It should be over this that Pelosi & Co. suffer what the Brits call a "back bencher revolt."

Unfortunately, any public option "victory" they're even remotely likely to win will be a pyrrhic one.

Sometimes it's extremely difficult to distinguish between friends and enemies in the "Greatest Show on Earth" that is the American political circus.

Thanks Raul. Public option IS a 'trigger plan'! Requiring that there be a 'trigger plan' for a 'trigger plan' is just giving the for-profits one more free pass.

Rahm and the Vichy Democrat leaders will eventually unload their "No Insurer Left Behind™" putrid sausage substitute for health care legislation.

When they bring the troops to heel, crying "At long last our Long National Nightmare of Gridlock is Over! And it's a WIN for the President!", are we to believe that the CPC will hold firm?

Just because they're not PREPARED to surrender doesn't mean they won't.

Well, I guess there's always a first time.

· Yr Obd't Servant

All we really need is Medicare For All ,,, and a new government of course!

The Progressive caucus needs to realize that they are not democrats. The Hoyer asshole is from the democratic wing of the corporate party. Anything coming from them isn't compromise; it's defeat.

In the intelligence community, it's called Mutt and Jeff or good cop, bad cop.

We've all noticed that the more mealy mouthed the demorats get, the more belligerent the repurats get. But have you noticed that the inverse is also true? Yep, when we have thoroughly branded repukes as coarse, offensive individuals, behold there cometh a principled, polite repuke that "everyone" is wowed with (see the Obama campaign). At the same time, you will have the demorats begin to appear more haughty and disconnected from the people. Of course it will be our wonderful media that will be selflessly informing us of these "amazing" developments. Excuse me while I throw up.
Now I feel a lot better. Don't get SNOWED. Emmanuel is already packaging Olympia Snowe (my what a heroic, teutonic, mythological, powerful, winner, caucasian, great white hope name that is as a contrast to a "black arab socialist" type president) for the "new" polite, principled republi-rat party in 2012. Busy, busy, busy.

The progressives are the nucleus of the party we need to build. In the mean time, all the progressives should band together and just say "fuck you" to the corporate party. Come wind, come rack, at least we'll die with the yoke off our back. GO PROGRESSIVES!

mcconnell $3.3M, hatch $2.9M, baucus $2.8M, grassley $2.7M,
lieberman $2.6M, burr $2.4M, ensign $2.4M, cornyn $2.2M, kyl $2.1M,
conrad $2.1M, cantor $1.8M boehner $1.7M, coburn $1.2M were
paid by the Medical Industrial Complex to kill Health Care Reform.

It's morally repugnant to profit off the misery or ill health of Americans. It's criminal that medical bills to the private for-profit MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX make up 62% of all bankruptcies filed in the U.S. each year. Americans spend 2.5 Trillion Dollars a year on Health care. The overhead at the private for-profit MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX is upwards of 35% of the health care dollar spent each year in the U.S. That is approximately $900 Billion a year the MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX uses for BRIBING CONGRESS and their lavish lifestyles, huge salaries plus perks and bonuses. All the while milking the hard-working men/women of this great nation of their hard earned money.

On the other hand Medicare has an overhead of 2%, Canada's system is 1.5%, Europe's 2.5% on average. The money that could be saved by eliminating the private for-profit MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX is estimated at $900 Billion a year. Enough money to help pay for putting all Americans on MEDICARE/SINGLE-PAYER TYPE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM.

Per capita health care spending (2008):

United States:___________________$7439
France:__________________________$3048
Canada:__________________________$3173
Spain:___________________________$2099
Singapore:_______________________$1118
United Kingdom:__________________$2560
Japan:___________________________$2293

The U.S. has a lower life expectancy(24th), lower infant mortality rate(29th), lower medical outcomes(77th) than all modern, civilized, industrialized nations.

This chart was produced from information obtained at OpenSecrets.org: Link It shows how much money was paid to Congress by the MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX during their political careers. It's criminal that the U.S. doesn't have Single-Payer Health Care, these are the criminals.

HMO's & MEDICAL INDUSTRY CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
(CAMPAIGN CMTE. AND LEADERSHIP PAC'S)
SENATE:
Baucus_______D-MT____$2,870,872___Feinstein______D-CA___$2,150,779
McCain_______R-AZ____$9,073,024___Snowe__________R-ME___$__549,659
McConnell____R-KY____$3,345,572___Corker_________R-TN___$__938,289
Boehner______R-SC____$1,165,514___Coburn_________R-OK___$1,227,748
Hatch________R-UT____$2,946,150___Bayh___________D-IN___$1,332,738
Kyl__________R-AZ____$2,253,387___Voinovich______R-OH___$1,451,961
Lieberman____R-CT____$2,686,804___Bond___________R-MO___$1,205,034
Grassley_____R-IA____$2,757,287___Burr___________R-NC___$2,392,513
Conrad_______D-ND____$2,154,200___Isakson________R-GA___$1,024,045
Reid_________D-NV____$1,584,761___DeMint_________R-SC___$1,355,881
Durbin_______D-IL____$1,496,851___Wyden__________D-OR___$1,164,311
Collins______R-ME____$1,281,596___Vitter_________R-LA___$1,028,295
Ensign_______R-NV____$2,426,139___Cochran________R-MS___$__572,162
Nelson_______D-NE____$2,083,765___Bennett________R-UT___$__388,146
Landrieu_____D-LA____$1,164,242___Barrasso_______R-WY___$__711,961
Chambliss____R-GA____$1,633,300___Lugar__________R-IN___$1,406,762
Lincoln______D-AR____$1,953,541___Roberts________R-KS___$1.194,379
Cornyn_______R-TX____$2,203,096___Bunning________R-KY___$1,638,599
Enzi_________R-WY____$__879,418___Gregg__________R-NH___$1,133,808
Alexander____R-TN____$1,083,735___Murkowski______R-AK___$__390,867
Specter______D-PA____$4,520,629___Shelby_________R-AL___$__963,047
Crapo________R-ID____$__821.610___Sessions_______R-AL___$1,247,950
Durbin_______D-IL____$1,496,851___Martinez_______R-FL___$__751,590
Inhofe_______R-OK____$__814,316___Hagan__________D-NC___$__141,908
Pryor________D-AR____$__470,090___Thune__________R-SD___$1,175,418
REPRESENTATIVES:
Pomeroy______D-ND____$2,930,482___Tanner_________D-TN___$1,208,392
Gordon_______D-TN____$1,404,712___Hill___________D-IN___$__459,618
Ross_________D-AR____$__848,260___Boucher________D-VA___$__653,094
Kind_________D-WI____$__776,388___Stupak_________D-MI___$__682,515
Altmire______D-PA____$__393,879___Matheson_______D-UT___$__625,435
Inslee_______D-WA____$__523,532___Barrow_________D-GA___$__303,175
Melancon_____D-LA____$__250,634___Space__________D-OH___$__ 89,900
Braley_______D-IA____$___61,368___Titus__________D-NV___$___44,100
Polis________D-CO____$___32,599___Pence__________R-IN___$__498,844

Don't let the Medical Industrial Complex steal your Health Care by bribing the Congress with campaign contributions to make sure Health Care Reform is dead.

BUT Dennis Kucininch says: Kill HR 3200.

That's right, the man who is perhaps the most intelligent and progressive member of the House says the public option, far from being a back door for single-payer, will actually permanently ensconce private insurance in national health care policy.

Kucinich had vowed to vote against HR 3200, even if his own amendment is included. (The amendment provides for removing federal obstacles to individual states initiating single-payer programs.) He promises to offer the amendment as stand alone legislation.

Go to Kucinich's House web page (kucinich.house.gov), to www.pdamerica.org for a clip of Kucinich (on the right-hand side, just a few inches down), and www.pdaillinois.org for several articles of interest.

Is it possible that the backers of the public option have been had?

President Obama will let us know his decision tomorrow night: does he side with the progressives and the majority of Americans on a Medicare/public option, or does he side with his corporate backers and their bought allies in Congress?

We'll find out . . .

Send Raul and his 82 colleagues in the Congressional Progressive Congress a message of support here:

progressive@mail.house.gov

I've written twice.

Lots of emails for them to stick to their opposition to any more compromises will send a message to progressive allies in the Democratic Party.

I think a "no" vote (if the bill is weakened) would be better than a gift to the insurance industry.

I would love to see these members of Congress stand up together and leave the Democratic Party if the Public Option is not included in the Healthcare Reform Bill, it would be so good if these members would change to either being Independent of either Party or if their hearts really are brave become the type of Socialist as in Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont! Let Obama come to terms with this new form of protest.

I hope Grijalva is right, and that the Progressive Caucus will refuse to compromise. Without the public option, the profit-hungry private insurers will reign nearly supreme, and Americans will have been deprived of a golden opportunity to have real health reform, at lower costs, for all our people - - as happens in almost all civilized countries except ours.

Just last week I watched Steny Hoyer's health care town hall forum on C-Span, where he repeatedly stated, "I'm for the Public Option." A week later, he caves. So predictable, so despicable.

Public Option my foot. WE NEED MEDICARE FOR ALL!!!

Medicare for all! Medicare for all!