Last night, I was at the Netroots Nation '09 keynote speech by President Bill Clinton, and one of the topics that came up was health care reform. Here's what he said on health care reform below:
“We have entered a new era of progressive politics which, if we do it right, can last 30 or 40 years,” Clinton said. “America has rapidly moved to another place on a lot of these issues.”
“The president needs your help,” he said, “and the cause needs your help.”
Clinton warned against the dangers of failing to compromise on some elements of health care reform, calling for agreement on a plan that includes a handful of elements that have widespread public support and perhaps conceding on those that have little support among voters.
“I want us to be mindful we may need to take less than a full loaf,” he said. “We can’t be in the peanut gallery. We have to be actors. We can’t ask the President to go it alone. We can’t ask Congress to go it alone."
The public option for me is already half a loaf. Asking to compromise on the public option is asking for breadcrumbs, rather than half a loaf. The public option IS the centrist position, and it is not a liberal or a conservative position--it is what the majority of Americans want!
So when you come to Netroots Nation, Mr. President, asking us to compromise on what is already a compromise, you're not doing yourself or President Obama any favors. You can't just pass a health care bill that's basically a mandated bailout of the private insurance industry, and call it "real health care reform." I know that Presidents like to think about the photo opportunity of signing legislation at the desk, but this photo op will just be a photo op if it's signing so-called health insurance reform, rather than health care reform.
"I'm pleading with you," he said, "try to keep this thing in the lane of getting something done. We need to pass a bill."
More than anything else, it was the memories of past failures that should compel current action, Clinton added. Unlike 17 years ago, he explained, the stars were now aligned to get legislation passed; whether it be the temperament of the American public, the genuine need for a systematic overhaul, or simple voting calculus in the United States Senate.
"Right now the Republicans are sitting around rooting for the President to fail," Clinton said. "And one of the reasons people are so hysterical at all these health care town-hall meetings... is they know they have no chance to beat health care this time, unless they can mortify with rigid fears some moderate conservative Democrats. Why do I know? Because they don't have the filibuster this time."
Here's the problem. In order to ensure a lasting Democratic majority, we have to pass GOOD health care legislation. I strongly believe that if the bill is sufficiently weakened without the public option as an important means of cost containment, that we will NOT get that lasting Democratic majority that Bill Clinton talked about last night.
Right now, we wouldn't be talking about shortening the half-loaf to a few breadcrumbs if the White House didn't allow the Blue Dog Democrats to exert so much power by holding up the passage of health care reform in the Energy and Commerce Committee. That was a mistake by the White House and the Democratic leadership in the house. When Henry Waxman threatened to bypass his own committee to pass the House health care bill out, he should've kept with his threat and made it real.
You know why? Because it would've reduced the power of the Blue Dog Democrats and cut them out under their knees when their "demands" weren't met.
But here we are, and the Blue Dogs got their way because the White House didn't want to "twist their arms" on health care reform. This is what I talked about in my diary earlier two days ago:
When we allowed the Blue Dogs to weaken the House Tri-Committee bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee, it set up the path for later concessions. If the Blue Dogs can do this to the public option, what else will they do when they return back from recess? They'll work to weaken it even further to appease the so-called constituents (teabaggers) who showed up at these town halls and their insurance lobbyists who've donated thousands of dollars to their re-election campaigns.
And then we might not even get a ban on pre-existing conditions, or the ban on rescissions of insurance policies, or community rating, or the public option at all in the final legislation. What we'll be getting if the White House allow the Blue Dogs to get their way is a health insurance reform bill, which is basically a mandated bailout of the murder-by-spreadsheet industry with 45 million new captive customers with no cost-control measures in the legislation such as a strong, robust public option. In short, it would be the "Baucus-Fauc-Us" health bill.
And once again, to rephrase what Bill Clinton said in his speech tonight:
"Right now the Republicans are sitting around rooting for the President to fail," Clinton said. "And one of the reasons people are so hysterical at all these health care town-hall meetings... is they know they have no chance to beat health care this time, unless they can mortify with rigid fears some moderate conservative Democrats. Why do I know? Because they don't have the filibuster this time."
Why is it that the Republicans can bring moderate-conservative Democrats such as Blue Dog Democrats onboard in opposing real health care reform? I don't know if President Clinton's looked at the latest FEC reports for these Blue Dog Democrats, but it's clear that the Blue Dog Democratic Caucus are using their power to block real health care reform such as a strong, robust public option on behalf of private insurers.
Also, why isn't the White House twisting the arms of these Blue Dog Democrats to prevent them from being played on by Republicans? And did you know that Rep. Mike Ross, the leader of the Blue Dog Dems, owes his seat to Bill Clinton? A phone call from Bill Clinton to Rep. Mike Ross could potentially change the debate of health care reform.
So, President Clinton, and other politicians in The Village, better start thinking outside of the box and consider for a moment that this is not a center-right nation. This is a country with a large majority that now supports progressive issues. Play to that country, and ignore the conservative Democrats and Republicans.
Stop being afraid of these "deathers" at town hall events. Stop being afraid of what the Republicans are going to do to you on health care reform. If Democrats stand for the principles which they were elected into office as the main reason, then they shouldn't have anything to worry about from "conservadems" and Republicans.
It's time to be proud to be a Democrat, especially a progressive Democrat, and take the ground back from these Republicans that have dominated the debate for so long with their false talks of bipartisanship.
Americans voted Democrats into office on health care reform, not Republicans.
Americans trust Obama to deliver on health care reform, not private insurers.
Poll after poll has shown that to be true of Americans.
Once again, in order to get rid of this Village mentality, we need the Congressional Progressive Caucus to fight back and start changing minds about what's possible and what's not possible in D.C., and they can do that by drawing a firm line in the sand for the public option!
Here are the steps for you to follow with these townhall events:
- Use the FDL Recess Event Tracker Tool to find townhall events near you. And if you know of a townhall event that's not listed on the FDL Recess Event Tracker, please enter in that information!
- Report back to us at FDL about what happened at the event, and upload any videos or photos from that event.
- Read ShadowSD's diary for his excellent defense of the public option, and the rebuttals to the most common conservative talking points. Please bring a copy of his diary with you and your friends when you go to a townhall event.
Also, don't forget to ask questions like these below about the public option in health care reform when you go to these events!
- You've been an outspoken supporter of the public option, it is becoming increasingly clear that a bill from the Senate will be stripped of almost any kind of recognizable public plan. Don't you think it's time to draw a line in the sand, to make it clear that a bill without a public plan would be unacceptable?
- Would you support regional co-operatives since studies have shown that they're ineffective, wouldn't help cut monthly premium costs of private insurers, and would have the potential to become privatized over time? Remember, Blue Cross Blue Shield was once a co-op, and look where that's gotten us now.
- I support the public option because the President campaigned on it, and I know that it would provide real competition against private insurers by forcing them to keep honest. Would you commit to voting against any bill that doesn't include a strong, robust public option in the final package?
- Would you, as a Member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, allow the White House to weaken health care reform for the Blue Dogs by getting rid of the public option for so-called co-operatives when you return back from the August recess?
Can you also please help nyceve, Jane Hamsher, me, and others in this fight for health reform by donating to our fight?
PLEASE RECOMMEND THIS DIARY so others can see the events and stand up strong for the public option!
By the way, for others at Netroots Nation '09, here's a phonebank for the public option that you can join!