Here’s the audio for the trailer of the new horror movie (for the GOP), “Night of the Living Reform”

NARRATOR: It was hacked into pieces! It was smothered alive! It was buried and left for dead! Now…it’s b-a-a-ack!!!

HOWARD DEAN: “When ya kill a bill, ya better make sure it’s dead!”

LINDSAY GRAHAM: “No! No! Don’t shove it down my throat! Yes! I mean no!”

MITCH MCCONNELL: “What he said!”

(GROWLING SOUNDS OF A BEAST)

RUSH LIMBAUGH: “Get out of here! Get away! I’ll sit on you! I’ll eat you! Get away!!! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD! NOOO!!!

(SOUNDS OF PRESIDENTIAL HOPES CRUMBLING)

SARAH PALIN: “But…I killed you…you can’t be alive…I stabbed a death panel right through your heart! You can’t…Y-A-A-AH!!!

(SOUNDS OF A TAN TURNING WHITE)

JOHN BOEHNER: “This isn’t happening! This can’t be happening! I know how to stop you! ‘NO’! ‘NO’! It’s not working! Then eat filibuster!

(SOUNDS OF A FILIBUSTER GOING LIMP)

JOHN BOEHNER: “NOOO!!! Stop! For corporation’s sake, stop! You can’t roll over me! I’m TAN!!! ARGH!!!

NARRATOR:  Sometimes killing what a majority of Americans want…isn’t enough! HCR is back from the dead…and this time, it’s reconciled to kill the opposition! Night of the Living Reform! Coming soon!

Yes, momentum and possibly even reason has returned to the minds of Democrats in Congress. Their brilliant minds seem to have recovered from the Scott Brown election mentality of “Only 59 seats now! We’re helpless!” to “Hey…if we can’t do anything with 59 seats, how can I win re-election by saying keep us in the majority?”

So, a growing number of Dems in the House and most importantly, in The Senate are championing bringing back real HCR including a public option and using reconciliation to get through the changes to the Senate bill that couldn’t pass a filibuster. Just as many of us have been hammering them to do for a long time.

The House is 100% right not to sign the Senate bill until its horrible provisions have been overridden by the reconciliation bill…which needs to include a Public Option. If that is done, public opinion on all of this will turn around.

The main reason most opposed the bill was because the public option was killed and there would be mandatory purchase of policies from insurance companies who can, as Anthem tried, raise premiums 39% at a time and bankrupt citizens who would be breaking the law and penalized for not allowing themselves to be bankrupted.

This two step approach is so simple and reasoned. Pass the aspects that all can agree on then pass the aspects that favor Americans over corporations by 51 Dem votes.

Aside from reforming the filibuster, reconciliation is the only path for the Dems and Obama to turn around the perception of a gridlocked and helpless government. It is an absolute.  And they must not stop here, just as the GOP is using the filibuster to block everything, the Dems must use reconciliation to pass everything they possibly can through that method.

That means a jobs bill, bank and Wall Street reform, energy and carbon emissions bills, etc. Of course, there must be a budgetary element to any bill to qualify for reconciliation but how difficult would that be to have financial elements involved in each of these bills?

To me, it’s very simple. If the GOP is going to pull the emergency cord on every bill, the Dems should be prepared to pull their emergency cord in response. They are in the better position and could even use that as leverage to make agreements that if the GOP won’t filibuster, they won’t go around them with reconciliation and let them be part of the process.

I doubt this would work for a while but do they want to go 8 years without having any influence on any legislation? If public opinion turns around to support the progress occurring under Obama and Dems in Congress, what will they have to campaign on? Not one vote for anything?

I am FINALLY encouraged again that momentum is on our side but we need to keep it up and keep hammering any of our Senators and Congresspeople who are not already on board.

BTW, MoveOn.org is collaborating with DailyKos and a number of other sites and groups on Feb 24th to organize a 1 million message protest which I recommend to all members here to join. Here is a link to their site, click the article to sign up if you wish: http://moveon.org/

This can really happen if we fight hard enough against the GOP and corporations and for real health care reform, for all Americans, current and future!

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javaz
Member

WOO-HOO!

Almost 784,438+ for the virtual march!!!

Check out the counter – http://pol.moveon.org/virtualmarch10/action.html?rc=p_fix

tb92
Member
tb92

Watching the counter is addictive. We’ve added a hundred thousand in approximately fifteen minutes! Keep it up, folks.

bito
Member

From CREDO:Can you also help us bombard the Senate with phone calls? Here’s a list of Democratic Senators and where they stand on the letter to Harry Reid asking him to give the public option an up-or-down vote: http://act.credoaction.com/call/oneoffs/results_21.html

Use this in conjunction with all the other actions

javaz
Member

My husband also signed up, and I was wondering if there’s a way to find out how many people have signed up so far?

It would be awesome to get the 1 million.

I recall the Dubai incident a few years back, whereby Dubai – was it Dubai or the Saudi Emigrates – that wanted to work at our ports and Congress and the Senate was inundated with angry emails and phone calls and that worked on crushing that from happening.

Chernynkaya
Member

Hi Javaz– I was just there and it’s not even close to 1,000,000. There is a map that you can roll your cursor over for each state here:

http://pol.moveon.org/virtualmarch10/#

Only Calif. has close to 20K and if I’m figuring correctly, it would take 20K from ALL 50 STATES to make a million. Most states are in the hundreds. 🙁

javaz
Member

We sent the message from moveon to friends and family that we think will be receptive.

Our friend Dick, who would most likely sign it, we cannot send it to him because the minute he sees moveon’s name, well, he’d think we infected his computer with libural propaganda!

Even though he voted for Obama and hates McCain, his open-mind has its limits.

Chernynkaya
Member

Adlib, I am 100% in favor of your position on using reconciliation to pass legislation in view of the Republican

KQµårk 死神
Member

It’s still dead.

Umm… Adlib you do realize this is just a tweak to reconcile the two bills? Most of the “horrible” things you are railing against will still be in the legislation. They are not going to pass two huge new “real HCR” bills just a reconciliation bill if they do pass it. In reality it’s just like the House passing the Senate bill and tweaking it later. They just want to have the Senate go first because the House does not trust the Senate.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/

“Real HCR” ended when the public plan was not open to all Americans without Medicare, Medicaid or SCHIP. Since then this bill has always been a start to end healthcare insurance company abuses.

No insurance company will be able to raise rates 39% with either pieces of legislation if they want to be part of the exchanges. All they will do is price themselves out of the market. One of the biggest problems is there is too little Federal law reigning in abuses because laws are left up to the states.

They will probably tweak taxing Cadillac healthcare insurance plans by making an exemption for collective bargaining agreements. It always was a good idea to tax Cadillac plans because it’s the best way to disrupt the employee based system and lower costs. Then the House will probably use the more fair abortion compromise in the Senate bill. Hopefully they will bring reimbursement rates closer to the House bill.

Just a tiny portion would change even with a public option. Less than 5% of Americans who cannot get insurance any other way will be able to buy public insurance that has to use provider reimbursement rates similar to private insurance.

Like I said before politically this is all about either side feeling they won or lost and has very little to do with what the final legislation will mean for reform from a policy standpoint.

That’s why to me it does not make much difference if a public plan is passed now or not in it’s current form. In fact if you dig down to the details, the public plan could be the high risk sink for all people with preexisting conditions making it cost more than private coverage. The CBO estimate predicted that would happen.

Pass the first step now and serious tweaks will be made in the future like it was with SS or SCHIP.

I still think HCR has a very small chance of passing just because people don’t understand the issue and both sides will boil it down to things they don’t like in the bills.

Kalima
Admin

Oh for goodness sake, pass the final bill already and fix it along the way once it is implemented sooner I hope rather than having to wait another few years.

There must be good things hidden in there somewhere or your President wouldn’t sign the darned thing. It is bound to be much better than what you have had for decades, congress needs to pull their bloody socks up, stop thinking about rewards and just get it done.

I have friends in your country who’s next hospital stay could be their last, they are all in their 40’s, their families love them and don’t want them to die, I don’t want to lose them either.

This whole process reminds me of a person who has never eaten a certain food and therefore say they don’t like. How can you complain about something that you have never tried or even make the effort to at least try once?

The dilly-dallying is costing lives, making families live in fear, afraid to seek medical attention, is this what everyone wants on their conscience for the rest of their lives, that is assuming that they have a conscience that is.

I was catching up on my Rachel and KO podcasts the other day, one guy said that if congress wanted to, they could pass this bill in 24 hours. Food for thought.

The time for talk in over, now you should be screaming for action. I’ll bet all I own that the loud protest from all sides, especially in the media and on the blogs about this bill, comes from people who can afford to be negative because, hey, they are covered and those who are not are on their own. This thoroughly disgusts me because they are no better than the Republicans.

Here is a link I posted on the 8th on MB. It is 35 minutes of photos and audio about President Obama’s road to the WH and well worth watching/listening to. iI might also explain his insistence so far in reaching across the “aisle.” If you have time please watch it, it may make you understand Obama the man and Obama the politician better.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2008/nov/05/obama-road-to-white-house1

Oh and f@ck the Repubs!!!

KQµårk 死神
Member

Thanks for the link.

I’m with you. Just pass the freaking legislation already.

Replace “just play the bleeping note” with “just pass the bleeping bill”.

Kalima
Admin

Another 60 days of arguing like little schoolgirls and wanting “pork” for their own districts while the “ugly” Rebubs continue to demean the President of the United States in the media “without balls” and the side who voted for him whines without giving solutions on their daily blogs.

1 million virtual march on Washington, good Lord. Isn’t that just too little and too late, sort of like closing the stable door after the horse has already bolted.

Thanks K, I can’t get “Father Ted” over here and it wouldn’t play on my little IPod toy, I hope the IPad works better, early birthday present from the mister when it comes out in Japan. 🙂

boomer1949
Member

I signed up this morning @ DailyKos; have I mentioned lately Sherrod Brown is my Senator? 😎

choicelady
Member

Well said, AdLib – great post! I especially like the “tan turning white” since that’d be worth paying money to see!

As a lobbyist (yes – I am. For the Good Guys and Gals, meaning us all here and around the nation) I have been briefed by Congressional staff that this is ON, it’s working, and what we all want should emerge. There will be low points. We cannot reform the hateful omission of legal immigrants (what part of taxpayers do we still fail to see?) but many programs such as the PO can and will be part of Reconciliation. I am VERY hopeful.

That said, we have to press on with raising our voices. We got Dianne Feinstein to sign on early in the renewal, and that probably proves that America is going Commie, but her phone calls are running 4 to 1 AGAINST reform and especially against the PO. So we need the Virtual March (faith community people are doing a Virtual Vigil in the same spirit) by keeping on contacting our Congress and Senate officials.

How often is too often? No such thing. Does someone do what we want? Call ’em again and thank them. Is there a minute nuance change in some aspect of the bill? New “ask”. Every single day we can call, write, or even visit the district offices if those are nearby.

The one thing that offsets Big Money is VOTES. We as constituents have real power over money! Democracy is very hard work, but what’s the alternative? Oh. Wait. We can SEE the alternative, and it’s a RW theocracy. With President Sarah.

I believe it’s well worth the effort to work for that democracy thing.

So keep on keepin’ on, Planateers. WE have the moxie, the info, the voice, the inclination, and probably the allies to make this work. Last count 119 Dems said no public option, they will NOT be re-elected. It’s not that Dems or even Independent will vote Republican. It’s that they won’t vote at ALL, and that let’s the wolf in the door.

Thank you so much, AdLib – this is just great. Not only can we keep most of our states Blue, we can turn Boehner white (whiter than he already is philosophically) as his face pales from total failure, and his Man Tan bottle fails him under the klieg lights.

As I said – that’s well worth seeing.

A big, virtual hug to you all. You lead the way!

escribacat
Member

Reid says dems will finish healthcare in 60 days using reconciliation

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/82461-reid-dems-will-use-50-vote-tactic-to-finish-healthcare-within-60-days

YABBA-DABBA-DOO!!!!

I think Obama had a little chat with him.

choicelady
Member

Es-cat – I think WE had a little chat with him. Sen. Reid takes emails from every state in the union (says a lot about how seriously he takes his responsibility) so log onto his site and keep those messages coming!

http://reid.senate.gov/contact/

boomer1949
Member

I’ve written to him numerous times. 👿

Pepe Lepew
Member

If Reid blows this, I will personally move to Nevada and vote against him!

Blues Tiger
Member
Blues Tiger

Try not to blow your kid’s “college funds” when you do… 😀

javaz
Member

This is so encouraging and I prefer to take an optimistic view and believe that we will get HCR with a Public Option.

Thanks for the link about the virtual march, AdLib, and I have signed up!

nicole473
Member

As always, excellent article, Adlib!

I’ve been calling senators re the PO, and have already signed up for the virtual march.

I am very hopeful that this thing will fly! 🙂

Pepe Lepew
Member

Ha, ha, funny.

I wrote Jon Tester yesterday.

It’s encouraging, but after being knocked down so many times, I hate to get my hopes up too much.

Blues Tiger
Member
Blues Tiger

*

choicelady
Member

Don’t blame you for being wary, but even the Senate bill alone is not awful. I know that’s faint praise, but it would still have a lot of good stuff and would “do no harm” which is a huge consideration. But what I’m being told from Congressional staff in key offices and key committees is that OUR voices have made the PO a key component, and that the rest of the bill leans toward the House side. Much of it can be done through budget reconciliation with only 51 voites AND (I was told) it cannot be amended, so DeMint can’t screw with it.