DEM Senators Letter to Biden

Democratic senators Bill Nelson, Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin, Claire McCaskill and Jon Tester have sent a letter to Vice-President Joe Biden. In the letter, the senators say that the Paul Ryan plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program should not be included in any budget deal. Biden is involved in budget negotiations with Congressional Republicans. Biden has been open to cuts in Medicare. The senators are urging Biden to walk back his previous position.

All the Senators that signed the letter are up for re-election. The letter is good politics for them. It also means that if the senators stick to their position the Obama administration won't be able to cave in the the Republicans.

Sherrod Brown Open Letter to President Obama

Sen. Sherrod Brown published a letter written to President Barack Obama.

Dear Mr. President,

With our economy struggling, our working families hurting, and our deficit crisis worsening every year, we need to take action to create jobs, bolster the middle class, and bring our budget into balance.

But the agreement you’ve struck with Senate Republicans is a bad deal. It doubles down on a failed strategy of tax cuts for the super-wealthy that would explode our deficit without strengthening our economy. It’s too high a price to pay for the support of those who have continually refused to put the middle class first.

Instead of giving in to obstruction, we should fight it. I am willing to stay in session as long as it takes to overcome a filibuster and extend both unemployment benefits for jobless Americans and tax cuts for the middle class. If our colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to spend their holidays refusing to help working families struggling to enjoy a Christmas of their own unless their wealthy friends get another bailout, let them.

Mr. President, I know that you share my desire to pass good economic policies that help working families. But a deal that also includes bad policies that will worsen our deficit and fail to help our economy falls short. By standing our ground and standing strong for the middle class, we can do better. And I urge you to do just that.

Sincerely,

Sherrod Brown
U.S. Senator, Ohio

Sen. Brown is asking citizens to sign his petition.

Public Option Letter

Sen. Sherrod Brown and 29 other senators have sent a letter to Harry Reid. The letter stresses the need for the public option in the final Senate bill.

Update: Brown told MSNBC the goal is to get 50 Democrats to sign the letter.

"A lot of people don't like to sign," Brown said.

Update: Talking Points Memo: has published the letter.

October 8, 2009

The Honorable Harry Reid

Majority Leader

United States Senate

The Capitol, S-221

Washington, DC 20510


Dear Majority Leader Reid:


We have spent the better part of this year fighting for health reform that would provide insurance access and continuity to every American in a fiscally responsible manner. We are concerned that - absent a competitive and continuous public insurance option - health reform legislation will not produce nationwide access and ongoing cost containment. For that reason, we are asking for your leadership on ensuring that the merged health reform bill contains a public insurance option.

As it stands, the health insurance market is dominated by a handful of for-profit health insurers that are exempt from the anti-trust laws that ensure robust competition in other markets across the United States. Without a not-for-profit public insurance alternative that competes with these insurers based on premium rates and quality, insurers will have free rein to increase insurance premiums and drive up the cost of federal subsidies tied to those premiums. This is simply not fiscally sustainable.

We recognize that the two Committees with jurisdiction over health reform - the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee - have taken two very different approaches with respect to this issue. However, a strong public option has resounding support among Senate Democrats - every Democrat on HELP, three quarters of those on Finance, and what we believe is a majority of the caucus.

The Senate Finance Committee included a cooperative approach to insurance market competition. While promoting more co-ops may be a worthy goal, it is not realistic to expect local co-ops to spring up in every corner of this country. There are many areas of the country where the population is simply too small to sustain a local co-op plan. We are also concerned that the administrative costs associated with financing the start-up of multiple co-op plans would far outstrip the seed money required to establish a public health insurance program.

Opponents of health reform argue that a public option presents unfair competition to the private insurance companies. However, it is possible to create a public health insurance option that is modeled after private insurance - rates are negotiated and providers are not required to participate in the plan. As you know, this is the Senate HELP Committee's approach. The major differences between the public option and for-profit plans are that the public plan would report to taxpayers, not to shareholders, and the public plan would be available continuously in all parts of the country. The number one goal of health reform must be to look out for the best interests of the American people - patients and taxpayers alike - not the profit margins of insurance companies.

Health reform is about improving access to health care, containing costs, and giving Americans a real choice in the insurance plan best suited to their needs. We urge you to fight for a sustainable health care system that ensures Americans the option of a public plan in the merged Senate bill.


Sincerely,


Sherrod Brown (D-OH) John D. Rockefeller (D-WV)

Russell D. Feingold (D-WI) Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT)

Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) Tom Udall (D-NM)

Kristen E. Gillibrand (D-NY) Roland W. Burris (D-IL)

Ron Wyden (D-OR) Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Michael F. Bennet (D-CO) Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Jack Reed (D-RI) Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD)

Al Franken (D-MN) Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA)

Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD) Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI)

Edward E. Kaufman (D-DE) Arlen Specter (D-PA)

Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

Bernard Sanders (I-VT) John F. Kerry (D-MA)

Herb Kohl (D-WI) Paul Kirk (D-MA)

Why White House Is Fighting the Public Option

I am getting tired of Rahm Emanuel trying to kill the public option. Emanuel told the Wall Street Journal the public option wasn't necessary for a health care bill. Emanuel told Charlie Rose the Senate won't pass a bill with the public option. Translation: the White House doesn't support a public option. The White House would be more aggressive for a public option if President Obama really supported it.

"I think the Senate's been clear what the prospects [are]," Emanuel said. "That doesn't mean in the House, they're not gonna come to the table and demand it."

Emanuel's political instincts are horrible. The latest New York Times/CBS News Poll has voters favoring the public option at 65 percent. Sen. Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several Congressional Democrats made it clear there will be no bill without the public option. To make matters more embarrassing: Sen. Sherrod Brown quickly refuted Emanuel.

Emanuel is "wrong, because of this: Not every Democrat right now would prefer the public option in the Senate ... but no Democrat in the end is going to vote against a procedural question to kill the health care bill," he said.

"The 60 Democrats will stay together on procedural questions and then, on final passage, some may vote against it because it's got a public option. But I don't see that," he said. Brown added that at least 50 Democrats in the Senate support the public option.

The poll numbers and congressional votes are against Obama signing a bill without a public option. To understand why the administration is taking such a bizarre course is because Obama wants a bill that is friendly to the health care industry. The White House held private meetings with health industry CEOs. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics sued and the White House made the log public. Health insurance CEOs Karen Ignagni, of America's Health Insurance Plans and Stephen J. Hemsley of UnitedHealth Group Inc had several meetings with the White House. Health insurance companies managed to get the White House to agree that all Americans are mandated to have coverage. This would increased customers for the industry. Bill Tauzin, of the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America got the White House to agree to veto any legislation that would give Medicare the power to negotiate prices or import drugs from Canada. Obama was gifing the health insurance and pharmaceutical with increased profits. This explains why the White House is pushing against poll numbers and Congressional Democrats.

He's Brown, Not Black

Hey, who knew that Sherrod Brown was black.

Dean On Hackett

I'm not sure I buy this.

Dean told a student audience in Miami that "some skulduggery in Washington" improperly led to Hackett's decision to end his bid. And he said Democrats will have a tough time winning if similar things happen to others.

Hackett was vying with Ohio congressman Sherrod Brown for the Democratic nomination. He said that Hackett was a "great candidate," and that a primary in Ohio wouldn't have hurt the party. Hackett says he's ending his eleven-month political career.

Howard Dean is the Chairman for the Democratic National Committee. He either has no say in his party or was unsupportive of Hackett's Senate bid. It's a little late to be in Hackett's corner.

Dan Drezner makes the point that "this is a pretty big slap in the face to the argument that the Democratic Party is being held hostage by its netroots base."

Kos explains what went on behind the scenes.

To make something clear, Hackett is complaining about betrayal. Yet Rahm was trying to get him to become one of his candidates. In other words, Rahm was recruiting him. That's not a bad thing. That's a flattering thing.

To be clear -- Hackett didn't stand a chance. He had a tenth of Brown's money, and that was before party people allegedly tried to stop Hackett's donors from giving. His field operation in the special election was literally put together and implemented by Dan Lucas. Who is Dan Lucas? Sherrod Brown's campaign manager. Hackett's netroots effort in the special election was put together by Tim Tagaris. And while Tim is now at the DNC, he helped put together Brown's netroots operation.

So it was Brown's people who helped put together the nuts and bolts of Hackett's special election campaign, and they were now working for their boss -- Sherrod Brown.

I sense that Republicans could use Hackett's dropping out against Brown. I can already hear the chants of Democratics backstabbing an Iraq war vet. My advice is that once Hackett cools down the Dems should have Hackett stump for Brown. In return, the Dems will throw lots of money to Hackett for his next campaign. I know that sounds good in theory. The problem is will Hackett go along with the game plan.