Comments on: Loretta Sanchez: A Blue Dog Barks Back on the Public Option

By: nrafter530

nrafter530 — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 04:29:01 +0000

StandwithDrDean.com lists some of those 40 Blue Dogs are supporters of the Public Option, even Mike Ross of Arkansas, who was the most notable of teh 40, and Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania who was also quoted.

This seems to be more of a cost concern, which is easy to alleviate…I’m not too worried as long as their constituents keep reminding them what they want.

By: JoeBuck

JoeBuck — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:29:51 +0000

I think that this is the best argument to use on the blue dogs, many of whom are deficit hawks: the public option is the best way to achieve cost controls. They aren’t really a unified group, and a lot of them can be peeled off. Want to reduce the deficit long term: get health care costs under control. To do that, stop insurance companies from being woefully inefficient and from skimming 20% off the top of every health care dollar.

By: vmckimmey

vmckimmey — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:23:20 +0000

i think you are right. it looks like mike’s signature… after all the work we put in, this is how he repays us…. he’s going to hear from a lot of us mainers in the second district.

i live in Washington County Maine, where the live expectancy of women has declined, because of poverty and little or no access to healthcare, where the local hospital was taken over by the state for poor practice, where the unemployment rate is over 20%. Democrats worked had to elect Rep. Michaud i guess we can work to unelect him.

i’m just disgusted

By: tk1200

tk1200 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:35:23 +0000

I just met with a good family friend yesterday (John F.) who is in the end stage of brain cancer. The same kind of brain cancer that Senator Ted Kenendy is suffering from. He served as an active Navy pilot and in the reserves for many years. He’s in his late fifties, has a wife and two sons, and grandchildren. He’s a genuine American patriot and a great tax lawyer and a good guy, but he’s alive only because he’s undergoing experimental treatment right now after having had to fight for the right to try to save his life in this fashion.

Our health care system does not need to be this way. How many people died this week from cancers that might have responded to experimental treatment? How many of them were denied that chance? Why do we so willingly accept political leaders, so-called, who say that this system is the best that we can do for Americans?

This is America, and we can do better, a whole lot better than that. But unless we all pull together and do whatever it takes to get a public option, which is, by the way, vastly inferior to single payer universal coverage, then it could well be you, your spouse or partner, or your kids or grandkids who draws the short straw tomorrow and has to fight a monolithic parasitical system for the right to fight an insidious disease with everything that the medical community has to throw at it.

Make sure these Blue Dogs know that if they scuttle the public option, then they scuttle their political careers in the bargain.

By: BargainCountertenor

BargainCountertenor — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:32:41 +0000

Well, yeah. Except that our system is so bloated, we could fund a very generous single-payer system and reduce the deficit if we could capture current health care expenditures.

Of course, these clowns don’t consider the admin overhead involved in denying people care, and the profits socked away for shareholders to be part of the waste in the current delivery system. So I withdraw my objection.

By: BargainCountertenor

BargainCountertenor — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:30:49 +0000

In the words of the immortal Will Rodgers:

“I’m not a member of any organized political party. I’m a Democrat.”

Seriously, when is Nancy Pelosi (and Harry, for that matter) going to sit down with these people and ’splain them a few things. Like:

(1) In case you haven’t noticed, public sentiment is running strongly in favor of doing something about the health care chaos.
(2) In case you haven’t noticed, it’s about 3:1 or so in favor of a government-run option being part of the something we need to do in (1).
(3) In case you haven’t noticed, the not-so-loyal opposition party is continuing to sulk in the corner and won’t come out and play.
(4) In case you haven’t noticed, your actions are making a difficult job much tougher.
(5) In case you are unaware, I am aware of your actions. This is a matter of party discipline, and your continued support from the House Democratic Campaign Committee and the National Democratic Party are contingent on your votes regarding this issue.

Am I being clear about that?

By: Teddy Partridge

Teddy Partridge — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:27:57 +0000

Kin to “destroy the village in order to save it.” Same mindset, anyway.

By: Swopa

Swopa — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:08:24 +0000

Totally agree about the contradictions in the Blue Dogs’ letter. A bit of snark I failed to shoehorn into my post: The line about “finding savings within the current delivery system” sounds a lot like saying that instead of arresting Hannibal Lecter, they’ll urge him to watch his calories.

By: Swopa

Swopa — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:02:21 +0000

I disavow all responsibility for that line… must have been some mysterious elf backstage. ;-)

By: Larue

Larue — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:56:11 +0000

This is more good news, thanks Swopa!

More pressure, on the Bluedogs, on all the House, on all of Senate.

And more scathing pressure however it can be applied to media for not COVERING this in full, in depth.

After all, 76% of the American People are for this public option.

This is a revolution in the making with that kind of majority, and the MSM are trying to duck it due to their corporatist obligations. Time to smoke THEM out, too! *G*

And as