 It's been a long and frustrating summer for Oregon citizens who have been hungry for some indication--any indication, really--of Senator Ron Wyden's true position on health care reform. We've covered it at LO ad infinitum (and some in Wyden's camp may change the last word to nauseum), and have gotten no further than where we started: Wyden claims to "be open to" an unspecified public option, although his first preference is for his own bill, the Healthy Americans Act--which doesn't have a PO. And as we reported last week, one of his colleagues claims that Wyden has let them know he's perfectly willing to "get off" the public option when the time comes. So is he supporttive, coercable, against, waffling? As I've heard the various staffers say at various times, "The Senator is not willing to speculate at this time." Sucks to be us, I guess. But we're not giving up, and we need your help to continue reminding the Senator who he works for, and that it's entirely reasonable to expect him to be clearer on his position. I also think given his status as a senior Democratic Senator from a blue state that surely mirrors (at least!) the high level of approval for a PO that exists nationwide, he could go crazy and declare his support for the HELP bill already out of committee, pledge to vote against any bill in his Finance Committee that doesn't include a robust PO, or pledge to vote for any bill in conference that contains a PO. But let's not push his delicate buttons too firmly just yet. First things first. And this is where you come in. A major push has been underway by national bloggers like Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake, and Chris Bowers at Open Left, along with progressive groups like Democracy for America and Health Care for America Now. Through various pledge letters covering what they will and won't go for, over 60 House Democrats and 45 Senate Dems have made their stand for real reform. The House Gang is enough to hold the line there, and if five more Senators can be signed on by the time they return to DC next month, there'd be enough in that chamber to pass strong reform under reconciliation. Junior Senator Jeff Merkley is one of those 45, and has been pretty clear about it. Senator Wyden? Not so much. And so he's made the list of Sens on the Hot Seat for this issue, the focus of a national campaign to get those final five committments and stand strong when recess ends. What would we like you to do? It's so easy a Cave Junction* man could do it! Send Wyden a fax! "But I got rid of my fax machine the same year I stopped having to carry around a big plug-in box for my cell phone," you may be saying. Not to worry, the Toobz can now do all that faxing stuff for you, right online. Here, click on this hyperlink! It will take you to a page to enter your information (so Wyden knows who he's getting it from and it's not just a vacuous form fax), and then submit your message. (If you'd rather call or send a snail mail, that works too!) Below the fold I'll show you the example, and then what I wrote for my comments. Obviously, it will be more effective and taken more seriously if you don't use the form version, but your fax will still count if you do. It's probably just fine to use the questions verbatim, but think about using your own words if at all possible. If you're fired up and ready to fax, get cracking, otherwise click below decks... {more, below} *it's a joke people, geez.
|
RSS Feed: http://www.loadedorygun.net/rss/rss2.xml
