Health care reform | Democrats Abroad

Dear Toulouse Democrat,

Yes, it is urgent! Today will be the day Washington will never forget if we all do our part. Wednesday, February 24, is the virtual march for health care reform. This movement aims to inundate the Capitol with 1,000,000 voices for health care reform in anticipation of President Obama’s bipartisan meeting on health care the following day. Please take a few minutes today to call, fax, email, or tweet, your two US Senators and the Representative for your voting district with demands to get the job done on health care. This may be our last chance to get real health care reform. Contact information for your members of Congress is at http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml and for your president at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

BACKGROUND
The Virtual March

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/19/838452/-MoveOn,-HCAN,-SEIU-join-us-for-massive-Feb.-24th-1,000,000-Voices-for-HCR-mobilization%5B11%5D

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/20/837892/-2-24-10:-We-stand-with-Obama-and-fight-for-the-American-people%5B10%5D

The Political Situation

The election of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown to the Senate means that Democrats lost their 60-vote filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, putting the passage of health care reform legislation in jeopardy. Continued Republican obstruction killed momentum on health care and the issue seemed to disappear from Congress’ agenda. President Obama will hold a bipartisan health care meeting on Thursday, February 25, to encourage Congress to get the job done. His proposal for legislation is largely based on the health-care reform bill passed in the Senate in December. Read the President’s proposal at http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting?source=feature and watch live streaming of the entire meeting on Thursday at http://www.whitehouse.gov

The Public Option

President Obama’s proposal does not include a public option. Several Democrats in Congress have signaled their support for reviving the public option, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/82491-public-option-revival-movement-gains-steam

Many progressive groups and commentators are encouraging the President to abandon his attempts to engage the Republicans and to have Congress enact health care reform with a simple majority of 51 votes in the Senate by means of the reconciliation procedure. Democrats
can no longer waste time trying to be “bipartisan” if the Republicans only obstruct in bad faith to score political points. Our country needs health care reform now and Congress needs to get it done with or without the Republicans. Many also feel that they should aim high and again make the case to the American people for a public option:

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion/39-health-care/1071-wheres-the-public-option

http://robertreich.org/post/402861360/its-time-to-enact-health-care-with-51-senate-votes

Take action today.

Whatever you feel should be in health care legislation, please make your voice heard today by contacting your members of Congress at http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml. (Remember that Washington, DC offices open at 9am, which is 3pm in Toulouse, so you can do this even late at night.) and directly to the president. These many email are going to be difficult to count - be sure to use a pithy subject line that can easily be tallied by a harried junior staff member. You may also wish to report your participation to MoveOn.org at http://pol.moveon.org/virtualmarch10/?rc=confemail.virtualmarch&r_by=-5620345-C9nIQjx to allow them to estimate the number of people participating.

Finally,
please spread the word to all the Americans you know back in the states through emails, tweets and social networking sites.

Sincerely,

Gina Granelli

Vice Chair

Democrats Abroad Toulouse

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