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Breaking news, as reported in the L.A. Times:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, unveiling the House’s plan for a compromise on healthcare legislation today, said the bill would offer new insurance for tens of millions of Americans and lower costs for those who already have coverage.
The plan represents a compromise among various interests in the House, the speaker said. It also will lead to a planned House vote and position House leaders for negotiations with Senate leaders crafting their own plan.
Pelosi maintained that the House leadership’s compromise would make healthcare more affordable for the middle class and more secure for seniors. The bill offers health insurance for an additional 36 million Americans, she said — offering coverage for 96% of all citizens — and its cost over 10 years, under $900 billion, would not increase the federal budget deficit.
The article states that a vote on the bill is expected to happen … Read the details.
From CNN and other news sources:
The contentious debate over health care took a new twist Monday as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced his decision to craft legislation including a public insurance option allowing states to opt out.
Reid, a Nevada Democrat, has been melding legislation from the more conservative Senate Finance Committee and the more liberal Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. The Health Committee included a form of the public option in its bill; the Finance Committee did not.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has insisted that the House of Representatives will pass a health care reform bill including a public option.
President Obama is “pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a written statement.
The full article is available at CNN.com.
From our friends at Organizing For America:
As you know, we set a big phone-call goal: 100,000 calls to Congress placed or committed to in a single day by OFA supporters and allied organizations. By 2:30 p.m., you had crushed it. So, we gulped and said let’s go for 200,000, not knowing what would happen. But the calls just kept pouring in — keeping phones ringing off the hook in congressional offices in D.C. and your representatives’ district offices around the country.
Then, OFA supporters gathered in more than 1,000 living rooms and community centers from Macon, Georgia to Missoula, Montana. You called hundreds of thousands of key voters in your community and got them to agree to call Congress and speak out for reform, too. President Obama joined in at a call party in New York — and he had some amazing words of support for the folks like you … Read the details.
From our friends at Whitehouse.gov:
In his weekly address, and as the health insurance reform debate enters into its final stages in Congress, President Obama denounces the desperate and deceptive last-ditch efforts of the health insurance companies to derail it.
If the viewscreen below is not visible, President Obama’s weekly address can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqXgp5mWU00.
Remember our ‘Code Blue’ voter-registration drive back in August? It was so successful that we’re doing it again!
We continue to drive towards a Democratic majority, our goal being to achieve one before year’s end. Join us as we speed the process along and catch the Republican party asleep during the Code Blue II voter-registration drive, scheduled 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday through Monday, Oct. 17-19, here in Fresno.
Volunteers will meet at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Large Park in Fresno. ‘Code Blue II’ is scheduled on both days of the weekend, and will finish with the naturalization of new citizens on Monday, Oct. 19.
Please sign up for one or both days by visiting the Code Blue II event page at BarackObama.com. We hope to see you there!
Sen. Diane Feinstein, until recently officially undecided on the issue, declared her support yesterday for a public option in healthcare reform. Here’s the announcement, from her official website:
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, along with 29 Democratic Senate colleagues, has signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging the inclusion of a public option in any health reform legislation that will be considered on the Senate floor. An additional 14 Senators at least have expressed support for the public option through a resolution, letter, or by voting for a strong public option during committee markups.
The Senators’ letter states that “absent a competitive and continuous public insurance option – health reform legislation will not produce nationwide access and ongoing cost containment.”
It continues: “The number one goal of health reform must be to look out for the best interests of the American people – patients and taxpayers … Read the details.
From our friends at Whitehouse.gov:
In his weekly address, President Obama goes through the leading conservative and Republican figures who have come out one after another urging passage of health insurance reform. After a summer of intense debate, cooler heads begin to prevail to make progress for the American people.
If the viewscreen below is not visible, President Obama’s weekly address can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS5T-Nkti7o
While this is certainly not an official Democratic Party communication, Rachel Maddow’s analysis may go a long way toward rebutting the Limbaughs and Becks of the world on the issue of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize. Enjoy!
If the viewscreen below is not visible, Rachel Maddow’s analysis is available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMJuEOaF84o.
Wow! From the news wires:
President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.
President Obama’s efforts to promote a “global response to global challenges” cemented their decision.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/09/world/main5373311.shtml
Want to have an impact upon the California Democratic Party’s issue platform? Want to make your voice heard on the issues most important to Democrats? Consider attending the California Democratic Party’s ‘Platform Hearing ‘ and Meeting for Region 8, scheduled 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Yosemite Falls Restaurant, 4278 West Ashlan in Fresno.
For more information about the meeting, contact the Fresno County Democratic Central Commitee at here at contact@fcdcc.org.
On Sept. 29, a number of California newspapers published an op-ed from California Democratic Party Chair John Burton, weighing in on the current debate of healthcare reform. Here, in its entirety, is that op-ed:
A flurry of new reports from the Treasury Department, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundation underscore something we’ve known in California for a long time: We can’t wait another year for health insurance reform.
According to recent national data from the U.S. Census, the number of uninsured Americans increased from 39.8 million in 2001 to 46.3 million in 2008. Most of them … Read the details.
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