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I followed Nancy's post with this one. It is crunch time. <br>
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<td>Re: [usgp-dx] The Healthcare War Is Now Official (Robert
Reich)</td>
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<td>Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:25:57 -0700</td>
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<td>Wes Rolley <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:wrolley@charter.net"><wrolley@charter.net></a></td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Reply-To: </th>
<td><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:wrolley@charter.net">wrolley@charter.net</a>, "The natlcomaffairs \(aka USGP-DX\)
listserv is used to discuss issues related to coordinated national
actions and current issues." <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:natlcomaffairs@green.gpus.org"><natlcomaffairs@green.gpus.org></a></td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">To: </th>
<td>The natlcomaffairs (aka USGP-DX) listserv is used to discuss
issues related to coordinated national actions and current issues.
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:natlcomaffairs@green.gpus.org"><natlcomaffairs@green.gpus.org></a></td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">References: </th>
<td><BCF1A04029684358B925AB99000A9590@nancyPC></td>
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<pre>Yes, and Reich followed this with an appearance on Bill Moyers Journal
Friday evening. June 12.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06122009/profile.html">http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06122009/profile.html</a>
I quote only a short bit with my highlighting a few key pints.
> *BILL MOYERS: *Wait a minute. The folks who are fighting for
> single-payer out there say it is feasible if only Congress would look
> at the economics of it.
>
> *ROBERT REICH: *Well, a lot of things are feasible if Congress looks
> at the economics of them. But politically, no, unfortunately and I'm a
> big single-payer fan. Unfortunately, *we cannot get there from here
> because the political forces are just too strong against single-payer.*
>
> *BILL MOYERS: *Are the business forces prescient when they say that if
> we get a public option, it opens the door down the road to single-payer?
>
> *ROBERT REICH: *If the government simply requires that the public
> option pay for itself, can be not-for-profit, just pays for itself
> that's not going to be necessarily a direct opening to single-payer.
> But it is going to force the private insurers and the drug companies
> and the medical suppliers to be honest, to control costs, and to
> provide better quality.
>
> *BILL MOYERS: *You've got these powerful lobbies that you've been
> writing about on your blog. And you said on your blog this week that
> the real question for you is the extent to which Barack Obama will
> push back against these lobbies. What's your answer to your own question?
>
> *ROBERT REICH: *I don't know, Bill. This is the first test where there
> is huge organized opposition. And it's coming from very, very powerful
> lobbies who have prevailed-- not just for ten or 15 years. You've
> prevailed for decades on this issue. So this is the truth time in
> terms of how able and willing the President and the White House is to
> really set boundaries and push members of Congress.
>
> *So it's at this point-- and I'm talking about the next two or three
> or four weeks. I mean, we're talking about crunch time right now--
> that the President has got to step in and be forceful and be specific.
> And I don't know whether he will be. I hope he is.*
>
It is time to up the pressure. I would hope that we are willing to put
more behind this that the very good effort that Scott McLarty has been
making to get us press. If every single Green Party entity were to pick
a day and make a coordinated statement, we can have an effect. As Reich
says... it is crunch time right now... not next week.
Nancy Allen wrote:
> This lists the lobbying costs since the beginning of the year.
> We could afford a lot of health care insurance for everyone if it is
> all added up !!!
> Nancy Allen
> Maine
>
> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.truthout.org/061409A">http://www.truthout.org/061409A</a>
> The Healthcare War Is Now Official
> Thursday 11 June 2009
>
> by: Robert Reich | Visit article original @ Robert Reich's Blog
>
> Yesterday the American Medical Association came out against a public
> option for health care. And yesterday the President reaffirmed his
> support for it. The next weeks will show what Obama is made of -
> whether he's willing and able to take on the most formidable lobbying
> coalition he has faced so far on an issue that will define his
> presidency.
>
> And make no mistake: A public option large enough to have
> bargaining leverage to drive down drug prices and private-insurance
> premiums is the defining issue of universal health care. It's the only
> way to make health care affordable. It's the only way to prevent
> Medicare and Medicaid from eating up future federal budgets. An ersatz
> public option - whether Kent Conrad's non-profit cooperatives, Olympia
> Snowe's "trigger," or regulated state-run plans - won't do squat.
<snip>
--
"Anytime you have an opportunity to make things better and you don't, then you are wasting your time on this Earth" Roberto Clemente
Wes Rolley
17211 Quail Court, Morgan Hill, CA 95037
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.refpub.com/">http://www.refpub.com/</a> -- Tel: 408.778.3024
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</pre>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="80">--
"Anytime you have an opportunity to make things better and you don't, then you are wasting your time on this Earth" Roberto Clemente
Wes Rolley
17211 Quail Court, Morgan Hill, CA 95037
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.refpub.com/">http://www.refpub.com/</a> -- Tel: 408.778.3024</pre>
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