Religious leaders of all stripes are pushing for health care reform, rooted in the belief that health care is a basic right for all people, not a commodity. Not that you'd know this by following the TradMed . . .  
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When a party has had enough votes to end a filibuster on its own, we have not been able to find a single time in history where members have joined with the opposition party to filibuster a bill.

So who is the Senator willing to stand up and say they will take this unprecedented move, betray the President, the Senate leadership and their own caucus, and do this?  Who is willing to say they are going to make history?

Not Joe Lieberman, because Mike Stark asked him two days ago

Richard Trumka has been recalcitrant in his insistence on a public option in any health care bill, saying that the AFL-CIO will withhold support for any Democrat who votes against one.  Not that Rahm Emanuel didn't try, mind you:  both Max Baucus and Nancy Pelosi subsequently threatened the AFL-CIO with taxing health care plans in a way that would affect their union members much more than they would those of other unions,.

Now 145 House Democrats are pushing back.  It's a big deal because 145 represents a majority, and if Pelosi tries to jam it on them to help the White House in their efforts to weaken Trumka's resolve, she's going to have problems.

The fact that a Blue Dog has supported a public option in the past does not mean that they will support one now -- their principles tend to be lobbyist-flexible. But Nate Silver's number crunching indicates that most of those who have done so in the past probably have majority support for a public option in their districts, so come 2010, they will have some explaining to do about why they flip-flopped. That's particularly true for those in California like Cardoza, Thompson and Schiff, who have significant Democratic majorities in their districts. 
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Whose district needs to know that their rhetoric just isn't matching up with their actions?

Vote now:

Click here to vote for the one whose excuse you think just doesn't cut it, the one who just can't seem to"walk the talk."  
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So, there we have it. All of these members are in strong Democratic districts whose seats could only be threatened by primary challenges from other Democrats.

Vote for the one whose excuse you think just doesn't cut it, the one who just can't seem to"walk the talk."

I guess that business about "I'll never say what's going to happen down the road" is some kind of new personal rule that he's adopted in the past 2 months. Just as Rep. Ellison and Grijalva are trying to whip the 40 votes necessary among those who are "adamant" that a final bill "must retain a strong and robust health insurance option." 
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p://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/08/17/60-members-of-congress-say-no-public-plan-no-conference/">one of the courageous members who said "no public option, no conference."  Too bad he's scurrying behind the door while Raul Grijalva and Keith Ellison lead the charge to defend the public option this week. 
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