A tidy wrap up of yesterday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing:

Yesterday, we fought a battle for the public health insurance option. Though we didn’t win it, we came away with a strong showing that put us in a better position for the coming war.

In a long debate on the amendments to add a public health insurance option to the Baucus Bill in the Senate Finance Committee, Senators spoke out vigorously in favor of the idea. The intellectual and moral case for the public health insurance option was clear.

The Finance Committee then voted on two public health insurance option amendments offered by Senators Rockefeller and Schumer.

In the end, 10 out of 13 Democrats on the committee – John Rockefeller (WV), Jeff Bingaman (NM), John Kerry (MA), Ron Wyden (OR), Charles Schumer (NY), Debbie Stabenow (MI), Maria Cantwell (WA), Bill Nelson (FL), Robert Menendez (NJ), and Tom Carper (DE) – voted for a public health insurance option.

Three Democrats – Max Baucus (MT), Kent Conrad (ND), and Blanche Lincoln (AR) – sided with the Republicans to defeat these amendments. The final roll call was 10-13.

In the most conservative committee in the Senate, which is itself the most conservative house of Congress, a public health insurance option got the support of an overwhelming majority of the governing party. And there were some surprises – we picked up more votes than we had originally expected.

So what’s next?

A public health insurance option has been passed by four out of five committees in Congress dealing with health care, and received a huge amount of support in the Senate Finance Committee. The next time the public health insurance option will come up for consideration is when Majority Leader Harry Reid merges the Finance bill with the HELP bill.

Yesterday was the first step in building momentum for a public health insurance option in the Senate. Clearly, the idea has weight – even self-described moderates such as Bill Nelson and Tom Carper voted for it. As we move to the floor and into conference, with Schumer, Rockefeller, and other champions pledging support and whipping their colleagues, those numbers can and will continue to grow.

We have hundreds of organizers and thousands of supporters around the country, and we have the American people on our side. As Senator Schumer says, a public health insurance option will be in the bill President Obama signs into law.

Thank you for your continued support. Onwards!

To your health,

Levana Layendecker
Health Care for America Now

Calaveras County cannot wait any longer – these maps tell an unacceptable story:

Once again, East Calaveras Democrats will enjoy spreading good news and chatting up passers-by at the annual Calaveras Grape Stomp, sponsored and promoted by the Feeney Park Foundation, a local non-profit serving the needs of youth and adult sports teams in the Ebbetts Pass corridor.

This year’s event includes a stomping contest in the park and a craft faire on Main St. Our club booth is on Main St., at the south end.

Come by the booth, volunteer to talk with faire-goers, register voters or take part in a discussion on health care as it relates to our local community. Sign our resolution calling for a robust public option to be included in the health care reform bill coming before Congress this month.

contact information for some committee members about the hearing today!

The public option written by Senator Schumer is an “equal playing field” public option, ie much weaker than the Rockefeller option that just went down in defeat 8-15 today at the Senate hearing on the public option.

Jon Walker provides more details on the last public option. http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/…

The government would only provide start up funds to help create a new public option that must follow all the same rules as private insurance companies. Like any private insurance company it would need to negotiate rates and create it’s own provider network from scratch.
So, it’s not a very good public option, BUT it will be merged with the Senate HELP bill which has a better public option. And then it will be merged with the House public option which will be even better. So, this public option will improve.

And if is in all five bills (that are out of committee) it’s extremely likely that the final bill will have a public option.

Max Baucus MT (Committee Chair)
Phone: (202) 224-2651
Fax: (202) 224-9412
http://baucus.senate.gov/…

Thomas Carper DE
Phone: (202) 224-2441
Fax: (202) 228-2190
http://carper.senate.gov/…

Robert Menendez, NJ
Phone: 202.224.4744
http://menendez.senate.gov/

Kent Conrad, North Dakota
Phone: (202) 224-2043
Fax: (202) 224-7776
https://conrad.senate.gov/…

Jeff Bingaman
Phone (202) 224-5521
senator.bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov

John Kerry
Phone: (202) 224-2742
http://kerry.senate.gov

Blanche Lincoln AR
Phone: (202) 224-4843
Fax: (202) 228-1371
http://lincoln.senate.gov/…

Ron Wyden
Phone: 202-224-5244
http://wyden.senate.gov

Debbie Stabenow:
http://stabenow.senate.gov/

Maria Cantwell
Phone: 202-224-3441
Fax: 202-228-0514
http://cantwell.senate.gov/

Bill Nelson
Phone: (202) 224-5274
Fax: (202) 228-2183
http://billnelson.senate.gov/…

Olympia Snowe, ME
Phone: (800) 432-1599
http://snowe.senate.gov

Organizing for America is hosting a Health Reform Video Challenge!

Create the best 30 second video you can that makes the case for passing health insurance reform in 2009.

This is the chance for you to make a 30 second ad telling the story about why the status quo has got to go, or explaining how the Obama plan will ensure we get the secure, quality care we need without breaking the budget.

Your video can be serious or funny. It can feature charts and graphs or satire and songs. It can just be you with a good idea in front of a basic web camera, or it can be a special effects filled mini-spectacular. Just keep it to 30 seconds, keep it honest, and make sure that folks who see it will be fired up about passing health reform in 2009.

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 P.M. on October 18, 2009. For more detailed rules – and these are very important – please review the official contest rules.

This is a complex and often personal issue, and there’s way more angles to cover than anyone can squeeze into 30 seconds. Here are some themes to consider:

The need for reform

•  Personal stories: It’s hard to get more powerful than sharing a personal story about how the broken status quo has affected you and the ones you love.

•  The cost of inaction: There’s lots to cover about how spiraling costs are breaking the budgets of families, governments and businesses, and the high price we’ll all pay if we don’t act.

•  The opponents of reform: It’s amazing the levels some will stoop in order to score political points or protect their profits. This is your chance to call them out.

The President’s plan

•  For those with insurance, the President’s plan will provide more security and stability. You won’t get cut off for being sick, face discrimination because of your gender, or run up against an annual or lifetime cap ever again.

•  For those without insurance, the plan will guarantee affordable options so that every American finally gets the peace of mind and quality care we deserve.

•  And it will rein in out-of-control health care costs and accomplish reform without adding a dime to the deficit.

Here’s a four minute-play-by-play describing health care reform. Take this video and run it to the goal line!

Our club’s health care reform team wants to help you reach out in your communities and share the truth. Check out our Club’s health care reform page to help you prepare your message speak out about reform.

Congressional candidate John Garamendi needs to win CD-10 in November. He believes we must act now to maintain the public option. His campaign may very well become a debate on health care reform. John says, “Bring It On! I’m ready!”. Way to go and good luck from your Calaveras County neighbors.

ALL Avery Middle School students have watched the President’s speech in 1st period. Actually that’s not quite correct. Some students did not watch the speech. And that’s because, for one reason or another, their parents cannot accept President Obama speaking to their son or daughter. Whatever. This post will not attempt to deconstruct their motives. The students from those families simply handed in an opt-out form to the school this morning and were sent to the library.

We’ve now reached the end of the school week. We want to thank Vallecito Union School District for this opportunity our students received to hear our President and we want to thank Avery Middle School for requiring every 1st period teacher to make this a teachable moment.

And as with all controversies, it is also time to ask — what have we learned from this incident? Down in San Diego County we learned this, courtesy of Calitics.com:

I mentioned the move by the La Mesa/Spring Valley school district to delay the President’s speech to their students. I said then, and I believe more today, that we need to think about how treat each other in political discourse. On occasion, there can be a right and a wrong besides a right and a left.

Well, the Voice of San Diego (a great publication by the way) followed up with two of the school board members who voted to delay the speech.  They both seem to regret the decision.

I just spoke to [school board member] Halgren. She explained that she hadn’t understood that the group experience — not the exact content of the speech itself — was part of what made the event important. Two teachers who talked with her about it convinced her that it should have been a collective experience. “There are certain things that you do in life that bring us together as a community and as a nation,” she said. I also got an e-mail from another board member, Bob Duff. He wrote:

After seeing the President’s speech, I now believe the message should have been viewed live and I regret I was responsible for the delay. All should had the opportunity to have seen it live. For this I truly apologize.

Too bad you don’t normally get do-overs for your moments of partisan inanity. The real losers here were the students of the district.

You may also be asking, “What did the opt-out students do in the library this morning?” I asked this question yesterday, just in case my children wanted to know. It is nice to have choices after all. Well, those students watched a video, produced by PBS, entitled “Math, Who Needs It?”, hosted by Jaime Escalante. What fun!
Update: I request your forgiveness on a mistake I made on an email address reported last weekend. Ralph Emerson’s email address was incorrect. I have since apologized to the owner of the wrong email address.

The President’s Plan for Health Reform

“It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance.
It will provide insurance to those who don’t. And it will lower the cost of health care
for our families, our businesses, and our government.”
– PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

Sign on to the President Obama’s Health Care Plan for America here.

Here’s a great line I don’t want to ever forget from last night’s call for action from the President:

We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it. I still believe we can act even when it’s hard. I still believe we can replace acrimony with civility, and gridlock with progress. I still believe we can do great things, and that here and now we will meet history’s test. Because that is who we are. That is our calling. That is our character. — President Barack Obama

And some awesome polling numbers reflecting last night’s powerful thrust for the change we seek:

Democracy Corps conducted dial testing of the speech with 50 independent and weak partisan voters in Denver, Colorado, followed by focus groups with voters whose support for Obama’s health care plan increased after seeing the speech. The dial group participants were evenly divided among those who initially supported and initially opposed the plan, with an almost equal division between Obama and McCain voters.
These swing voters reacted strongly to Obama’s message. Support for Obama’s plan jumped 20 points, from 46 percent before the speech to 66 percent after. Importantly, Obama also achieved one of his principal goals of boosting the intensity of support. Prior to the speech, just 2 percent of these swing voters supported the plan strongly while 26 percent opposed it strongly; by the end of the evening those numbers were virtually reversed, with 28 percent supporting the plan strongly against just 8 percent strongly opposed. The president was also extremely successful in moving the needle on areas where progressives have struggled over the last few months, making great strides in reassuring voters on issues like the deficits and taxes, seniors and Medicare, choice and control, competition and costs, and government intervention. — Dial-testing by Democracy Corps, a Democratic polling and strategy firm