Health Reform Urgent, But Not As Urgent As A Strong Public Option

This week's address from President Obama urges congressional action on health care reform. What it does not do is threaten Hellfire and Damnation on every Democratic representative and senator who fails to loudly and proudly support a strong public option. A way to get that is below the video.



Read the full transcript here.

Meanwhile, progressive groups are standing firm and demanding that President Obama deliver the real health care reform on which he campaigned and for which we elected him. From CREDO Action:

On Tuesday, a number of Democrats in the Senate Finance Committee joined all of the Republicans in voting down three public option amendments.

While the public option can still pass on the floor of the Senate, we won't win this fight if Democrats continue to give bipartisan cover to Republican obstructionism.
As the President of the United States, as a leader of the Democratic Party and as an individual elected by the votes of millions of Americans fundamentally dissatisfied with the status quo, President Obama has tremendous political power to influence Democratic Senators.

Join with CREDO and OpenLeft.com and tell President Obama to use his power to ensure that provisions for a public option are brought to the floor of the Senate and given an up-or-down vote. Click here and we will automatically add your name to our petition. Remember, President Obama says that he is in favor of a public option to keep insurance companies accountable. In addition, an overwhelming majority of Americans — including a plurality of Republicans according to a recent poll — supports a public option.

Yet Republicans continue to treat health care reform as a political football and have said that they want reform efforts to fail in order to damage Obama politically. If that's not enough, their absurd and outrageous lies about death panels have demonstrated that Republicans aren't interested in a serious policy debate.

We know that Republicans will do anything it takes to defeat the public option, including using the filibuster in an attempt to prevent the full Senate from considering it. But Republicans lack the ability to sustain a filibuster in the Senate on their own. So any Democrat who joins a Republican filibuster of the public option would be validating and enabling bad faith Republican obstructionism. In doing so, any Democrat who joins a Republican filibuster on the public option will be working to ensure that no meaningful reform passes any time soon.

Click here to automatically add your name to our petition telling President Obama to use his power to ensure that provisions for a public option are brought to the floor of the Senate and given an up-or-down vote. Thank you for working to build a better world.

Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Here's what the petition says:

President Obama,

We need you to lead the fight for the public option. Don't wait in the wings and allow the public option to go down in the Senate.

As the President of the United States, as a leader of the Democratic Party and as an individual elected by the votes of millions of Americans who are fundamentally dissatisfied with the status quo, you have at your disposal tremendous political power and moral authority.

Use that authority to ensure a public option is in the bill brought to the floor of the Senate and to ensure that bill is given an up-or-down vote.

Click here to sign the petition.