Jonathan Robinson's (sort of) expert testimony on the news of the day.
My free advice to the President: If you want to get healthcare enacted you must use reconciliation and quickly. Host your bipartisan gab fest at the White House on Thursday. Tell Republicans you’ve been eagerly awaiting their ideas for over a year, but the American public can’t wait any longer. Explain to them how our current economic mess is directly related to the health care mess — we’re paying 16 percent of our GDP for health care while health insurers are hiking rates and Americans are losing their health insurance every day. Then tell the House and Senate to get to work on putting their bills together (or tell the House Dems to enact the Senate bill and then save their disagreements for reconciliation), and tell Harry Reid you want the Senate bill on a fast track of reconciliation.
Explain to the American people you understand their impatience. The Constitution does not require 60 votes in the Senate to pass legislation. A majority will do. That’s called democracy.
Badabing badaboom Former Secretary of Labor Reich. Its pretty intolerable to see how this “battle” has played out. If health care came to a vote and Joe Biden had to cast the final vote this country would be in an uproar. If the Dems did that on any issue even a small one the entire right wing blogosphere would be in an uproar. There isn’t enough anger.
As it turns out marches don’t seem to do the trick. But apparently blogging and emailing does. We don’t have any Cindy Sheehan’s (although its arguable if her actions were fruitful in the least) in this fight. What the right has been able to do is somehow harness anger never before seen. We are too timid. As Anti Flag says. “Fight fire with fire”. Here is my call: Health care now. Public option now. How much longer can we afford to wait? Till next year when another 44,000 die because they could not afford medical care? I can’t wait. I won’t wait.
