I've received word from Jane and others at Firedoglake that we now have over 60 progressives in the House of Representatives who are absolutely furious with the White House's backtracking on the public option, and diminishing it as an essential cost containment for affordability of insurance premiums.
Let me be clear again today as I was last night:
You'll have health insurance, but it won't be affordable. Because if we allow the White House and the Senate moderates to give away the store to the insurance companies on the public option, you know what's going to happen next? Subsidies would be pared back as the next starting point for conservatives. And after the Democrats give in on subsidies to get "bipartisan" votes, the next starting point might be the community rating where the 2:1 requires that you as an adult, doesn't pay more than twice the premiums of a young adult.
You know what's in the Baucus "Fauc-Us" bill draft language from two months ago? A community rating of 7:1. That makes health insurance near unaffordable for most adults.
- CALL the White House at 202-456-1111 and at 202-456-1414 with the talking points below!
They have to know that you're angry, and that YOU WILL NOT accept health care reform without a strong, robust public option as an essential cost containment in order to make health insurance premiums affordable, otherwise it'd just be a mandated bailout of the murder-by-spreadsheet industry.
Regional co-operatives are unacceptable since they will NOT be competitive in order to bring down your insurance premiums! They will not provide a strong deterrent to the murder-by-spreadsheet industry. It's why Republicans such as Rep. Shelby are now making noise about why regional co-operatives are okay because they know this.
After all, Blue Cross Blue Shield started out as a regional co-operative too. Then it got privatized, taken over by people from private insurers, and premiums started rising with no end in sight. That's not the kind of health care reform we need from regional co-operatives.
- Go to these townhalls to THANK our progressive Democrats for saying that the public option is a necessary cost containment on making health insurance premiums affordable! Thank them for saying that the public option is the line in the sand for them, and show as much support as you can! Bring signs with these messages!
Representative
| PVI | Day | Date | Time | Location | Information |
Jesse Jackson, Jr. | D+36 | Tuesday | August 18 | 6-7pm | Chicago, IL | Details & Signup |
Raul Grijalva | D+6 | Wednesday | August 19 | 10:30-11:30am | Yuma, AZ | Details & Signup |
Robert Wexler | D+15 | Thursday | August 20 | 5:30-8:30pm | Delray Beach, FL | Details & Signup |
Marcia Fudge | D+32 | Thursday | August 20 | 1-3pm | Shaker Heights, OH | Details & Signup |
- 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. Also, if you go, don't forget to ask questions like these of our Democratic officials, and make the best case as you can as to why the public option is a necessary cost containment on insurance premiums, otherwise it'd be a mandated bailout of the murder-by-spreadsheet industry with no end in sight to your rising premiums.
- 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.