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So, I wake this morning to see that Speaker Pelosi lied again about why she just could not allow a single-payer amendment to survive the legislative effort in the House on healthcare reform.
 
Early in the week she said that she couldn’t let the Kucinich amendment survive because it broke the President’s promise that “you can keep what you have if you like it.”  See my blog on Michael Moore’s Mike & Me blog for my remarks on that subject.  

So, out went the amendment voted into the bill with those ever-prized bi-partisan votes that would have allowed states whose voters and lawmakers pass single-payer plans to be granted necessary federal waivers to do so (read that again, folks, lest you miss the House’s direct squelching of the right you have in our own states to determine the best policy).   [more]

Published by New York Daily News.

Read Weiner's statement, Waxman's statement, Pelosi's statement and Conyers statement.

Rep. Anthony Weiner says he’s not giving up on a single-payer health care system forever, but stopping the push for it now was the only pragmatic choice.

“I’m disappointed, but this is real politics,” he said, explaining that the vote he was promised on a single-payer system was causing “turbulence” and endangering the reform package.

By turbulence, he meant, among other things, certain Democrats in conservative districts felt they would have to vote for single-payer to keep peace with progressives who put them in office, even though the measure would not pass, then they would have to vote against the reform bill to appease the rest of their constituents.   [more]

Published by Alternet.

Wild, over-the-top rhetoric and bizarre conspiracy theories about health reform aren't just coming from the right-wing blogs and talk-radio loudmouths.

Even by the standards of our typically debased public discourse, one has to step back and marvel for a moment at the sheer, unmitigated craziness the debate over health care reform has elicited from the right wing.

It hasn't been the usual conservative boilerplate--blather about "tort reform" or dubious "analyses" predicting the latest proposal would break the budget and blow up the national debt. We've been treated to some truly extreme, and sometimes bizarre, arguments about American health care and even lied to about what the proposed health reform bills contained.  [more]

Published by MichaelMoore.com.

Hey There, Congress and Mr. President. It’s your citizens. Lots of us are losing jobs and benefits. We cannot keep the benefits we’ve got when we lose our jobs. In fact it’s really hard to keep paying all the bills without a job and an income. The new jobless numbers are alarming in so many ways.

You keep lying and saying you want to make sure people can keep the health insurance benefits they have if they like them. You call it choice. I call it lying.   [more]

Published by BlackCommentator.

This past week, a good friend of mine died as a result of multiple brain tumors. The diagnosis was in August and she passed away in less than three months.

Despite the fact that the odds were against her, she was determined to fight for her life. In the last communication I had with her, true to form, she looked optimistically at her situation and commented that she was fortunate to have had health insurance. She could not have imagined carrying on this struggle without it. In that sense, she said, she was more fortunate than the nearly fifty million people living without any health insurance.  [more]

Published by Firedoglake.

1993: Rahm is the architect of NAFTA
1994: Unions stay home after NAFTA. Democratic turnout poor, Democrats give up54 seats in House.
2005: Rahm as head of DCCC recruits pro-war Dems, threatens to cut funds for any Dem who runs opposing the war
2006: Ned Lamont beats Joe Lieberman by opposing the war, opens the floodgates for candidates to buck Rahm & fuel Democratic takeover of House. Rahm’s pro-war candidates lose.
2007: Rahm blames failure of his pet pro-war candidates on immigration. Makes Freshmen co-sponsor anti-immigrant SAVE act.
2007: SAVE Act triggers Hispanic Caucus revolt on the floor of the House.  [more]

Published by Associated Press.

Planned Saturday vote on health bill could be delayed until Sunday or later

A House leader says Democrats haven't yet lined up enough votes to pass their health care overhaul bill.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland says the vote that House Democrats had scheduled for Saturday could slip to Sunday or early next week.

Hoyer acknowledged to reporters Friday that Democratic leaders don't yet have the 218 votes needed to pass President Barack Obama's historic health overhaul initiative.   [more]

Join PDA's Healthcare for All Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.

Published by Physicians for a National Health Program.

The new House bill for health care reform (HR 3962), unveiled by Speaker Nancy Pelosi on October 29th, will not fundamentally reform U. S. health care. If you would believe the hype that accompanied its release, you might think that it would be as important as Medicare and Social Security. The New York Times concluded that “This bill will take a long stride toward universal coverage while remaining fiscally responsible.” Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman added: “The political environment is as favorable for reform as it’s likely to get. The legislation on the table isn’t perfect, but it’s as good as anyone could reasonably have expected.”   [more]

Healthcare is a Civil Right--Sign the Petition

Published by The Huffington Post.

Defying Washington’s conventional wisdom on health care reform, two senior Democratic House members are preparing a grassroots campaign to sustain a vigorous public option following a vote scheduled Saturday.

To keep Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s proposed successor to H.R. 3200 as strong as possible during conference negotiations with the Senate, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas are building on momentum from the unique town hall-style hearing they hosted Oct. 27.  [more]

Published by Alternet.

Thousands of right-wingers rallied yesterday on the lawn on the U.S. Capitol building to hear a parade of Republican lawmakers warn them of an alleged threat to their freedom embedded in the secret channels of the health-care reform bill unveiled last week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Lawmakers expect to vote on the bill this Saturday.

Congressional star power was provided on the podium by the likes of Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., who called for the rally from the hallowed platform of Sean Hannity's FOX News program. Other big names on the Capitol podium included House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio; Joe "You Lie" Wilson, R-S.C., (who got a huge ovation from the crowd) and Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., who promised that he was doing all he could to ensure that "not one Republican" votes for the health-care reform bill.   [more]

Join PDA's End War and Occupations, Redirect Funding Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.

Published by The Huffington Post.

That's the number that echoes throughout Rep. Eric Massa's (D-N.Y.) five minute speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, as he fervently calls for an end to the war in Afghanistan. Massa builds his speech by listing off numbers that underscore the massive amounts of money that have been spilled into the war: 2,950 is the number of days we have spent in Afghanistan, $300 billion is how much we have now spent, which comes out to $3,947.36 spent by every family of four.   [more]

Published by The Nation.

Thursday's shootings at Fort Hood army base in Texas--which have left at least 11 people dead and 31 others wounded--were of course the "horrific outburst of violence" that President Obama bemoaned and condemned Thursday.

But, because a soldier identified as the gunman had a name that led to the presumption that he was Muslim, the incident inspired an all-too-predictable outbreak of Islamophobia.

News reports named the man who used two handguns in the assault on his fellow soldiers at a base that is a prime point of departure for troops headed to Iraq and Afghanistan as Major Malik Nidal Hasan. [more]

Published by t r u t h o u t.org.

At approximately 1:30 p.m. CST [yesterday], a soldier went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, killing 12 people and wounding at least 31 others, according to base commander Lieutenant-General Bob Cone.

Truthout spoke with an Army Specialist who is an active-duty Iraq war veteran currently stationed at the base. The soldier spoke on condition of anonymity since the base is now on “lockdown,” and all “non-authorized” military personnel on the base have been ordered not to speak to the press.

“A soldier entered the ‘Soldier Readiness Center (SRC)’ with two handguns and opened fire,” the soldier, who is currently getting treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) explained. “That facility is where you go just before you deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.”   [more]

Published by Counterpunch.

Never underestimate the capabilities of the slightest American muscle-flexing.

After deliberately failing to use its massive economic and diplomatic influence in the tiny Central American country, the US has reportedly given the international community reason to breathe a sigh of relief in what Hillary Clinton is calling an “historic agreement”. According to the US, the Honduran governmental power struggle has been resolved, and an agreement for President Manuel Zelaya to be reinstated has been reached.   [more]

Early this morning, PDA learned that Rep. Weiner pulled his amendment and that there will be no vote on Medicare for All.

Please, do not make any further calls to Congress asking members to support the Weiner amendment.

Look for an email from the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Healthcare later today explaining this sudden development.

In the coming hours, look for email messages from Congressmen Weiner, Kucinich and Conyers explaining next steps.

We want to thank all of you who have been working the phones and keeping up with the barrage of actions. While we won't get our vote on Weiner, we still have work to do.   [more]

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