I've been watching the debate on CSpan all day - very busy over on Twitter...
If you were watching and playing a drinking game where you took a drink every time a Republican said "government takeover" or "freedom" or "liberty," you would have had alcohol poisoning early in the day.
If you have not been watching here are some must read about events:
We got off to a bad start when Pelosi gave into a vote on the Stupak Amendment barring funding for abortion.
Late yesterday, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops met with leaders in the House of Representatives in their bid to eliminate women's access to abortion care under health care reform.
We have just received news that their efforts are working, and Representative Bart Stupak has introduced an amendment to the health care reform bill that will result in women losing health care coverage for abortion.
We urgently need you, and your friends and family, to call your representative. After you call, just reply to this message and let us know how it went.
If the bishops and their anti-choice partners in the House succeed, they'll permanently alter health care in America, even taking away benefits from women that they have today. The bishops want to effectively eliminate abortion coverage in both private plans and the public option. We simply cannot stand for such a discriminatory, mean-spirited attack on women.
Twitter was a flutter with all of use reporting in calls to our reps urging them to NOT support this amendment in the vote. It does not cut off funding just for those in a Public Option, but cuts off funding for a legal medical procedure from any insurance policy purchased through the health care exchange.
Then the fun began... GOP Gone Wild: Unruly Republicans Silence Women Lawmakers With Screams, Shouts, And Delay Tactics - be sure and watch the video. Remember how it is to try and debate a 2 year old? It was like that.
This morning, the House began consideration of the rule for debate of the House health care bill. As the Democratic Women’s Caucus took to the microphone on the House floor to offer their arguments for how the bill would benefit women, House Republicans — led by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) — repeatedly talked over, screamed, and shouted objections. "I object, I object, I object, I object, I object," Price interjected as Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) tried to hold the floor.
President Obama pays a visit to the House Democratic Caucus and says: 'Vote Yes' - GOP Will Attack Regardless Of How You Vote
The president, according multiple attendees, played the role of political prognosticator during his roughly 30 minute address before Democratic caucus members on Capitol Hill. Addressing, implicitly, those conservative Democrats who are worried about voting for a nearly trillion dollar health care overhaul, he insisted that they would not be safe from partisan attack even if they opposed the bill.
"He certainly talked about the politics and he said that the Republicans want us to fail and no one should feel if they as a Democrat helped us to fail that they would be [free of their attacks]," said Rep. Henry Waxman, chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
"None of you can expect the Republicans not to go after you if you vote against this bill," Waxman continued, channeling the president. "They want this bill to go down for their own partisan reasons." Back at the White House, he gave another short speech:
Now, no bill can ever contain everything that everybody wants, or please every constituency and every district. That's an impossible task. But what is possible, what's in our grasp right now is the chance to prevent a future where every day 14,000 Americans continue to lose their health insurance, and every year 18,000 Americans die because they don't have it; a future where crushing costs keep small businesses from succeeding and big businesses from competing in the global economy; a future where countless dreams are deferred or scaled back because of a broken system we could have fixed when we had the chance.
What we can do right now is choose a better future and pass a bill that brings us to the very cusp of building what so many generations of Americans have sought to build -- a better health care system for this country.
Millions of Americans are watching right now. Their families and their businesses are counting on us. After all, this is why they sent us here, to finally confront the challenges that Washington had been putting off for decades -- to make their lives better, to leave this country stronger than we found it.
I just came from the Hill where I talked to the members of Congress there, and I reminded them that opportunities like this come around maybe once in a generation. Most public servants pass through their entire careers without a chance to make as important a difference in the lives of their constituents and the life of this country. This is their moment, this is our moment, to live up to the trust that the American people have placed in us -- even when it's hard; especially when it's hard. This is our moment to deliver.
I urge members of Congress to rise to this moment. Answer the call of history, and vote yes for health insurance reform for America.
I am betting there thare has never been a debate on a bill watched by so many people. Blogs, Twitter and places like Reddit and Digg are full of citizens watching CSpan and live blogging, commenting, posting articles and links. Technology has allowed us to come together in a huge virtual living room. We've done it on election nights - but probably never before on debate on a bill on the floor of the house. Amazing.
Final remarks from both sides are being made before the vote. This bill is not all I wanted - far from it. But it is now, the bill we have. And it is a start. I'm going back to watching and twitter now. Want my attention on the votes as they are cast - which should start soon.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
November 6, 2009
Press Release
Pelosi Statement on Congressman Anthony Weiner’s Single Payer Alternative
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today on Congressman Anthony Weiner’s single payer alternative:
"Within the next few days, the House will vote on the most comprehensive health care legislation in our history. Our bill will provide affordability to the middle class, security to our seniors, and responsibility to our children by not adding a dime to the deficit. While our bill contains unprecedented reforms, including an end to discrimination for pre-existing conditions and a prohibition on raising rates or dropping coverage if you become ill, our bill cannot include provisions some strongly advocated. The single payer alternative is one of those provisions that could not be included in H.R. 3962, but which has generated support within the Congress and throughout the country.
"Congressman Anthony Weiner has been a forceful and articulate advocate for the single payer approach and our legislation. His decision not to offer a single payer amendment during consideration of H.R. 3962 is a correct one, and helps advance the passage of important health reforms by this Congress. While single payer, like other popular proposals, is not included in the consensus bill we will vote on this week, Congressman Weiner has been a tireless and effective advocate for progress on health care, and his work has been a vital part of achieving health care reform."
Committee on Energy and Commerce
Chairman Henry A. Waxman
November 6, 2009
Chairman Waxman's Statement on Rep. Weiner's Single-Payer Amendment
Today Chairman Henry A. Waxman released a statement in response to Rep. Anthony Weiner's decision not to offer a single-payer amendment to the House Democratic health care legislation.
"Rep. Anthony Weiner has been one of the most tireless and effective advocates for health care reform. His decision not to offer his amendment on the floor was a difficult one for him, and for supporters of the measure. I believe Rep. Weiner's choice will be enormously helpful in passing the health care reform package. His step is a correct and courageous one. I thank Rep. Weiner for it, and look forward to working with him closely. Rep. Weiner deserves a great deal of credit for helping to make quality, affordable health care more available to millions of Americans."
Comment by Ida Hellander, M.D., Executive Director, Physicians for a National Health Program:
Next steps and interpretation -
1) The fact that single payer got so far along in the House is a testament to the strength of our single payer movement. The huge number of calls by single payer advocates in support of single payer and the Weiner amendment in recent days have been noted by several members of Congress.
2) It appears that nobody, particularly the President, expected our single payer option to be alive in the Congress for so long. As you know, they attempted to keep it "off the table" from the very beginning.
3) The President was directly involved in the decision to not hold a vote on the Weiner single payer amendment, and Weiner will be meeting with him later today. Stay tuned.
4) We need to increase pressure on the Congress and the White House for Medicare for All through lobbying, civil disobedience, media outreach, and grassroots organizing. Sen. Sanders will call for a vote on single payer in the Senate - this could come up anytime in the next month. Encourage your Senator to support the Sanders bill and also an amendment he will offer for a state single payer option. The California Nurses Association/NNOC has already started lobbying visits in the Senate in D.C.
5) We have been asked how to tell members to vote on the House bill. Our response is that the bill is "like aspirin for breast cancer."
Note from David Swanson and Action Items below...
As House Democrats prepare to vote Saturday on a bill to overhaul the nation's health care system, they picked up an important endorsement Thursday from the 40-million-member AARP, the nation's largest senior citizens group and the nation's largest doctor group.
AARP, which has been pushing for a health overhaul for more than a year, had withheld a formal endorsement of any of the bills being developed by Democrats. That endorsement was followed by a noon Central time announcement from the Chicago-based American Medical Association in which the nation's largest doctors group voiced its support for the measure.
AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond said Thursday that the group saw the House Democratic bill as the most promising proposal.
More at chicagotribune.com
From: CQ Politics:
The House is moving toward a floor vote Saturday on its big health care overhaul, after Democratic leaders worked to nail down votes from some of their members who want stronger anti-abortion language in the bill. The House vote is expected at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Rules Committee would have to meet 24 hours before the debate to prepare the bill for floor action, but Slaughter declined to say exactly when Rules would meet. I had CSpan on in the background and at one point, when reporting this, they said that CQ also said that Rep. Slaughter also said the Weiner Amendment would get a vote then. That is not in this CQ article, so I don't know right now if that is true.
ACTION NEEDED TODAY: Democratic House leaders can insert what is called a "Manager’s Amendment" into legislation, even when it is closed to any other amendments. The managers are the majority and minority members who "manage" debate for the bill on each side.
Today, tomorrow, and beyond, we need to call these "managers" and insist that the Kucinich Amendment is restored into the healthcare bill.
The "gang" that holds our future in their hands - the people you need to call NOW - are:
* Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
- Washington, DC, office (202) 225-4965;
- San Francisco office (415) 556-4862
* Majority Leader Steny Hoyer:
- Washington, DC, office Phone - (202) 225-4131 - Fax - (202) 225-4300
- Greenbelt office (301) 474-0119;
- Waldorf office (301) 843-1577
* Rep. Henry Waxman:
- Washington, DC, office (202) 225-3976;
- Los Angeles office (323) 651-1040
* Rep. Charles Rangel:
- Washington, DC, office (202) 225-4365;
- New York office (212) 663-3900
* Rep. George Miller:
- Washington, DC, office (202) 225-2095;
- Concord office (925) 602-1880;
- Richmond office (510) 262-6500;
- Vallejo office (707) 645-1888
NOTE: When talking to Waxman and Pelosi's offices be sure to also tell them you want the vote on the Weiner Amendment she and Waxman promised on July 31st - We also need and have a right to see the CBO scoring on the Weiner Amendment.
In a tense, closed door caucus meeting this morning, during which House Democrats were made to go on the record on the question of whether they'd vote for a health care bill with a robust public option, some of the caucus' most nervous members got a bit of perspective from its longest serving members.
"It was really fairly simple speech," said Rep. John Dingell (D-MI). "All I did was to remind the members that the Republicans are out there to beat us by seeing to it that we accomplish nothing during this Congress especially on health care. It's exactly the same tactic, the same strategy they used in 1993. And I reminded them that that tactic took control of the House from us, because, one of the principal reasons was, we were not able to pass a health insurance bill."
Dingell tells me, "I reminded them that Democrats were divided on the issue. And I told them that if they want to come back and control the Congress they should get behind this bill." The more immediate point, though, is that these members have made the wrong political calculation. "I told them that this country will support members that do what they think is right and go home and defend it," Dingell said, reminding them that the real danger is not that some of the bill's provisions, particularly the robust public option, might be unpopular in their districts, but that they go home empty handed.
Dingell's optimistic. "I think we're going to win--I think we very well have to win."
And he's putting that onus on the freshman and sophomore members who are still sitting on the fence on a robust public option bill, despite a week of intense lobbying on the part of Democratic leadership. "I also pointed out something--that this leadership is working much harder, and much more effectively on this legislation than last time on health care. It failed by only one vote that time. I pointed out that I don't think any of us would want to be the one vote that pulled this bill down." Read it all at TPMDC
Updates from mcjoan at Daily Kos
There's good news and so-so news coming from the House. With votes still in a state of flux, Pelosi has decided to wait until early next week, probably Monday, to make the decision on whether to include the robust public option based on Medicare Plus 5%, or the negotiated rates public option
All of the "lean yes" members from earlier today have been confirmed as yes votes on the robust public option. Meaning now we're down to about eight that we really need to get. Luckily, folks whipping on the Hill know the most likely folks for us. As CaptUnderpants diaries, these are the members most likely to join in:
* Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8): 202-225-2542, 520-459-3115, 520-881-3588
* Dennis Cardoza (CA-18): 202-225-6131; 209-383-4455, 209-527-1914
* Joe Donnelly (IN-2): 202-225-3915, 574-288-2780
* Curt Schraeder (OR-05): 202-225-5711, 503-588-9100
* Lincoln Davis (TN-04): 202-225-6831, 931-490-8699, 931-473-7251
* Glenn Nye (VA-2): 202-225-4215 757-326-6201
* Jim Costa (CA-20): 202-225-3341, 661-869-1620, 559-495-1620
* Rick Boucher (VA-9): 202-225-3861, 276-628-1145
If you live in the district of any of these Congresspeople, please call and urge him or her to pledge their vote to a robust public option, based on Medicare rates plus 5%. Make sure to call their district offices as well as DC offices. The impact of constituent calls in district offices is much greater because they generally don't get the same volume of calls as the DC office. The House needs to pass the strongest bill possible going into negotiations with the Senate. All of the things that House members have fought to have included in this bill, not just the public option, will be best preserved with the strongest possible bill being passed by the House.
As usual, leadership needs to hear from us, too. Here they are.
* Steny Hoyer (MD-05): 202-225-4131, 301-474-0119, 301-843-1577
* Chris Van Hollen (MD-08): 202-225-5341, 301-424-3501
* Jim Clyburn (SC-06): 202-225-3315, 803-799-1100
* John Larson CT-01): 202-225-2265, 860-278-8888
* Henry Waxman CA-30): 202-225-3976, 323-651-1040
* Chuck Rangel (NY-15): 202-225-4365, 212-663-3900
Below the fold, I have the list of members who have moved into the solid yes column. If you are so inclined, give them a thank you call.
Calls Needed Before Noon Friday
Caucus Meeting starts at 9:30 a.m.
From Chris Bowers:
I am told that if the leadership does not confirm 218 "solid" yes votes by the end of the 9:30 a.m. Democratic caucus meeting tomorrow morning, they will probably include the negotiated rate public option in the bill that is sent to the floor, not the Medicare +5% public option. At the very latest, we have until 2 p.m. to get the votes.
Note that "the list" is at the bottom of this post or in PDF format here.
If you member of Congress is on the list, call and leave a message tonight. We have to get through before 9:30 a.m., if possible.
If your member of Congress is not on the list , but you are represented by a Democrat, call your member of Congress and urge them to support the Medicare +5% option at the caucus meeting tomorrow morning.
If you are represented by a Republican, call either a member of the Democratic leadership or a Representative on the list who is from your state.
Call and leave a message. The campaign could really go either way depending on what happens in the next 14-18 hours.
---
The leadership and Democratic Caucus will be meeting Friday morning to determine which version of the Public Option they will include in the House bill.
Nancy Pelosi has said that she believe they have 218 representatives on board for a good public option. That means that they are only 12-15 votes away from the strongest version of the bill - the Medicare Plus 5 version that ties public option rates to Medicare reimbursement rates.
We desperately need the strongest possible House bill going in to conference with the Senate if the final bill is going to help us at all.
As soon as you get up in the morning, please make calls to the following "leaning" Dems. [Set your alarm a bit early so you will have time to call before leaving for work!]
It takes longer to get through - but if you need to, use this 800 number so there will be no cost to you:
1-800-828-0498
These are Representatives we believe are considering supporting the Medicare Plus 5 version. The first number is their DC office, the others are their district office numbers - thanks to Chris and mcjoan at Daily Kos for pulling this information and the the numbers together.
* Ron Klein (FL-22): 202-225-3026, 561-544-6910
* Dennis Moore (KS-03): 202-225-2865, 913-621-0832, 913-383-2013
* Stephen Lynch (MA-09): 202-225-8273, 617-428-2000
* Bob Etheridge (NC-02): 202-225-4531, 919-829-9122, 919-829-9122
* Dina Titus (NV-3): 202-225-3252, 702-387-4941
* John Boccieri (OH-16): 202-225-3876, 330-489-4414
* Steve Driehaus (OH-1): 202-225-2216, 513-684-2723
* Charles Wilson (OH-06): 202-225-5705, 740-633-5705, 330-533-7250
* Christopher Carney (PA-10): 202-225-3731, 570-585-9988, 570-327-1902
* John Sprat (SC-05): 202-225-5501, 803-327-1114
* Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15): 202-225-2531, 956-682-5545, 361-358-8400
* Solomon Ortiz (TX-27): 202-225-7742, 956-541-1242, 361-883-5868
Additionally, it never hurts to put some pressure on leadership. Most of these committee chairs haven't yet committed precisely because they're the committee chairs negotiating with leadership, but they need to hear from us as well to know the strength of public support for the strongest public option possible.
* Steny Hoyer (MD-05): 202-225-4131, 301-474-0119, 301-843-1577
* Chris Van Hollen (MD-08): 202-225-5341, 301-424-3501
* Jim Clyburn (SC-06): 202-225-3315, 803-799-1100
* John Larson CT-01): 202-225-2265, 860-278-8888
* Henry Waxman CA-30): 202-225-3976, 323-651-1040
* Chuck Rangel (NY-15): 202-225-4365, 212-663-3900
Below the is the full list of Dems who haven't fully committed one way or the other on the public option and on the most robust public option possible.
From Huffington Post:
A House committee has voted to strip the health insurance industry of its exemption from federal antitrust laws as senators announced plans to take the same step.
The moves Wednesday signaled a growing determination by Democrats to punish the insurance industry for its criticism of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul agenda. The House Judiciary Committee voted 20 to 9 to repeal a 1940s law that exempted the health insurance industry from federal controls over certain antitrust violations including price-fixing.
Lawmakers said they wanted to include the legislation in a larger health care overhaul bill taking shape in the House. In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid announced plans to repeal the antitrust exemption as part of its health care legislation.
From TPMDC
A preliminary analysis from CBO may have sealed the deal. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is preparing to move ahead with a "robust" public option--one that reimburses hospitals and providers at Medicare rates, plus five percent--in the House's health care bill. She is briefing her caucus about the plan's savings tonight, and, pending the approval of a sufficient majority of members, will adopt the measure as part of the complete reform package The bill remains nominally more expensive than the Senate Finance Committee proposal, but would cover 96 percent of all Americans, providing greater bang for each federal dollar spent. And, aides note, the bill that comes to the floor of the Senate will be a hybrid of the Finance and more expensive HELP Committee bills, so the price is expected to rise.
Meanwhile, since the Weiner Amendment for Single Payer will get a vote on the floor, the CBO is in the process of scoring it.
From Daily Kos a report on a Washington Post story:
Congressional budget analysts have given House leaders cost estimates for two competing versions of their plan to overhaul the health-care system, concluding that one comes within striking distance of the $900 billion limit set by President Obama and the other falls below it.
House leaders have been working to lower the cost of the $1.2 trillion health-care package they offered in July. The report from the Congressional Budget Office, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, puts the cost of one plan at $859 billion over the next decade and the other at $905 billion.
....
Both packages are based on the original House framework, which proposes to extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans by expanding Medicaid eligibility and subsidizing private insurance for people who lack access to affordable coverage through an employer. Each would expand the ranks of the insured to more than 95 percent of Americans by 2019, and each would create a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurance companies.
From Chris Bowers at Open Left
# In the House, the public option tied to Medicare rates has 200 confirmed supporters. However, that appears to include the leadership at this point. Further, the count will drop to 199 when Robert Wexler leaves Congress, and his replacement will not be sworn in before the health care vote. The CA-10 and NY-23 special elections will both take place on November 3rd, with the former guaranteed to send another public option supporter to Congress and the latter guaranteed to send a public option opponent.
Worth noting: Of the four dozen undecided and "lean no" members the Progressive Caucus is targeting at this point, half were first elected in 2004, 2006 or 2008. As such, it really shouldn't be difficult for the overall House leadership to pass a public option with Medicare +5% rates if they wanted to. If they want access to the party treasury for re-election, then they better not sink the policy aims of the overwhelming majority of the party.
# In the Senate, despite Lieberman's recent grumblings, everything I hear still points to Evan Bayh, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln and Ben Nelson as the main obstacles to passing a public option. As leader of the Conservadems (looking in to increase power), as someone who voted against the budget (appears to oppose even the principle of universal health care), and as a scorned Vice-Presidential short-lister who shifted sharply to the right in 2009, Evan Bayh strikes me as particularly problematic. Check out this quote of his in the Politico, where he basically says he will join in a Republican filibuster against virtually any health care bill:
"It's not fair to ask people to facilitate the enactment of policies with which we ultimately disagree," said moderate Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.). "So the closer we get to the end of the process, the more, for me, the process and policy will be one and the same." It isn't fair, eh? How about the fairness of the Senate elevating itself to unicameral status through its culture of 60-votes? Is it "fair" to use the filibuster to destroy the branch of Congress that actually has equal representation for the American people?
In the latest draft of the healthcare bill, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives suggested all citizens should be able to get insurance regardless of medical history and that coverage should be mandatory for individuals and businesses.
The proposal would create a new government plan to help cover the uninsured -- a move backed by President Barack Obama but resisted by Republicans and some centrist Democrats who fear it will overwhelm private insurers and require vast amounts of public funding. Read More at Reuters
At a long-awaited House subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, health-care professionals made it clear that they believe a single-payer system to be the best and perhaps only workable option for health care reform.
"Single-payer is the only reform that can control health care costs," said Walter Tsou, a University of Pennsylvania professor and an adviser to Physicians for a National Health Program. The last 50 years of government policy have protected insurance industry profits at the expense of taxpayers, doctors and hospitals, he said. The discussion about a single-payer approach has been slow in coming because congressional leaders and the White House took a single-payer system off the table early in talks on health care reform. But there are signs that they regret that decision now. "The reason our health care system is in such trouble is that it's set up to generate profits, not to provide care," Angell said, noting that private insurers spend 20 percent on marketing and administrative costs, compared with 3 percent for Medicare. She deemed the health-insurance sector "an industry that offers almost nothing of value."
Most of the panelists dismissed concerns of job losses at private insurers, arguing that employment would increase overall given the increased demand for medical professionals. Jenkins estimated total job creation at 2.6 million. Andrews and full committee chair Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) are scheduled to discuss a single-payer system with the House Ways and Means Committee later Wednesday, and the subcommittee chair noted the presence of Ways and Means member Pete Stark at the hearing. "This is the beginning of the process, not the end," Andrews said. Read More at Huffington Post
June 8, 2009 by Healthcare-NOW!
The House will release healthcare legislation very soon, and the draft bill could even come out next week. From there the bill will go to Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor, and the Ways and Means committees for debate.
We need you to call, fax, or visit four Congresssperson’s offices ASAP to make sure that single-payer healthcare is included in these discussions.
FIRST - Ask Your Rep. to Attend the Healthcare Financing Briefing
The Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care is holding a briefing titled, "How Do We Pay For It? Options for Financing Expanded Health Care."
Call your representative and ask him/her to attend. If you know your representative, call 866-338-1015 for the Capital Switchboard. If not, visit votesmart.org to find out.
Here’s the information:
1:00 PM, June 10, 2009
2237 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC
SECOND - Ask Two Chairmen to Hold Single-Payer Hearings
Please call the chairmen of these committees and tell them that:
“Because the majority of Americans, doctors, and nurses support a single-payer healthcare system, I hope to see a robust debate on single-payer healthcare–with single-payer advocates as witnesses. Please follow Rep. George Miller’s lead and hold hearings on single-payer healthcare in your committee.”
Call or fax the Committee Chairmen here:
Energy and Commerce Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman
Phone: 202-225-3976 - Fax: 202-225-4099
Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Charles Rangel
Phone: 202-225-4365 - Fax: 202-225-0816
- Email: here
THIRD - Contact Sen. Kennedy
Sen. Ted Kennedy (MA) is holding a hearing on healthcare reform this Thursday, June 11th, at 3pm in Senate HELP Committee. Please call or fax him asking him to include single-payer advocates in this important hearing.
Sen. Ted Kennedy
Phone: 202-224-4543 - Fax: 202-224-2417 - Email: here
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