Over the next few days, the garbage known as the Baucus bill, i.e. the Insurance Industry Profit Protection and Enhancement Act, and the HELP bill are being merged by Sen. Harry Reid, Sen. Chris Dodd, Sen. Max Baucus and the White House, with Reid and the White House being the two parties who will make the difference and so being the ones we must contact NOW.

After the Senate Finance Committee yesterday passed its garbage out of committee, and everyone in the White House had a big bipartigasm because Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) voted with the Democrats to pass the bill out of committee, David Dayen wrote that

the Senate Finance Committee’s passage of a health reform bill marks the end of the committee process, but only the beginning of the longer journey to passage.

In other words, this is it, folks. Whether or not a real health care reform bill that includes a strong public health insurance option made available to all Americans will go to the Senate floor for a clean up-or-down vote WHERE IT WILL PASS depends on what happens in this conference over the next few days.

Email Senator Harry Reid (send your letter to Reid via fax at 202-224-7327, too!) and email the White House to demand, ask, or plead with them to emerge from this conference as Democrats who put the needs of the American people and core Democratic Party principles first and to bring to the floor of the United States Senate a bill that we can be proud of, a bill that includes a strong public health insurance option made available to all Americans.

This is the letter I faxed and emailed to Senator Reid today:

October 14, 2009

Dear Senator Reid,

This is the most important week of your political career. What you do in the conference over the next few days with Senator Baucus, Senator Dodd and the White House will determine the course of the next year as you head into the 2010 election. Your success or failure to win reelection hinges on what you do this week.

Senator, in light of recent polls that show you trailing Republican challengers, you must know that you need to show your strength as Majority Leader, that you need to show the American people that you’re on their side and not on the side of insurance industry executives who have been abusing the American people and harming our economy for far too long.

The insurance companies repeated threats to dramatically INCREASE the costs of health care, their determination to create the conditions in which even more Americans will die each year because they do not have access to quality health care, as well as to further damage our economy, if they don’t get what they want, IS PROOF THAT THEY CAN’T BE TRUSTED TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

How can any of us tolerate such a threat and such a blatant admission on their part that they cannot be trusted?

Make this health care reform bill the game-changer!

Do the right thing, the moral thing, and the politically smart thing. Lead. Bring to the floor of the United States Senate for a clean up-or-down vote a bill that includes a strong public health insurance option that must be made available to all Americans.

Please, be the leader that we need. Please fight in conference this week for us. Please lead the others in emerging from this conference as Democrats who put the needs of the American people and core Democratic Party principles first. Please bring to the floor of the United States Senate a bill that we can be proud of, a bill that includes a strong public health insurance option made available to all Americans.

Lead, Senator Reid, and you will certainly be hailed as the hero who is leading our country into the 21st century and toward the realization of our American dream.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Brc