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On August 25, we joined with DFA and Credo asking local organizations to pass a resolution demanding the inclusion of a strong public option in any final health care bill. The final language, which was drafted by Dante Atkins, can be found here.
Sam Stein reports that the Nebraska Democratic Party passed it today in a nearly unanimous vote. Which is significant, because Ben Nelson remains one of the biggest obstacles to passing a public option:
Nelson remains one of the highest-profiled U.S. Senate Democratic holdouts on the public plan, even recently declining to commit to voting against a Republican filibuster of legislation that included the provision.
Officials at the Nebraska Democratic Party said the committee vote was not meant as a rebuke of the senator, who has historically taken a conservative approach to public policy issues. More an encouragement to all Democratic state legislators.
"Let’s put it this way," said Vic Covalt, State Chair of the state party. "The Nebraska Democratic Party is a big tent party and Ben Nelson is a good Democrat. We believe he will represent us well."
Recent Daily Kos/Research 2000 polling indicates that Nelson would lose 17 points of support from Nebraska Democrats if he joined with Republicans in a filibuster to prevent a bill with a public option from coming to the Senate floor for an up-or-down vote.
The resolution also calls for Nelson to be notified of its passage. We’ll see if he gets the message.
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Waiting for Ben Nelson to whine that the Nebraska Democratic Party has been taken over by Evil Communist Hippies out to make it impossible to elect Democrats. You know that’s what he’ll say, even though it’s bogus. Anything to protect his corporate donors!
Recent Daily Kos/Research 2000 polling indicates that Nelson would lose 17 points of support from Nebraska Democrats if he joined with Republicans in a filibuster
Oh, I think we can drive it further down than that.
5, 4, 3, 2….
Or, he could just look at how Max Baucus hung Ron Wyden out to dry after all of Wyden’s committment and work to a bipartisan amendment (aka, Wyden-Bennett).
When the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee screws over a Dem who actually managed to bring a bipartisan option to the health insurance reform conversation, you’d think the whole idea of ‘bipartisanship’ would get a major case of political cooties.
…and Ben Nelson is a good Democrat. We believe he will represent us well.”
ummm, yeah.
subtle nudge,
cock-eyedcross-eyed optimists, or just not terribly bright?With us on everything but the Democratic Party.
Love how every time you pass a resolution, you have to be sure that the intended target be notified. This is because a) elected officials enjoy ignoring the rank and file, and b) party officers hate annoying elected officials by, say, sending along resolutions passed with them in mind.
Douglas Adams said it best: “People are a problem.”
But But Bobby Jindal say we have no public support!
Bobby Jindal! He da man! /s
Jane,
This is great news! Between this and the data from the Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll you cited, one would think that he’d get the message.
It’s great that Nelson will be notified of its passage, but is there a way to spread the word about the resolution and its passage by the Nebraska Democratic Party more publicly?
For example, one step might be to contact the editors of all major newspapers in Nebraska. There might even be a few reporters in Nebraska who are already working on stories about health care who would be very interested to have this info. If you think this is a good idea, I’ll try to dig up some email addresses.
I did not notice that before why screw Wyden his bill isn’t that bad from the Corporate view point this is about control Rahm wants things his way exactly and he expects players who have not read the script to follow their lines.
Senators with 9/11 fear did that for Bush they won’t for Rahm. Rahm is thinking of punishing people.
Olbermann reporting that negotiations between the final House and Senate bills will feature Rahm representing the WH.
yay.
He’s a splinter filled wooded puppet with a smile Chucky would find creepy shining under the dark light of an evil sun.
Oh wow, now I can sleep easy.
That news is interesting because that would give Rahm a perfect chance to punish us. He
couldwill blame us for the negotiations failing.But I wonder what else obvious Rahm would do?
What would happen if everybody quit paying insurance premiums?
evil communist hippies who are narco terroist on the side.
Anything will be said to take the public option down
poke in the ribs
This is good news! State party organizations are probably aren’t in the pockets of big insurance and PhRMa. Maybe more will follow suit.
Why send Rahm to negotiate unless you want the negotiations to fail? Why not send Rush Limbaugh to negotiate
with feminists or Glen Beck to talk to immigrants.
Good point state Dems don’t want to lose the comming election and they are not getting a cut to take a dive.
Jane, Please check your email. I just sent you some info about a specific reporter at a Nebraska newspaper.
Spencer Ackerman is upstairs!
Drones & Alternatives
I figure Rahm is about making deals.
He thinks of things transactionally, and sometimes that’s all you need.
But we need people in politics who think transformationally.
But Baucus, as the Senate Finance Chair, would screw Wyden (who actually succeeded in bringing a bipartisan proposal in the committee) can still claim to be acting in good faith is simply not credible. Particularly when Baucus used the precise terms of the healthCo lobby to try and disparage Wyden’s bill (claiming it would ‘destabilize’ insurance pools). Sheesh.
I don’t blame it all on Rahm; with 6 healthCo lobbyists for every elected in DC, there’s plenty of pressure on Congress.
But it looks like the good people of Nebraska are pushing back at monopolies and their predatory economic models. As is Credo. It’s good to see people acting at the local level to look out for their own interests.
AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Citizen Hamsher and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:
Somehow I don’t think this is over by a loooong shot. Obama now owns this entire mess and he won’t be able ta manage a rock garden if he doesn’t put somethin together on this. Somehow I think that the progressive Democrats in the House and Senate are gunna come outta this thing stronger’n Obama if he doesn’t get his shit together. If there is no bill or one that cracks the system wide open, those to suffer will be a lotta Blue Dogs and some Rethugs. Obama will be left with smaller margins in the House and about the same numbers in the Senate but he won’t be able ta trianulate the Dems ‘cuz he won’t have enough Blue Dogs and the fascists won’t do ANYthin for ‘im.
In my opinion, the Democrats come outta this leaner and meaner and there will be leadership changes right up into the White House…and if ObamaRahma wakes up in time they could still win this thing.
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION,THE STRUGGLE GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
P.S. and I still think we’re gunna find out that the entire insurance industry is bankrupt and this legislation is their bailout.
Eli is upstairs!
How Does Shep Smith Still Have A Job?
Jane, I just sent you another email with info for another specific reporter at a different Nebraska newspaper.
I definitely think when this is all over, there will be a lot of dirt that seeps out. But I am pretty sure that insurance cos aren’t going bankrupt. Giant wealth transfer to them, yes (particularly if we have the double whammy of mandate plus no public option). But it will be just additional gravy.
Slowly… that’s how it goes, very, very slow
It takes years, sometimes centuries, to make even incremental steps.
The abolitionists worked for 400 years to outlaw slavery, yet there’s
still racism. The Suffragettes persevered nearly 100 years, yet still
sexism persists. From Stonewall to gay marriage, we’re still not even
there, and that fight’s been raging for 40 years.
These battles have been waged across the generations, with incremental
victories along the way.
If the insurance industry is bankrupt, better to have it die with a public plan in place to make sure people still have some way to get medical care than to have it die with nothing else in place. No bailout will save it. It’s a flawed model. Giving Madoff an infusion of cash would only have delayed the crash and added to the victims count. It’s gonna hurt no matter what, so might as well just get it over with.
Jane H. I see THIS unmistakingly clear resolution to Ben from home as tremendously helpful. I have no doubt he’ll rationalize it (as Phoenix Woman suggests), but I expect his peers will have some with it & that a few who are up for reelection in 2010 will take to heart.
But, I don’t expect this strongly worded, nearly unanimously supported and extremely relevent message to get much air time. You know better than I the corporatization of our media (thanks Bill Clinton!) has made it more difficult than ever for relevent inquiry to shake the news. However, even though it’s probable in a few days this neat storyline will be dismissed as old “local” news, my guess is it will marginalize Ben just a tad more with his Congressional peers who are up for reelection in 2010.
Supporting the Public Option would be OKAY if you could tell me what the Public Option is? If its HR3200, I don’t want any part of it. In fact I won’t be eligible anyway, my company does offer me partial health care coverage because of my part-time status.
Plus it won’t kick in until 2013
Bullshit!
We need reset the debate and start with SINGLE PAYER just like Canada or Great Britain or some version of France’s system which is judged as the best in the world.
Keith is going to break it down for the people on his show tomorrow. I hope this is call to action. We need to join Doctor’s Made As Hell and DEMAND Single Payer health care or Multi-Payer Health Care that takes the PROFIT motive away from insurance companies.
Supporting the Public Option is nice, but we need to know all the nuts and bolts of this “Public Option” before I’ll blindly support it.
Senators Rockefeller, Schumer, Stabenow and Widen of the Senate Finance Committee Sub-committee on Health, did a great job of pointing out that the Medical Industrial Complex’s contribution to Health Care Reform, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is $20 BILLION and in return they will get $500 BILLION in TAX-PAYER FUNDED SUBSIDIES. Democratic Senators baucus, conrad, carper, lincoln and nelson voted with the republicans to kill the public option 09-29-09.
Criminally corrupt politicians are the reason the U.S. is ranked near the bottom of every catagory when ranked next to other modern, industrialized nations. Time for publically funded elections.
lieberman $12.6M, mcconnell $7.8M, baucus $7.7M, cornyn $6.7M,
kyl $5.6M, grassley $5.4M, ensign $5.2M, conrad $5.1M, cantor $4.9M,
nelson $4.9M, burr $4.8M, boehner $4.4M, hatch $4.4M, lincoln $4.1M,
vitter $3.9M, carper $3.6M were paid by the Medical Industrial Complex to kill Health Care Reform. (Source: OpenSecrets.org, Aug. 09)
Follow the Money: Link
Call Congress and demand, Single-Payer Health Care for All!
(Toll Free # House and Senate)
1-866-338-1015 _____ 1-866-220-0044
1-800-473-6711 _____ 1-866-311-3405
Sign Single-Payer Petitions: Link Link
Don’t let the Medical Industrial Complex steal your Health Care from you and your family by donating huge sums of money to Crooked Politicians in order to maintain the Status Quo. Keep up the good fight.
SEMPER FI!