Is anyone DOING something about SINGLE PAYER?

[abumbyanyothername]

Howard, Dennis, Rep. Weiner? Anyone?

I am willing to participate in a march on Washington in September (after they all get their vacations in). With torches.

Who is organizing a protest like the Vietnam War protest on the mall?

[sutz12]

1. Haven't heard of any protests..

but Dennis did slip an amendment in for single payer at the state level in the House bill. :)

[abumbyanyothername]

3. I am trying to get one going

but I am not the kind of organizer that can get 200,000+ people out.

[discocrisco01]

9. Live in a Wingnut District

I live in a wingnut district which is home to Orly Tatiz, one of the lead Birthers. Therefore, no chance to single payer from my representative.

[abumbyanyothername]

10. But are you willing to march on the mall?

I am not trying to shame, just trying to get something going. Again, I am not the guy to organize a 200,000+ march but there is someone out there who is.

[MrMickeysMom]

2. I called at least 15 congresspeople at 5 PM eastern time today...

Caught damned near every one of them. One even was interested to talk quite a bit about why the CBO hasn't scored single payer.

I'm hoping that they are being bombarded by constituents from all over the nation. Phone call bombs are what I'm doing, when I'm not writing them.

Now what THEY are doing? I'm guessing shitting their pants if they're listening to us.

[abumbyanyothername]

4. I called Waxman (my rep)

I told them that a national referendum on single payer would pass by double digits.

Dead silence for a response.

[MrMickeysMom]

11. Really? I call your rep too!

Maybe we need to bombard them.

I tell them who I am (broad background health care 34 years)and how I'm calling as many congresspeople as is possible to advocate HR 676, then quickly tell them how I'm even more perplexed why the CBO hasn't even scored a single payer model.

That actually got some interest.

[abumbyanyothername]

12. Well I don't have outside cred . . .

all I ever did with my life was join the team who brought you the credit market meltdown earlier this year.

[MrMickeysMom]

13. ooh... an insider!

Well, I'll bet I could ask you some of those fancy dancy Fah-nance questions...

Meanwhile, we're all health care consumers and taxpayers, so we should be able to ask the above.

Hang in there!

[crickets]

14. "One even was interested to talk quite a bit about why the CBO hasn't scored single payer."

I'm interested too. What did s/he say?

[MrMickeysMom]

23. Here's the story-

Among the Democrats who were on the fence, didn't think they had enough votes for HR 676 below was Jay Inslee's office. When I mentioned CBO and the status of not scoring single payer, the person (knowledgeable staffer, I didn't ask) wondered if by scoring single payer would introduce components of it (number of payers in, number of covered services out) would have "changed the argument" and introduced the possible risk of the argument no longer being about cost containment. My comment was that "cost" should be compared, regardless, and that the only way to know is to be a proponent of scoring it. This must come from Congress.

I could have been jerked around, rather than give any kind of commitment for any willingness of Rep Inslee to examine single payer. I got the feeling toward the end of the call when he said, "well, we've talked several minutes about this..."

These people need sticks of dynamite up their collective asses, and Lord knows, we have plenty to do in our spare time already than to plead and beg them to give a shit.
:-)

On the fence...
ck Boucher VA09 202-225-3861
Bruce Braley IA01 202-225-2911
G.K. Butterfield NC01 202-225-3101
Lois Capps CA23 202-225-3601
Kathy Castor FL11 202-225-3376
John Dingell MI15 202-225-4071
Charles Gonzalez TX20 202-225-3236
Gene Green TX29 202-225-1688
Jay Inslee WA01 202-225-6311 @RepInsleeNews
Doris Matsui CA05 202-225-7163
Jerry McNerney CA11 202-225-1947
John Sarbanes MD03 202-225-4016
Bart Stupak MI01 202-225-4735
Betty Sutton OH13 202-225-3401
Henry Waxman (Chair) CA30 202-225-3976

[crickets]

29. Thanks for coming back with the scoop.

The institutionally bound thinking we're dealing with is really frustrating. Thanks for the phone numbers too. I've been getting some notes together with bullet point ideas for making calls and you've made it really easy to pick up the phone. :thumbsup:

[Captain Hilts]

5. I'd march. nt

[1]

6. i comment on messageboards all the time...

[niceypoo]

7. Nuclear option

Is the answer

[1]

8. "Nuclear option"??? we blow everyone up until there is only one left to pay?

[scentopine]

15. I'd walk to DC if there was something well organized - easy.

[stuball111]

16. Good Idea... wanna do it?

We can start a walk across america... all it would take is a few people... and let everyone join along the way... have a car following with a donation bucket, a date to hit washington, and let the media do the coverage... say that people can join us whe we reach the Monument... call Dylan, Joan Baez ,Neil Young have a farm Aid concert for the Dems for the re-election coffer ONCE THEY PASS UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE. If they don't, the money goes to the poor,or farmers.

[scentopine]

27. Interesting idea - I'm a lousy leader but. your idea is solid

In fact - brilliant. I like the incentives. But it can't be one of these regional protests - needs to be 100,000 strong in Washington. Music celebrities, etc.

I can tell you the pressure for change is going to be more than an unrecommended button can control.

You know the seven stages of grief? Starts with anger/guilt moves to acceptance and hope. In politics it ends with apathy and cynicism. That's were we are heading, full speed ahead. That's where the corporate parasites are hoping we'll be in a few months. And they're right. If we don't do something - we will have wasted an election. Repubs will still stay in control.

We need to get these congress fuckers to pay attention to public service instead of their corporate sugar daddies.

On the leadership side however, its just not in my DNA to move a crowd. However, there are plenty here who know how to do it - instead they refuse to serve.

[KharmaTrain]

17. Single Payer Plays Right Into The GOOP Memes...

The loudest one I hear is how the government is going to take over health care. This is single payer and this is what scares a lot of people...not just rushpublicans but Democrats as well. While I detest having an insurance company play god on who can get healthcare and the type of care, I don't want to trade in one gatekeeper for another.

As Congressman Kucinich has suggested, Single Payer would probably work best on a state level...but on a national level it has little support inside the beltway. Yes, people want healthcare reform, but they want options. Competition will keep both sides honest...kinda like pitting the snake and the moongoose.

[mmonk]

18. True information on single payer would destroy their memes and talking points.

[Lorax7844]

19. the media will refuse to cover our protests and anything on single payer

If we start sending out a list of demands on the other hand to letters to the editor and smaller media outlets, we could get people talking.

A march would be great but, we had hundreds of thousands of people march against the war, millions if you add different protests together and the media wouldn't cover it, the only protests they care about covering are tea parties and fire David Letterman rallies, combined total (being generous here) maybe 100,000.

[KharmaTrain]

20. This Isn't A Zero Sum Game.

Unfortunately I see many framing this as an either/or scenario. That's not the case. Right now we're hearing talking points from those with the most to win or lose...not from those in the middle where this bill not only has to appeal to but to win passage.

I've seen plenty on single payer and I'm not sold that trading one gatekeeper for another is the way to create a more efficient healthcare system. Yes, single payer is of great benefit for millions who are caught outside our current insurance for profit system. I worked with my father's medical practice for several years and can give you a ton of insurance horror stories (and this was 10 years ago)...but also an equal number of problems with Medicare and Medicaid. Tearing out the existing system or nationalizing it won't decrease costs or improve care and it won't let doctors be doctors.

I fully agree that a single-payer system is preferable to the existing one, I don't see this debate as an either/or. Again, I'd like to see single-payer developed out on a state level where it can be tailored to more specific needs than a national one.

The memes that need to be countered are the lies that either a single-payer or public option will somehow throw hundreds of millions out of their current arrangement...assuming all these people want it. And that's where I find common ground with even the most "conservative" rushpublicans. I simply ask if they're satisified with how their insurance is handled. Do they like it that their employer has control on this or would they prefer to have that control and options to select their own doctor. If they want what they have, so be it. If millions opt into a public program, then its up to the insurance companies to come up with something better and more affordable. If they do and its better than the government, so much the better for all of us.

[mmonk]

25. We have the most expensive per capita system in the world

and 15 % aren't even covered. Single Payer countries have 100% of their people covered at about 10% of their GDP. Ours, we spend 17% of GDP while not all are covered. What would the middle of that be? Probably still the most expensive per capita in the world while still not covering everybody.

[KharmaTrain]

30. I've Heard The Arguments Over And Over...

I know many, too many who are without insurance...spent nearly 10 years there myself. I want everyone to be covered, but I want competition...that's how costs will be driven down. While I trust the government more than the insurance companies, I don't trust them enough to be the sole gatekeepers on health care which is what a single payer system can lead to.

Also, the costs don't take into account the large sums squandered on frivilous law suits and excessive drug costs. Those aren't being addressed in any plan. Even under a single payer, without reforms in these areas, our system (whatever it is) will continue to be the most expensive in the "developed" world.

Reality says that Single payer on a federal level is dead in the water...and if Democrats don't unite and get their shit together, public option could be gone as well and then what reform do we really have?

[eridani]

21. Yes

http://www.healthcareforallwa.org/
http://www.pnhp.org/
http://www.1payer.net
http://www.healthcare-now.org
http://www.unitedforsinglepayer.org

[KG]

22. nobody that matters. welcome to the deck chair rearragement ceremony.

[bobbolink]

24. The time to "do something" was years ago, before the battle hit Congress.

PNHP missed the opportunity to educate 'Murkins.

They kept talking to each other, rather than to the population at large.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

26. we are up against the middle classes being satisfied with their health insurance companies

The poor of course are hardly ever represented.

You should have heard my neighbor the other evening she was saying 'they' (the poor/unemployed) don't deserve to go to the ER as they haven't done a decent days work in their life! I informed the creature (my neighbor) that people have right to proper healthcare like in the UK or Canada. She said only if they work for it. I say what happens if company director with a huge mortgage loses his job and has debts? She said that he had an education and would probably find another job so it was alright. There really is a war going on in the country between the upper classes and struggling lower classes.

[abumbyanyothername]

28. But is the argument

Are they making the argument that they don't want the poor to have insurance because it means that they will have to wait longer to get their care?

Is that what they are really saying?