I’m new to the progressive blogosphere, brought here by the health care debate. I have been making fairly regular contributions over the past 2 to 3 months to progressive groups in support of strong health care reform. I’d prefer single payer but have been supporting causes related to the public option because that’s all there is.

I’m on mailing lists for FDL, DFA, HCAN, and MoveOn, among others.

In very recent emails, HCAN and MoveOn have both appeared to be in support of the pubic option. If they’re caving or have caved, why am I not seeing it? Are there lines I should be reading between?

Help! Someone tell me what group/s I can trust to pursue a strong public option. I’m not interested in supporting any group that is waffling on the issue, or is likely to waffle.

Thanks for any advice/explanation anyone can give me. I’m trying to do the right thing.

I think that the media war and Joe Sixpack’s realizations are different things. We’ve won the latter, without the media. You do not have 75% support of something without winning over the man in the street.

The problem is not public perception. The problem is that the elected officials and liberal organizations that supposedly represent us, that won with the support of the man in the street, do not feel that they have to pay any attention to what we want. They do not fear us. My own so-called Representative, Betsy Markey, beat a solidly entrenched opponent in 2008 because voters repudiated her predecessor, Marilyn Musgrave. Markey is now essentially Musgrave Lite–all the corporatist policies without the residual honesty her troglodyte of a predecessor. I honestly preferred Musgrave.

I have accordingly defunded the Democratic Party, MoveOn, and the ACLU by ending my modest contributions. In 2010, I will actively campaign against any Blue Doggish pseudo-Democrat regardless of who the opponent is. Either I get a real, Liberal Democratic candidate, or I boycott the race.

This doesn’t mean I’ll put up with ridiculous assaults against the Pres., (I nearly went over and ripped off an especially offensive bumper sticker from an old man’s car this morning…restrained myself), but I am massively disappointed. Again.

Today I received [snail mail] solicitation from the ACLU. I’ll use your response as a pattern.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from the DCCC bragging about their recent $1.3 mill. fund-raising, and soliciting more. Those fools make it nearly impossible to hit “reply” to successfully get something back to them, so I went on the DCCC blog & posted the following:

I’m sorry, Chris [VanHollen, chair of the DCCC], but I have ceased donating to the DCCC. This is the FIRST communication I’ve seen from it supporting the public option.

Obama has been HORRIBLE on this issue, and the DCCC I assume continues to support those “democrats” [the ones Rahm was so eager to fund in 2006] who oppose the public option but are eager for “mandates” that will enrich insurance companies without any oversight or improvement in services.

Obama and the Democrats have been totally ineffective on this important issue, and now we may get the worst of all worlds: mandates, no cost controls, no oversight of insurance company outrages and no public option. Boy, are middle class workers going to love being REQUIRED to send $$$$ to the insurance companies, and penalized through the IRS if they don’t. This will be an anvil around Democrats’ necks for decades.

I’m only donating to PROGRESSIVE candidates through ActBlue. I don’t want a dime of my hard-earned $$$ going to Health Schuler, Mike Ross or the other “Blue Dogs,” and I wish I could get a refund for the huge amounts I donated to Obama and Democrats in 2008.

I’ll let you know when they come crawling to my door