Just say “NO” to anything that falls short of meaningful Healthcare Reform!
Posted on 28 July 2009
Six so called “centrist” senators, six Democrat and six Republican are well on their way to derailing the country’s best shot at meaningful healthcare reform in the past fifty years.
The New York Times reports that the much needed health care bill is being held up by six senators who meet daily to put together a bill that would have "broad bipartisan agreement"; as opposed one would conclude, to a bill that would actually reform health care.
The Six already has tossed out the public option which many believe is to be at the very core of any meaningful reform plan. Many in the House and Senate are waiting for their eventual proposal. According to the Times, the bill from The Six is the one most likely to pass. Not because it constitutes actually healthcare reform, but because it “offers broad bipartisan agreement.”
It should be no surprise that some of these senators get big campaign contributions from Big Pharma and other stakeholders of healthcare for profit. 
When you consider that the combined populations of the states they represent combined come to 8,444,956 people or a few thousand more than the population of New York it certainly cannot be claimed that they are justified in wielding such power in this process.
David M. Herszenhorn and Robert Pear write in the New York Times:
The fate of the health care overhaul largely rests on the shoulders of six senators who since June 17 have gathered — often twice a day, and for many hours at a stretch — in a conference room with burnt sienna walls, in the office of the Senate Finance Committee chairman, Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana.
President Obama and Congressional leaders agree that if a bipartisan deal can be forged on health care, it will emerge from this conference room, with a huge map of Montana on one wall and photos of Mike Mansfield, the Montanan who was the longest-serving Senate majority leader, on the other.
The battle over health care is all but paralyzed as everyone awaits the outcome of their talks.
This little scenario needs to change, right now, here is why:
Already, the group of six has tossed aside the idea of a government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers, which the president supports but Republicans said was a deal-breaker.
Instead, they are proposing a network of private, nonprofit cooperatives.
They have also dismissed the House Democratic plan to pay for the bill’s roughly $1 trillion, 10-year cost partly with an income surtax on high earners.
The three Republicans have insisted that any new taxes come from within the health care arena. As one option, Democrats have proposed taxing high-end insurance plans with values exceeding $25,000.
The Senate group also seems prepared to drop a requirement, included in other versions of the legislation, that employers offer coverage to their workers. …
…In the House, centrist Democrats have temporarily stalled the health care bill, many lawmakers want to see what Mr. Baucus’s group produces before voting on tax increases in the House bill.
That the lives and fortunes of good hard-working Americans rest in the hands of this little crew — at least some of them essentially sponsored by Big Pharma and other parts of medicine for profit, who are major campaign contributors — is beyond outrageous.
It is nothing short of a microcosm depicting an utter failure of American democracy.
"If this is the only bill with bipartisan support," Ms. Snowe said, "that will really resonate. It could be the linchpin for broad bipartisan agreement."
Because of course, we Americans need broad bipartisan agreement so much more than we need health care that doesn’t bankrupt us?
Famed journalist Bill Moyers is covering the healthcare debate with two documentary episodes airing on PBS stations on Friday July 24th and July 31st. You can also watch them online.
These people need to hear from us:
Senator Max Baucus, Montana, Democrat
- Washington Office:
511 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2651(Office)
(202) 224-9412 (Fax) - Other office locations, with phone numbers
- Email form
Senator Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico, Dem
- Washington Office:
703 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-5521
Tollfree (in NM): 1-800-443-8658 - Office addresses/phone numbers
- Email form
Senator Kent Conrad, North Dakota, Democrat
-
Washington Office:
530 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510-3403
Phone: (202) 224-2043
Fax: (202) 224-7776 - Email form
- State offices and all other contact information
Senator Michael B. Enzi, Wyoming, Republican
- Washington Office:
379A Senate Russell Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Main: (202) 224-3424
Fax: (202) 228-0359
Toll free: (888) 250-1879 - All office locations
- Email form
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Iowa, Republican
- Washington Office:
135 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-1501
(202) 224-3744 (O)
(202) 224-6020 (F) - State offices
- Email form (scroll down)
Senator Olympia Snowe, Maine, Republican
Washington Office:
154 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-5344
Toll Free: (800) 432-1599
Fax: (202) 224-1946
Also:
The White House, so you can tell President Obama to veto any bill that doesn’t contain the public option:
- 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500-0004 - Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
And
2008 State Populations
- Montana 967,440
- New Mexico 1,984,356
- North Dakota 641,481
- Wyoming 532,668
- Iowa 3,002,555
- Maine 1,316,456
Published first at Open.Salon.com by Barbara O’Brien
Related posts:
- Why Washington Residents Need Meaningful Healthcare Reform.
- Why is a public option a necessary component of meaningful health care reform?
- Financial Reform one step closer.
- It’s time for a Reality Check (from the Whitehouse)
- Congressional Deadlock on how not to provide Health Care (Parody)
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