Blue America's Campaign For Health Care Choice: Targeting Blanche Lincoln on the Public Option: Pick the Winner!
By John Amato Wednesday Jul 01, 2009 6:15pm
As you know, Blue America is targeting Blanche Lincoln because she has said she will not support a public option when it comes to the health-care debate. As Jane Hamsher says:
But in the fourth year of their terms, every Senator becomes a Representative for two years. Blanche Lincoln is running for re-election in 2010. If she's ever going to be persuadable, now is the time.
I agree with Jane completely. All Democratic politicians should be backing the public option if they want to see any kind of reform in the health-care industry.
We have a way we think can persuade Lincoln:
You can donate to Blue America's Campaign For Health Care Choice, here. It's getting harder every day, but it's not over. Blanche Lincoln is on the health sub-committee of the Senate Finance Committee and she's running for re-election in 2010. Let's see if her constituents think she should be handing out government goodies to these health industry fat cats and getting nothing in return while they struggle with health care premiums and growing unemployment.
We aren't standing still while the fat cats get fatter. So here's the thing. We've produced three different commercials with the help of BNF's to run in Lincoln's state of Arkansas and we need your help.
We've already raised over $18,000 so far and that's awesome, but what we want you to do next is it to vote for the ad that you think we should run first and you'll be letting us know by adding one, two, or three cents at the end of your donation on our Blue America's Campaign For Health Care page. Here's how it will go.
#1 Blue America Health Care Campaign - Blanche Lincoln: "I Thought We Had Insurance" Add one cent to your contribution if you want to vote for this spot.
#2 Blue America Health Care Campaign - Blanche Lincoln: "Bonuses" Add two cents to your contribution if you want to vote for this spot.
#3 Blue America Health Care Campaign - Blanche Lincoln: "Bailout" Add three cents to your contribution if you want to vote for this spot.
That's it, so a donation for #1 would look something like $20.01
Help us get the word out about Senator Lincoln by donating whatever you can afford to the spot (or spots) you think will persuade her voters to give her a call. The spot that collects the most money by Friday at noon will win. And if we persuade her to commit to the quality public plan, so will all Americans.
Everyone knows that if we don't have at least a vibrant public option, then health-care reform will be nothing more than health insurance companies giving us empty talking points about cutting costs and they will ultimately bamboozle their way into making just as much money by gaming the legislation and finding as many loopholes as they can. With a public option, we'll at least have a choice about the direction we want our health care system to go and remember, it's a huge start. America has been trying to reform health care since Harry Truman.
Digby has an incredible post up that chronicles the history of this debate. As you can see, it's been an almost impossible task.
But right now there is a real chance for the first time in 65 years to enact universal health care, however imperfect the specifics of it may be. I'm sure whatever they pass will be inadequate, just as medicare and Social Security were inadequate when they were originally passed. It seems to be the American way. But if our political and business elites have finally come to the consensus that America should join the first world and create a system that guarantees coverage to everyone, then I think we have to take the leap while we can. History shows that these chances don't come along every day. In fact, they come along about every couple of decades and we very rarely can even take an incremental step. We need to get universal health care on the books.
Quinnipiac just did another poll which said that almost 70% of Americans want the government to create a health care alternative: Most Americans Support Public Health Care Option, Poll Finds
Sixty-nine percent of Americans support creation of a government-run health plan to compete with private insurance companies, a new poll found. In addition, 52 percent of those surveyed by Hamden, Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University said such a plan would keep the private insurance companies honest...read on
"If we build it, they will come." So, let us know which ad you want us to run and keep the money flowing.
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According to opensecrets.org she has received $1,953,408.00 from the health care industry. that's not bad!
Is that fig for a hundred years or just since she has been in office?
Better message. More feeling. Even the camera work is superior. Brings it in close and shows the more personal touch. This is the most personal of all subjects, our health (or lack thereof). So let's get personal. Show the genuine concerned and quiet outrage that this is the discussion.
The third video actually expresses these things.
Best to all at C&L.
Nate
I'm sorry but this looks amateurish at best. The actors are amateurish, wooden, and the script is just absurd. Pretty good in high school, but a professional commercial it leaves a lot to be desired. There are a number of "A" list Hollywood types that would probably be willing to donate some time, how about giving them a ring?
Peace.
Rick Beagle
Everybody agrees the present form of health insurance doesn't work. Corporations claim its too expensive. Private health has to deny claims that they say are too expensive. The working man says they need too much of their net income for health care. Doctors and hospitals claim private insurance is breaking them. Health care CEO's and senators love private insurance the way it is. Billions are paid out by lobbyist and Private health. Its time to kill the cash cow (Private Insurance) and let Americans have a viable option. Never heard of one person anywhere that has public option want to drop it. Contact your senator and demand public option. Do not fall for the lies and deceit. Health care is the most important aspect of quality of life. Ever hear a person say I wish I was taller even at the expense of having poor health or when my baby is born I dont care about its health I just hope its good looking?
You can call it ROBUST…
You can call it VIBRANT…
You can call it SUPER DUPER…
You can call it what you will BUT
'Public Option' DOES NOT equate to SINGLE PAYER…
Which is the only way.
Public option (a ROBUST one, that is) is the only FEASIBLE way to get to single payer. Why do you think HC insurance industry is so deathly afraid of it?
The way to get single payer is to demand it.
But thanks for your thought.
It's ironic that we're using "Harry And Louise" against the insurance interests. There's a certain aspect of schadenfreude.
but it is being wasted on a plan that will not work. The only way to get real reform is to have single payer. The public option will be designed to fail, exactly what insurance companies want as plan B, and then the Republicans and insurance will say, "see a public run plan can't possibly work for everyone." If you want to help, get behind a single payer plan. But pressure on all the democrats, especially Obama.
The constituents in those states where senators are waivering on healthcare need to get off their asses. They need to tell their senators not only will they not vote for them in the next election, but they will campaign to get them out of office.
that nobody has suggested yet. Start making calls to the DLC, DNNC or whatever. Let's start making calls to the ones that are solicitating the contributions from the lobbyists.
about these ads? The people that they are targeted to reach are the ones that can least afford to contribute.
Hmmm! how much money is 5 dollars times the number of people on low and middle income in this country?
Much more than what Blanche, kent and Ben got from the HC industry? Why do you think the naysayers are working so hard to instill a "you can't do nothing" mindset into the people right now? Because above all else, they FEAR strength in the numbers. It is the stuff of pure nightmare to anyone in power.
I say we don't let them sleep. *evil grin*
by donations to good causes. I will do this tomorrow, too tired tonight. Just wondering. Are celebrities allowed to donate money to these kinds of causes. Not that I am one, but hell, there are millionaires and billionaires that are liberal and I wonder if they'r helping the cause.
...a penny for a plan that won't work. Tell me why this is what we're talking about when it will still leave millions of Americans without insurance while providing a tidy option for millions of Americans, who insurance companies won't insure due to pre-existing conditions, to be dumped into. How is the plan that will be taking on the sickest Americans going to be in a position to lower costs across the board?
As it is, some physicians won't accept Medicare because it doesn't reimburse at full cost. Will that be the case with the public option?
Single payer is the ONLY option we should even be talking about. Screw comprimise, this is what Americans want, why can't we have it?
Because of politicians on the take. That's it. Because of a few corrupt assholes in congress, the American people can't have what the rest of the civilized world has.
Even C&L has caved in to the joke of a public option over the only thing that will make a difference. The post immediately after this one is a classic case of how well single payer can work, but then you post this stupid crap. I don't give a shit which commercial they use, it's still just a fucking smoke screen for what we really need.
it's never been on the table. Obama, Hillary and Edwards didn't include one in the primaries. I believe we have to push forward with the public option. Remember, if we get a public option, it will lead to total reform. That's why they are fighting it like mad. I mean we haven't had radical change to our health care for 60 years. Even Nixon tried to do it. Johnson had a huge mandate and couldn't pass it in I think 64... And look how many changes and upgrades have happened with medicare and medic. It's no smoke screen, it's what we have to work with. Is nothing better than what we have now? Really, that's your take?
...you're right John, but I've just seen this kind of crap happen so often, I'm just not very optimistic.
Obama did make a speech during his campaign where he did endorse single payer, I'm not sure when he was told what the political reality is in this country.
I guess the really frustrating part is that there is so much effort into mobilizing the public to get behind this and it could have been done to get behind single payer. The ONLY ones who don't want single payer are the uninformed 25 percents who you will never convince ever after they've had it for twenty years and the insurance/drug companies.
It is so god damn obvious that the only reason we aren't getting universal health care is because of senators on the take. We're calling them out on the public option, why can't we do the same for universal.
Once again, we have allowed the debate to yanked way to the right before we even had the opportunity to present it. It's all about political courage I guess.
Unfortunately, we have nothing but cowards in all the wrong places in congress. I'm disappointed that some of the real progressives aren't pushing harder for universal. I know there are many in congress who agree with me. Why aren't we hearing from them?
I do appreciate the effort and I do hope you're right, but if we're willing to cave to the lobbyist's power on this, I find it hard to believe that the finished product (public option) will be anything but window dressing.
I'm frustrated too. During the primary, it was very frustrating to me that people were sooo into a personality contest and didn't care about the policies very much. That's why I didn't endorse any one candidate.
Single Payer should have been the starting point, even if they didn't want to ever pass it as a negotiating tool, but who demanded it of Obama or Hillary? The media was only interested in Chuck Todd's board of delegates.
But I do feel that if we can get the public option passed, huge changes will come down the road. The Quinnipiac poll was interesting. They said that while people supported it by a wide margin, nobody would take the PO. How do they know? It was an awful analysis of their own poll. It has to be available first and then people will come...Anyway, hang in there and help us do the best we can. I'm not sitting on the sidelines and neither is Blue America. I can't stand these Lincoln/Nelson/Landrieu type Senators either.
I think politicians realize this and thats why they are backing away from it. In order to institute a single payer system, EVERYTHING about healthcare must be changed. For example the cost of training medical professionals must be paid by the government. More specifically, doctors in France under a single payer system make ~60k a year. Nurses in the US easily make over 60k for about 1/4 of the training of a doctor...instituting a single payer system at this time, would be too involved if not impossible to essentially reset the current system in a productive manner and our representatives realize this.
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