Just heard Norman Goldman say that Grayson's bill is wallowing in the

[gateley]

Ways & Means Comittee because (according to NG) the Dems have caved to the corporate powers that be.

Don't know if that's accurate, but regardless, we need to keep the light on this and hopefully move it.

Is there anything we can do???

[Ian David]

1. Boil some water. n/t

[Edweird]

2. It's not going anywhere. There will be no 'fix'. The senate bill = "I'm getting 95% of what I want'.

[saracat]

4. Yeppers.

[Cleita]

6. Well the people of the US are getting 5% of what they want.

How do we twist arms?

[Edweird]

9. It's all over but the shouting. We got the RW plan.

The opportunity that was squandered will likely not present itself again in my lifetime. The admin gave the r's tremendous campaign material.

[Xipe Totec]

3. Contact Grayson and get on his e-mail list

He'll let you know what the real score is.

[gateley]

10. I'm on his e-mail list -- I'll call his office tomorrow and get the

scoop from a staffer. :hi:

[Cleita]

5. Pete Stark is now the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and he

supposedly is a single payer advocate. If he doesn't push it out of committee, I wonder what pressures he's under? Also, I have been pretty suspicious as to why the witch hunt against Charlie Rangel was conducted recently, which caused him to lose the chairmanship on March 3, 2010.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35678683/

[gateley]

11. Not sure if that's really what the problem is -- just what Norman

Goldman said. Soooooo, I'll first check with Grayson's office, then we can bombard Stark if need be.

Although I did hear last night that Pelosi won't be pushing through any more big things this YEAR -- :shrug:

This (Grayson's bill) is just too good to forget about and let die. I want to do all I can. Thanks for the info and the link! :hi:

[Cleita]

12. There is another way, to attach it as a rider or fix on a bill about something else.

It's like the student loan legislation that they attached to the fixes on the HCR. Now I'm not really sure about this so maybe some DUers who are more knowledgeable about how this and how it is done might know better.

[gateley]

13. Man, is your head exploding like mine is?

I'll call Grayson's office tomorrow and hopefully get someone who can help give some guidance. I'll keep you apprised! :hi:

[Cleita]

14. Thank you. We can't let them do this like they did to HR 676,

let it die in committee.

[gateley]

16. Hi -- spoke with Grayson's office.

No real concrete info.

The guy said call your rep, Senator, other reps and Senators -- I told him we've done that and continue to do so. Other than that, he just said "don't give up. He (Grayson) is determined not to let this die, he's committed to getting it passed within a couple of years (!). He's a lot more patient, or probably realistic, than I. Said it was really important to keep getting sponsors.

He thanked us for doing all we were doing, and I told him to thank Grayson for being an advocate for all of us.

It was nice that he didn't even mention 'donate' but we know that's always a given. :7

I was really hoping for dates, targets, "and on April 4th we'll be presenting...." stuff like that, but I guess it's not at that point yet -- by a long shot.

So, we just gotta keep on keepin' on and keep it alive as best we can. :hi:

[laughingliberal]

15. That can happen

That is what, I believe, Reid wants to do in the Senate. He has said he will try to introduce a public option bill for a vote on the floor under reconciliation in the next couple of months and one possibility mentioned was he might try to attach it to another bill. We'll see.

[branders seine]

7. start a third party, but that's no solution...

:shrug:

[EFerrari]

8. The president has made it crystal clear that he doesn't want a public option

of any kind.

What do you think?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

17. I would say "stated repeatedly and unambiguously" rather than "made it crystal clear that".

I think it entirely possible that he *would* like a public option, and is denying this falsely for political reasons.