GO NADS GO! Breakthrough! Help the Dem's grow a pair!
Arius Hopman
From: "Charles Chamberlain, Democracy for America" <in...@democracyforamerica.com>Date: February 17, 2010 11:47:24 AM HSTSubject: "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"Reply-To: "Charles Chamberlain, Democracy for America" <in...@democracyforamerica.com>
Mark Twain is famous for saying it, but it could be said for the public option too. Left for dead in the cold days of December last year after it was stripped from the Senate healthcare bill in an attempt to get 60 votes, the public option has now returned to center stage because you didn't give up.
Yesterday, Senator Michael Bennet started gathering co-sponsors to his letter calling on Majority Leader Harry Reid to pass a public option using "reconciliation" -- which would mean Republicans couldn't use a procedural trick called the filibuster to block a majority vote.
Thanks to calls from members of DFA, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and CREDO Action, in less than 24 hours, 10 Senators have stood up and added their names to co-sponsor the Senate letter.
Now, it's your turn. Please join 10 Senators and 119 House Democrats by becoming a citizen co-sponsor of Senator Bennet's Public Option letter.
Our fight is getting noticed in Washington. Here's just a sample of the press it received yesterday:
CNN: "The fight over health care reform burst back into public view Tuesday as four Democratic senators asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to hold a vote on a government-run public insurance option."
CBS NEWS: "The letter points out that the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) were all enacted under reconciliation."
POLITICO: "Bennet took the lead in the Senate to round up co-signers for the letter, which was spearheaded by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America and Credo Action. A similar effort in the House netted 119 signers to a letter. The senators have made the calculation that the public option is popular with Democrats, and the absence of one in the final bill is one reason that voters are unenthusiastic about it."
ABC NEWS: "The health care bill remains on life support in Congress. But a group of Democratic senators is pressing Senate leaders to give one last shot at creating a public option."
THE HILL: "Since the Senate passed its bill in December, Democrats have lost their 60-vote majority and have been examining options to finish the legislation... Over 100 House Democrats have signed onto a drive similar to Bennet's, calling for that [reconciliation] sidecar bill to include provisions reestablishing the public option."
HUFFINGTON POST: "The popularity of the idea, nevertheless, remains relatively high. As the letter to Reid notes, the most recent CBS/New York Times poll shows that the public option is supported by 59 percent of respondents and opposed by just 29 percent."
SEND DEMOCRATS IN WASHINGTON A MESSAGE -- BECOME A CITIZEN CO-SPONSOR
We're not sitting back and hoping for change. We're working to win.
Every citizen co-signer gives the campaign more force and builds momentum. Please sign on today.
-Charles
Charles Chamberlain, Political Director
Democracy for America
Democracy for America relies on you and the people-power of more than one million members to fund the grassroots organizing and training that delivers progressive change on the issues that matter. PleaseContribute Today and support our mission.This message was sent to aho...@earthlink.net. Visit your subscription management page to modify email preferences or to unsubscribe from further communications.
