Tonight President Obama must come out and say that he demands a public option,
In fact will not sign a bill without one for the following reasons
1) He campaigned on the promise of Heath Care for everyone
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/HealthPlanFull.pdf2) Since single-payer was taken off the table even before Senate negotiations began
The only viable alternative for the disenfranchised of this country, whose numbers swell daily, is the public option.
3) A “trigger” was already tried as Medicare Part “D”. What a shambles!
The supposed savings over Medicaid never materialized and according to the House oversight Committee Medicare Part D required its subscibers to pay 30% more
than Medicaid for the same drugs. The Insurance companies have already proven they don’t intend to cut costs.
4) Only a Republican would believe that you could force citizens to buy
Commercial health insurance or fine them if they failed to do so when they
haven’t the necessary funds for rent or food or medications.
5) No one who is fully conscious could deny the efforts made to make this bill
a bi-partisan effort. It is however now patently obvious that the Republicans
never intended to bargain in good faith, their only agenda being to stop the
Bill and damage the Obama Presidency. This means that the Democrats will have to go it alone. It appears that only the White House is surprised by this stance.
I would so very much like to believe that this has been all part of a well-orchestrated plan to rope-a-dope the Repubs. I am however terribly afraid that this is not so. Must we wait another forty years or an eternity to take care of our own people’s health care?
I do know this however. If the President and the Democrats stand tall and pass a health Bill with a strong Public Option, just as in the past they did with Social Security & Medicare, they will become real-life living breathing heroes to the very people they have sworn an oath to protect and serve. They will be remembered and revered for decades to come.
White House #s
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461