Thanks.

dan, Fattah might have signed a letter but that is no guarantee that he will refuse to support weaker measures. I've been part of firedoglake's public option citizen whip, and fattah's office has been unable to say whether he'll vote against anything without a robust public option, available on day one and accountable to congress. In comparison, see non-CPC member Sestak saying a public option needs to be in the bill and he won't budge on that.

both of fattah and brady have been fairly absent from the debate: fattah didn't even have anything on his website about health care reform until about 3 weeks ago when i started giving him hell about it on the pages of the philly weekly. In fact his staff gave my a ration of shit for that, saying i was calling all the time and berating them (which i haven't been). I have no idea where brady is on the issue, but will call and find out.

fattah can be reached at 202-225-4001, brady at (202) 225-4731.
or find 'em here: http://www.house.gov/

Dan, I couldn't agree more.
WAY TO GO FATTAH for taking a stand. Now he should take to the bully pulpit on it.

I live in Brady's half of the city, so I just gave him a call. If you want to give these guys a call and give them the message that there HAS TO BE a public option, then here's a good tool to do it with:
http://tools.advomatic.com/8/budget

I wouldn't worry about letting the system call you, but you should read over their talking points and then log your results with these guys. It really helps for the organizers and lobbyists in DC working this issue every day to know how many voters are calling in.

---
This Too Will Pass, for the guts in your cerebrum.

We're all a phone call away from COBRA. Pretending that we're not and saying that we have great health care are our jobs is sticking our heads in the sand. I tried to convey this in a column in today's paper.

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/20090818_Real_courage_in_health-...

can't be so naive as to think that "public option" (and public option in and of itself sucks, it is not 'single-payer' health care) had a snowball's chance of sailing through, did you?

The biggest opposition to health care overhaul in this country comes from the bloodsucking insurance companies—who, by the way, in the last month have spent some $40 million dollars lobbying (bribing) certain compliant lawmakers in Washington (Brady being one of them). Reason; well—for instance--if in a perfect world we passed a health care reform bill that mandated a “single-payer” system the insurance company bloodsuckers would be out of a job and that is why they are spending over a million dollars a day—and that figure includes the $408 million spent in 2008--lobbying against health care reform that would include an option such as “single payer.” And, now they realize that "health care light" (public option)is dead in the water so the bloodsuckers are positively orgasmic.

Get real folks, $458 million (so far) spent against health care reform; a few thousand phonecalls/petitions/opeds/and impassioned blogs for health care reform...guess who has the winning edge?

**In the interest of full disclosure, I work in the Congressman’s Washington Office and advise him on healthcare policy, as well as other issues.**

Congressman Fattah recognizes fully that without a public option, there is no reform. Without a public option, we can’t control the rising costs that are squeezing even those who have insurance out of the healthcare market. Without a public option we can’t keep insurance companies honest and force competition based on quality and price. He is committed to healthcare reform that protects consumers of private, employer-based coverage, as well as reform that guarantees access. These are two sides of the same coin. He believes we will have the opportunity to vote on a real bill on the House floor this fall. He is also optimistic that his colleagues in the Senate are hearing from their constituents as he is hearing from ours. The American people want insurance reform and a public option.

He is a proud, long term supporter of single payer, his preferred reform (cosponsored H.R. 676 since 2003). The reality is, this is a big country and politics is the art of compromise. A single-payer, European style system is not a political possibility at this point in this country. That said, there are principles on which we cannot compromise. He has no interest in and will not support a bill that is “reform” in name only. He has said this to his friends in the House, many of whom agree with him, our Congressional leaders, the President and even those who disagree. In June he spoke with Neil Cavuto of Fox News to make the case for reform. As progressives, we must reach outside the echo chamber and speak to the opposition. As he said on Cavuto, this question of reform is a defining one for America. Surely we are at least as compassionate, fiscally responsible and forward thinking as every other industrialized country. They have all addressed this problem in their own way and it is time for us to do the same. He welcomes the support of our constituents, many of whom are employed in the world-leading healthcare sector based in Philadelphia. As we have seen this month, and as we have been reminded by our President, reform does not come easy. He is proud to fight for the 58,000 residents of the 2nd District who stand to join the ranks of the insured with H.R. 3200. There is much work to be done but he is optimistic that the final bill will include a strong public option that guarantees coverage and controls cost.

See many of Congressman Fattah’s public statements on this and other issues on the website: including http://fattah.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=34&parentid=32&sectiontree=3... and http://fattah.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=34&parentid=32&sectiontree=3...

Thanks,
Liz

The Congressman is more interested in voting YES for real reform than he is in voting no. The House bill will certainly include a public option. In answer to your question – as you mentioned, the Congressman is one of now 60 (I think) Members who have signed the Progressive Caucus letter pledging that their votes depend on a strong public option. I believe he's the only PA Member on that letter, although Mike Doyle was great in the Energy and Commerce hearing about single payer. We are going to be an important state in healthcare reform, with the oldest (or second oldest, I can't remember if Florida's population is older) population, and an economy awash in healthcare dollars, PA voters are going to be key on this issue. In Philadelphia, we have some of the best, most innovative healthcare around. We also have disproportionately high rates of infant mortality, childhood asthma (a leading cause of school absences), and pregnant women receiving late or no prenatal care. In our city we have wealthy residents who could lose their insurance if they got sick, desparately poor residents, for whom access is about more than just coverage, and many, many people in between. The Congressman will keep fighting for a public option, but he can't do it alone. We're going to need the support of both Senators, as well as the rest of the delegation. (Congresswoman Schwartz, a leader on children's healthcare, a member of one of the Committees of jursidiction, and the third Member of the Philadelphia delegation wasn't mentioned in your original post.)

Here are some of his more recent press releases: http://fattah.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=34&sectiontree=32,34&showall... Right now he's focusing on the many aspects of life in America that include a public option we all take for granted.

Because then I'd be sure we would win the public option and much else besides. Representatives Fattah, Brady, and Schwartz were among the first to sign on with Health Care For America Now.

Representative Schwartz, who is on the Ways and Means Committee which is one of three House committeees with legislative authority on the bill, has been a very strong supporter of health care reform in general and the public option in particular. She's really been carrying the ball for us in the House. That's one reasons HCAN did thank you ads in her district.

Representatives Fattah and Brady unfortunately don't sit on the right committees to be as influential. But they have also done everything we have asked of them.

Right now, the House Bill has a good version of the public option. That bill will pass the House in mid-September with the votes of nearly all PA Democrats. We're worried about a few of the Blue Dogs. If you really want to help health care move, then the most important thing you can be doing is to phone bank into Blue Dog districts. Phone banks will be running at PUP on North Broad Street most nights in the next few weeks. Contact Antoinette Kraus to sign up at Antoinette.Kraus@gmail.com. If you want to phone bank from home, contact me at MarcStier@hcanpa.org.

The Senate is our bigger problem. Right now we have 44 strong committments to the public option in the Senate and another five or six who will vote for it if that's what's in the bill although they are not crazy about it. Every few days we add another Senate supporter.

Both PA Senators are firmly committed to the public option. Bob Casey is on the HELP Committee and really made a difference when it looked that the committee would leave tough decisions to Senate Finance.

Senate Finance is the sticker right now because Chairman Baucus is trying to do a bi-partisan deal. As my friends at HCAN Jacki Schechner and Levana Layendecker says, it's time for the Ds to give up on bi-partisanship because, "the Rs are just not that into us."

One way the right wing craziness will help is that it is now clear that no Republican from anywhere but Maine is going to vote for health care reform. Senator Grassley said he won't vote for a bill that has everything he wants if 20 or so Republicans don't favor it. We'll never get them.

So now is the time for Chairman Baucus to move to get a Democratic bill out of Senate Finance and let HCAN teams in other states and everyone else who cares about the issue build the support we need to try to pass it with 60 votes before October 15.

So the second thing you can do is to tell Senators Casey and Specter to demand that Baucus start moving a bill we can support. You can call them with our click to call tool at http://tools.advomatic.com/8/majority

If we can't get 60 votes by October 15, then reconciliation kicks in and we'll pass the bill with 51 votes before Halloween. It will be a bit messy. But it is doable.

Marc

PS As for the administration, I actually think the whole Sibelius thing was over done. She defended the public option 2 or 3 times in the same interview where she said it's not essential. (I think her point, which is true, is that there is a lot more to reform than the public option although it is very important.) I'm not going to complain much about reporters jumping on what was mostly a verbal slip it beause it got lots of people focused on the importance of the public option.

Just don't let this craziness get you discouraged. I'm telling people on my blog "don't freak out about the public plan yet." If and when it's time to freak out, you will hear from HCAN and our partners very quickly.

Comment was meant for PA budget

More "Fattah and the Public Option" news:

The Congressman spoke at an event today in Philadelphia about healthcare, including the public option: http://www.kyw1060.com/Rep--Fattah-Fires-Back-at-GOP-Over-Health-Care-Re...

He has also endorsed Secretary Reich's call for a March for Healthcare: http://fattah.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=34&sectiontree=32,34&itemid=... which has now taken off in cycberspace: http://www.marchforhealthcare.com/ (all of this, of course, including the Public Option).

Dan, we need to focus on, and fight for, a strong public option. As the late Chairman Kennedy showed us, if you keep focus and keep fighting, you can get it done. We need to stop acting like whiners and start thinking like winners! The President wants the Public Option, House and Senate Democrats want it, and the American people want it. It's up to us to get it done.

Note also the local press support:

Inky Editorial: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/54461867.html
Daily News: http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/53773757.html (includes coverage of Fattah with Progressive Caucus insisting on Public Option)

We need to focus on the support we do have and build on that. The Congressman is willing to work as hard as necessary to fight for a robust public option. He's doing healthcare events today, tomorrow and Monday:

Wednesday August 26 at 1 p.m.
WHAT: Rep. Fattah will speak to phone bank volunteers supporting comprehensive healthcare reform.

WHERE: Charles L. Durham Branch Free Library
3320 Haverford Avenue (Mantua-Powelton neighborhood)
Philadelphia PA

Thursday August 27 at 11 a.m.
WHAT: Rep. Fattah and Rep. Allyson Schwartz will lead a roundtable discussion of Philadelphia area residents impacted by healthcare insurance issues: patients, caregivers medical personnel, small-business owners.

WHERE: Albert Einstein Medical Center at Elkins Park
60 Township Line Road
Elkins Park PA 19027

Monday August 31 at 6 p.m.
WHAT: Rep. Fattah will appear at a Town Hall on Healthcare – radio broadcast on 1210 AM The Big Talker, hosted by conservative talk show broadcaster Dom Giordano before a live audience.

WHERE: Inquirer-Daily News Building (first floor community room)
400 N. Broad Street
Philadelphia PA 19130

We are focused on getting a strong public option included in the House bill and surviving conference. The Congressman is not interested in falling into this trap of promising to vote no on health reform. He has said, unequivocally, that real reform means a public option. Simply passing a bill that’s called reform won’t address his priorities of expanded coverage and decreased costs. We are the Party with the positive vision, we will leave the negativity and promises to kill the bill to Republicans. If progressives allow themselves to be distracted into this in-fighting and one-upmanship, we lose our power, as the voice of the majority of Americans, to fight for real change. We need to keep the focus on advancing a strong bill and need to show voters what the public option means and why it is so important. As far as committing to vote one way or the other, the Congressman is fully prepared to vote no on the conference report. He has taken difficult votes in the past and is prepared to do that again.

Remember, there are many steps before we get to conference. First, we need a House bill synthesis of the three committee reports. We need to pass that. The Senate needs to figure out what they're doing in Finance and on the floor. Then, we'll have bills we can conference on. All of the major players are Democrats. We need to make sure we get the message out there that this is what we want. We are not ready to concede healthcare reform, the public option or anything else. We haven't lost yet and if we keep fighting like we want to win, we'll end up with a bill you, the Congressman and I can all support.