Here's links:
Bloggers: Take A $300,000 Victory LapBy: Jane Hamsher Thursday August 20, 2009 10:04 pm
August 19 letter, pledging to vote against any health care bill that does not have a public plan.
I just want to take a moment to thank those who have been so supportive of the public plan whip effort all along, which culminated in this amazing achievement. The network of blogs and bloggers carrying the message into their districts weren't A-list bloggers for the most part, but their ability to reach into the back yards of their progressive representatives has been absolutely vital. They did it when it was hard, when it wasn't popular, when it didn't have a lot of heat behind it, just because it was the right thing to do. And we couldn't have done it without them.
Those who helped create a climate of consistent pressure that led directly to the August 19 letter include blogs like Burnt Orange Report, Dirigo Blue, Left Wing Cracker, Southern Beale, Fired Up Missouri, Rikyrah, Left In the West, Delaware Liberal, Square State Project (Zappatero -- you're the bomb), Hillbilly Report, Texas Kaos, DownWithTyranny, AmericaBlog, Talk Left, Glenn Greenwald, Loaded Orygun, Pennsylvania for Change, Delaware Way, Boztopia, Griper News, Pinko Magazine, The Albany Project, Progress Illinois, Bob Fertik, David Swanson, Cedwyn, Pronin2 (Mr. Rapid Response), McJoan, Chris Bowers, Kagro X, NotLarrySabato, Green Mountain Daily, Buckeye State Blog, Michigan Liberal, Blue Hampshire, Blue Jersey, MN Progressive Project, D-Day, Gort42, the always wonderful MyLeftNutmeg, and of course Slink, NYCeve & Mike Stark. These are just a few of the blogs and bloggers that deserve thanks, and we'll be putting up a more permanent repository of names & thank-yous in the next few days.
To all of you who pitched in when it really mattered, take a bow, you did this. You kept the momentum going when it was really, really important. We cannot thank you enough for your continued support.
If I've missed anyone who helped to pressure members of Congress as part of the whip count effort, leave links in the comments and I'll catch you in the next round.
is is the result of your hard work -- so take a victory lap.
http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/08/20/bloggers-take-a-300000-victory-lap/-------------------
Jane Hamsher with Rachel Maddow talking about "Public Option:"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Z5XO-I0oo&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.democraticunderground.com%2Fdiscuss%2Fduboard.php%3Faz%3Dview_all%26address%3D385x356185&feature=player_embedded----------------------------
PROGRESSIVE DEMS OF AMERICA:
Liberals Revolt Over Public OptionBy Jonathan Martin and Carrie Budoff Brown
August 19, 2009, Washington, DC
Join PDA's Healthcare for All Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.
Published by Politico.
The White House’s signal that it’s willing to back off support for a public health insurance option has sent congressional liberals into full revolt, bluntly warning the administration that no legislation will pass without a government-run plan.
A group of left-leaning House Democrats tells POLITICO that a bill without a public option simply won’t win enough votes in their caucus—a sentiment that raises fresh questions about the prospects to enact sweeping health care reform this year.
“A bill without a public option won’t pass the House,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), a member of Energy & Commerce Health subcommittee. “Not only are they weakening their proposal, but they are also weakening their hand. This is legislative subtraction by subtraction.”
Privately, the leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus sent the same message to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who said Sunday that a public plan is “not the essential element” of comprehensive reform.
“To take the public option off the table would be a grave error; passage in the House of Representatives depends upon inclusion of it,” wrote Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) in a letter to Sebelius on Monday.
Along with their sharply worded letter, the three House members sent an attachment listing the “60 Members of Congress who are firm in their position that any legislation that moves forward through both chambers, and into a final proposal for the president's signature, MUST contain a public option.”
Even if top aides didn’t intend to do it, the White House got a glimpse of what may well happen—a Democratic civil war—if President Barack Obama does indeed give up on the public option.
The liberal uprising comes after weeks in which Democratic congressional leaders have focused their energy on winning over moderates—with House leaders trying to woo Blue Dog fiscally conservative Democrats, and Senate negotiators concentrating on a handful of Republicans.
Obama also has been put on the defensive by conservatives who have dominated congressional town halls, saying Obama’s government-run insurance goes too far.
But the weekend’s events show that one of Obama’s biggest problems—and ultimately a critical test of whether he can get a bill at all—revolves around convincing liberals he’s going far enough.
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), a member of the Health subcommittee and a close friend of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said a health care bill without a government-run insurance plan would be difficult to move out of the House in part because liberals are right now accepting less than what they want.
“I think it would be very tough,” said Eshoo. “There are those who view themselves as having already compromised on single-payer.”
Of the message from the White House over the weekend, Eshoo said, “My sense is that there’s a deep disappointment on that, the softening position on that.”
Added Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), another member of the Health panel: “Without that
option there will not be enough votes in the House to pass that bill.”
The White House continued to insist Monday that the widely reported shift away from the public option was no shift at all—that Obama still believes it is the best way to provide needed competition with private insurance companies. Yet Obama himself on Saturday called the public plan just a “sliver” of the overall package, followed by Sebelius’ comments that it wasn’t essential.
Liberal advocacy groups took the rhetorical shift—deliberate or not—as a warning shot.
Democracy for America honed in on the 60 House members who have pledged not to vote for a bill without the public option, and asked supporters to remind them to hold firm. Health Care for America Now urged its network to contact senators. And the Progressive Change Campaign Committee promised a new round of TV ads targeting undecided senators and highlighting their contributions from health and insurance interests.
"There is zero retreat on the grass-roots level for the public
http://pdamerica.org/articles/news/2009-08-19-11-39-17-news.php
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