall bill based on an analysis of all the details, but we would at the very least have laid the groundwork for inclusion of the Kucinich amendment in round two or for its passage as stand-alone legislation. This would conflict with our ongoing struggle for national Medicare for All only in the twisted confines of our own daydreams.

Open up the real possibility for California to act on behalf of its residents and you create an enormous new lever for prying the insurance executives' claws out of our representatives in Congress. Think about it. Do something about it.

David Swanson is the author of the new book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union" by Seven Stories Press. You can order it and find out when tour will be in your town: http://davidswanson.org/book .

http://www.davidswanson.org


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6865446&mesg_id=6865446

[mike_c]

77. "It is difficult to remember the last time that progressives won a legislative victory...."

This is why I no longer vote for democrats automatically. Progressives have been supporting the democratic party for decades-- my whole voting life-- with damned little to show for it. Time to call in the markers or take our votes elsewhere, IMO.

[pleah]

80. K&R

[earcandle]

85. Thank you all for your hard work! Here, have a love song for the oldies among us!

Haystack

this song will be released along with 12 others by Christmas, we hope!
They are on the Ear Candle Productions label and the artists are
The Granite Countertops. We decided to name our new band (my husband and I
and guests) that name because we have downsized. We now make our music in the kitchen.
Not bad for a kitchen production, huh? Yep we plug in so no one can hear us, and
we have a dat system. Old technology, quality sound.

Enjoy!

I am so happy about the Public Option. Now if they can only take it one step further
and use our tax dollars for quality Universal Single Payer Health Care instead of bombing
Iraq and Afghanistan!
Lullaby for Hamza (a cover written by Robert Wyatt)

[AlexDeLarge]

86. I had a hard time determining exactly where Durbin stood

on the issue. The article was so poorly written that only in a sentence clause did it note that the Senator "was himself a backer". Throughout the article, I couldn't tell if was he was happy or complaining.

[Captain Hilts]

89. Sad that the Sen. House and WH had to be forced to do what over 60% of voters support. Sad. nt

[swilton]

90. I Won't Believe The Progressives Have Won

This one until I see the final bill despite what Durbin says.

We have to keep up the fight.

[jonestonesusa]

91. Heck, yeahhh!

The Democratic wing of the Democratic party wins, and so does the country!

[SteppingRazor]

92. I'm reminded of FDR, who said to progressive activists of his time:

"I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it."

[fauxnewsSUCKKKS]

94. Progressives rise up!!!!

[lib2DaBone]

95. It appears this Public Option with Opt Out is nothing more than a "Weasel Clause"..

.. weasel wording which will allow the Red States to opt out immediately.

Big insurance gets more free money handed to them, and the slime-bag politicians get to kick the can down the road another 10 years. They call it a win-win.

BOHICA (bend over.. here it comes again)

[LaPera]

100. Maddow: Opt-out is Achilles’ heel of public option

Opt-out clause creates 'incentive' for conservative states to harm public health care, Maddow argues

The opt-out clause now included in the Senate's version of health care reform could cause the entire public option to fail, because it would reduce its ability to keep costs down, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow told viewers Monday night.

Because the version of public health care currently being proposed would cover only the uninsured, and only in places where state legislatures don't opt out of it, the public health insurance plan may not have enough participants to successfully reduce health care costs, Maddow explained.

http://rawstory.com/2009/10/maddow-opt-out-public-option/

[valerief]

101. Yay-uh!

:headbang:

[colsohlibgal]

102. Public Option For A Very Few

The bill is the best watered down bill every paid for.

What has really bothered me, and I've finally heard a few people mention it (including Senator Wyden of Oregon), is the sly way they have been phrasing things. Such as "nobody will be forced into the public option". That is true but what they don't say is that few will be allowed to get the Public option in the first place.

This is bait and switch and any other swindle phrase one can think of - and they had to be shamed into even doing this much.

Billions for wars, no problem at all. Billions for health care and it's like pulling teeth. That tells us all we need to now about how screwed up our government and a good slice of the populace is.

[Capn Sunshine]

104. Just as long as it's in there

Nice starting point. I'm sure we qualify. My group coverage expired and when I went to re-up as a individual, they (Kaiser) rejected me. So has everyone. I can afford it but can't get it. So , public option is important.

[WestSeattle2]

109. Too bad it's next to worthless. n/t