Look, it’s going to get rough out there for members of the House who are committed to holding the line against very well-funded opposition to healthcare reform, and the Dick Armeys are always going to be available to dispatch canned teabaggery to embarrass and smear them for their conviction.

We’re adding Wexler to the Health Care Heroes page. Please consider stepping up today to show members of the House that grassroots public support will be there to get their backs when they do the right thing and stand up to insurance industry lobbyists.

Please donate to support Robert Wexler and those willing to go to the mat for a public plan.

Over the past two days, amendments were offered to the House Tri-Committee bill in Education and Labor Committee, Ways and Means Committee, and Energy and Commerce. I’ll sort the amendments accepted by committee below. You can check out the full list of amendments accepted and rejected in the Education and Labor Committee compiled by David [...]

Just a quick note to thank everyone for their kind donations to the Public Plan fund.  NYCEve and Slinkerwink have been volunteering their time to pass health care reform and now we’re going to be able to pay them to work full time on this until a bill passes, which — cross your fingers — [...]

Ben Nelson President Nelson speaks: Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), whose vote will be critical to passing a final healthcare reform bill through the Senate, condemned the House version of the bill, which institutes a surtax on wealthy Americans to finance the $1 trillion bill, as creating "class warfare." "I think it’s a devastating blow," Nelson [...]

Andre Carson’s name is on the whip list indicating that he would vote against any health care bill that didn’t include all the CPC principles. Diane Watson, who handles the whip list, confirmed its validity. When Mike Stark asked him to confirm that his name is on the list appropriately, he wouldn’t.  Neither would he [...]

Update:  Wexler signed the pledge, and he’s getting picketed by Teabaggers for it.  Encourage good behavior by donating to him here.

Mike Stark spoke with Charles Rangel, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, on the Hill.

Mike wanted to know how Mike Ross (D-AK) — who is negotiating for the Blue Dogs — can threaten to stop the House health care bill from going through without repercussion.  Rangel says that Mike should ask Ross, but that’s not the question — Ross isn’t going to punish himself.

We NEED to keep our attention on the live webcasts of the committee mark-ups since they’re not posting amendments online for us to review. We have to be ready to respond if they offer an amendment that’s a poison pill amendment that would gut health care reform as we know it. So, will you please [...]

Because facts are stubborn things.

applepie:

I just called the LA office. Some joker (made me spell out firedoglake) put me on hold and then came back and said Jane wanted to barge in on a family who was meeting with Feinstein, and their policy was to not have the press in any private meetings.

Well, not exactly.