GRITtv: The F Word: Public Option Activists Deserve a Pat on the Back
Now some good news. The public option's alive and kicking -- it may not be what you dreamed of -- but it's worth a cheer that it's not plain dead. Majority Leader Harry Reid announced yesterday that he would bring a bill to the Senate floor with a public option in it. Though he said that he would include a provision that would allow states to opt out of the public plan, when it comes to progressive victories, this one can fairly count. Let's remember, public support for a public option survived months of frothing protest at town-hall meetings and even Obama's drive for compromise; it survived a trigger proposal that would've kept the health care status quo largely intact and it beat back a bad case of Democratic bipartisanitis. It wasn't Congressional leadership or the president that kept the idea of a non-profit public option alive. It was tireless work by progressives who organized, made phone calls, spent money and protested and even blogged about it.
Email this page
Comments
Laura kills me.
The first thing I like about this piece is its hilarity. Laura's tongue is near-literally stuck in her cheek through some of it.
Here in Nevada I've been struggling over some of the rah-rah Dems' jubilation: "Harry saved the day!" But hadn't he had better?
What would have happened in this country of finger-biterrs, empowered Obama activists and Moore-inspired civil disobedience participants had he not?
As Laura helps us realize the laurels go to the crowd-mongers like PNHP, Mobilization for Healthcare and reporters like Goodman and Flanders herself who blared MEDICARE FOR ALL to the masses, which masses then made it clear to the likes of Harry Reid that if the right way of MEDICARE FOR ALL were not given to the people as it should be, the public option (optional as it has become) must be the least common denominator.
Great. Thanks, Harry, for doing what you had to do to not cause riots in the streets. And thanks to Laura who clearly helps us realize the thanks goes to us, the people who stood up and demanded nothing less than an opt-in to Medicare.
Post new comment