So, Democratic members of Congress? Think this one is going down the memory hole? Think again!

Members of Congress, got a tip you’d like to share on a fellow member who has publicly referred to you in less than flattering terms? Former (or present) staffers looking to unburden your conscience? You can leave information on our tip line:

Here is Glenn’s fine piece on the subject, which he also wrote about in a piece entitled “Why the health care debate is so important regardless of one’s view of the ‘public option.’”  Well worth reading, and deserving of all the praise given by Moyers.

George Stephanopolous says that there aren’t enough Democratic votes in the Senate to pass a public option, something 77% of the country is in favor, and something Barack Obama campaigned on. No serious journalist is pointing out that this is weird. Nobody except Bill Moyers that is, who appeared on Bill Maher’s show last night:

It’s not just that the Villagers are passing along without comment or correction RNC-dictated lies about Teddy Kennedy. It’s that the Republicans’ lies are based on projection.

Michele Bachmann held a town hall forum at Lake Elmo that went pretty much the way you would expect it to have gone. At the opening the attendees were told to recite the Pledge of Allegiance (with the "under God" part, natch, that was added during the McCarthy years), followed by a singer brought in [...]

I’ve heard that privately, Sebelius tells people how horrible this whole thing is, how she hates being the pitch man and that this isn’t what she got into politics for.

She’s really starting to bug me.

Joe Conason has a good piece in Salon on Edward Kennedy’s liberalism, his backing of the public option, and his talent for true bipartisanship — in other words, how Teddy could get even the most conservative Republicans to back his legislation on occasion without selling himself and us out. Add reformed Cigna executive Wendell Potter to the list of experts who back a public option. And because we need cute furry things in our lives, Rochelle Lesser (who is greater to me) offers us this lovely improvement on my first Tedicare (see also picture in this post).

If the final health care bill DOES have:  Individual mandate  (everyone required to buy health insurance) Community rating  (everyone pays the same premium) Guaranteed issue  (no denial for pre-existing condition) Minimum package of covered treatments But also has: NO Public plan NO Rates tied to Medicare NO Ability to negotiate drug prices Do you believe [...]

Naming a bad bill after Teddy is an insult to his memory. It’s better to name the key thing he wanted, the one thing that was non-negotiable to him, after him: The public option. In that spirit, I decided to break out the graphics program and create a little Teddy for Teddy, and call it “Tedicare”. I’ve put a basic slogan on Tedicare’s chest, but readers are invited to come up with better ones. Tedicare for All!

Kennedy fought for affordable universal health care, not a mandate to bail out the insurance companies. Kagro is right — Kennedy’s name should be given to the public option, not used to push through a bill that obliterates it.