Saw this via your parents' vegan posts on Facebook.
Nice write-up. A couple additional things, and some more ideas on getting involved:
One other issue being debated in the bill is the employer mandate, which requires businesses to purchase health care for their employees. This is great and will absolutely be necessary to get everyone in the U.S. covered (since it looks like a single payer system, where the government pays for health care services, is off the table), except that if there is no public plan, there is no one to compete with the insurance companies!
If the employer mandate is passed without a public option to go along with it, all employers would be required to BUY insurance, but there would be nothing to force insurance companies to keep their costs lower. They would essentially be able to set their own prices across the nation and continue to raise premiums while reducing care. That is why the public plan is so important. It provides competition to the douchebags in the insurance industry who have no problem ripping us off once we are required to pay.
And a non-sequitur, but Nate Silver had a great article recently called "Are Progressives on Tilt?" (http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/08/are-progressives-on-tilt.html) that discussed why this has become do-or-die for the Progressive Caucus.
More Ways to Get Involved
The best way you show that you support something is to put your money where your mouth is. Act Blue (http://www.actblue.com/page/theytookthepledge) has a webpage set up where you can donate money to members of the Progressive House Caucus who have said that they will not vote for a health care bill without a public option. The organizers were originally shooting for $150k -- we're now at $400,000. Even if all you can pitch in is $5, every little bit helps to make the point that we might be small, but we are mighty.
If you want to find an event to attend, Firedoglake (http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/) has a great tracker that lets you find health care town hall meetings near you.
I know you know this, but for the benefit of anyone else who might be reading, it is really, really important that health care supporters are just as visible as the extremist tea party dolts. We need to get out there, especially to interact with members of Congress who might be wavering (see: Blue Dog Caucus).
It also helps out to call or visit Senators and Congressmen in person. I stopped by Dianne Feinstein's office in San Diego and talked to her staff because she's been wavering for a while. Emails and letters are absolutely important too, but there is no substitute for face-to-face contact.
Also, if people are interested and want to do more, health care supporters have organized a couple of boycotts against prominent health care opponents. There's a group that is boycotting Whole Foods Market (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119099537379) because their CEO is a douche who wrote a WSJ op-ed opposing Obama's health care plan.
Some netroots activists have also organized an effort (http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/) to contact all of Glenn Beck's advertisers to get them to pull their commercials on his show after he called Obama a racist and said that he hates white people. (Not health care related, precisely, but Beck has made some pretty assholic comments about the public health care plan as well as being a general arse.)
I seriously have not posted on Livejournal in so long that I had to look up how to tag things. Sheesh.
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Date: 2009-08-27 04:07 am (UTC)Nice write-up. A couple additional things, and some more ideas on getting involved:
One other issue being debated in the bill is the employer mandate, which requires businesses to purchase health care for their employees. This is great and will absolutely be necessary to get everyone in the U.S. covered (since it looks like a single payer system, where the government pays for health care services, is off the table), except that if there is no public plan, there is no one to compete with the insurance companies!
If the employer mandate is passed without a public option to go along with it, all employers would be required to BUY insurance, but there would be nothing to force insurance companies to keep their costs lower. They would essentially be able to set their own prices across the nation and continue to raise premiums while reducing care. That is why the public plan is so important. It provides competition to the douchebags in the insurance industry who have no problem ripping us off once we are required to pay.
And a non-sequitur, but Nate Silver had a great article recently called "Are Progressives on Tilt?" (http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/08/are-progressives-on-tilt.html) that discussed why this has become do-or-die for the Progressive Caucus.
More Ways to Get Involved
The best way you show that you support something is to put your money where your mouth is. Act Blue (http://www.actblue.com/page/theytookthepledge) has a webpage set up where you can donate money to members of the Progressive House Caucus who have said that they will not vote for a health care bill without a public option. The organizers were originally shooting for $150k -- we're now at $400,000. Even if all you can pitch in is $5, every little bit helps to make the point that we might be small, but we are mighty.
If you want to find an event to attend, Firedoglake (http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/) has a great tracker that lets you find health care town hall meetings near you.
I know you know this, but for the benefit of anyone else who might be reading, it is really, really important that health care supporters are just as visible as the extremist tea party dolts. We need to get out there, especially to interact with members of Congress who might be wavering (see: Blue Dog Caucus).
It also helps out to call or visit Senators and Congressmen in person. I stopped by Dianne Feinstein's office in San Diego and talked to her staff because she's been wavering for a while. Emails and letters are absolutely important too, but there is no substitute for face-to-face contact.
Also, if people are interested and want to do more, health care supporters have organized a couple of boycotts against prominent health care opponents. There's a group that is boycotting Whole Foods Market (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119099537379) because their CEO is a douche who wrote a WSJ op-ed opposing Obama's health care plan.
Some netroots activists have also organized an effort (http://www.colorofchange.org/beck/) to contact all of Glenn Beck's advertisers to get them to pull their commercials on his show after he called Obama a racist and said that he hates white people. (Not health care related, precisely, but Beck has made some pretty assholic comments about the public health care plan as well as being a general arse.)
I seriously have not posted on Livejournal in so long that I had to look up how to tag things. Sheesh.