Cenk Uygur: Take the Damn Vote (on the public option).

[freddie mertz]

Cenk Uygur Host of The Young Turks
Posted: February 26, 2010 10:56 AM

Take the Damn Vote

I have now heard countless times that Democrats don't have enough votes for the public option. Twenty-four senators and 120 representatives have signed a letter supporting the public option. Apparently, that's still not enough. Serious people assure us that there just aren't the votes, even to pass it through reconciliation where you only need a simple majority. You know, there is one way to find out. Take the damn vote. That way we'll see if all the doomsayers were right or not. And more importantly, we'll see who is on which side when the votes actually get counted. And that's exactly what the problem is. The Democrats don't want to go on the record. They want to be able to kill the public option without admitting who it was that actually killed it.

It's amazing what happens sometimes when you actually take the vote. For example, on the jobs bill Scott Brown flipped over and unexpectedly voted with the Democrats. That led to four other Republicans supporting the bill because they thought it was going to pass anyway. And then a curious thing happened; a whole bunch of the people who voted to filibuster the bill turned around and voted in favor of it in the final vote. They theoretically felt so strong about the bill that they filibustered, but when forced to vote on the merits of the bill, they felt enough pressure from their constituents that they actually voted for it. In the end, the jobs bill passed easily, 70-28. Why? Because these senators who voted in both directions didn't want to be on the record as opposing the bill. Amazing what taking a vote can get accomplished.

Howard Dean was on The Young Turks last night and he suggested that they could also take a vote on a Medicare buy-in as part of the health care bill. As he explained, that is another form of the public option. He pointed out that there appeared to be 59 Democratic senators on board for the Medicare buy-in compromise before Joe Lieberman (supposedly) single-handedly killed it. Why not try both? Try taking a vote on a robust public option and a Medicare buy-in and see which one people like better. Here is what is inarguable from a policy perspective: there is no harm in trying. What's the worst that can happen -- we don't get either? Well, if we don't try we won't get either anyway. The only possible harm in taking the vote is finding out which Democrats sold out their voters for some campaign cash from health care companies. Now do you see why they're not planning a vote?

Well, that's exactly why we should put pressure on them to do the bare minimum -- take the vote. Send Harry Reid a message that all we want is a vote and that is the least he can do as Senate Majority Leader. We've all fought so hard and long for this and so many of these Democrats say they've been in favor of it for so long, so they have to at least give us this. Take the vote!

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/2/26/841000/-Take-the-Damn-Vote

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/take-the-damn-vote_b_478142.html

What say we all?

[upi402]

1. Makes perfect sense

What does that say about our "opposition to corporatism" party when they use their soft fingers to brush it out of our view so quickly?

[freddie mertz]

2. This seems like something everyone here would support.

Based on the unrec, I guess I was wrong?

[spin]

3. The question is: do our Democrat Congress members really want the "public option"...

or are too many of them bought and paid for by the blood suckers in the insurance industry?

[freddie mertz]

4. That is what a vote on the policy (including the robust one) would let us know...

We have a right, I think, after all the posturing and promises made and not kept, to demand a vote on this.

Which side are you on, Senators?

[jefferson_dem]

14. Our Democrat members, huh?

Hmmm...

[spin]

20. Sometimes it seems Democrats sell us out just as fast as Republicans. (n/t)

[TheKentuckian]

5. They should but likely won't because it would expose the rot in the party

That is unless they can figure out a way for it to be an unsustainable dumping ground for big insurance to rid themselves of undesirables that actually need care, without it seeming like it is such.

[freddie mertz]

6. This diary has over 300 responses at Kos.

There is a lot of support.

Over here?

[gkhouston]

12. I'd love to have "buy Medicare" as a health insurance option. For better or worse,

at least I'd be spending less of my insurance bucks on overhead and I wouldn't have to worry about rescission.

[freddie mertz]

7. "Should a "progressive" Dem blog dwell in the safe zones of a tame party?.."

".... or should it drive a tame party to break out?"

Good sig line in the comments thread over at Kos.

[polichick]

8. He's right - Dems don't want to go on record with who's for and against this stuff...

Safer to posture and bullshit.

[freddie mertz]

9. We should keep at it and try to call their bluff.

Don't you think?

[polichick]

10. Yes - I called one of my Senators again today, asking why he hasn't signed...

...the letter re using reconciliation for the public option. His spokesman said he supports the public option and will fight for it in the best way possible. When asked, he had no clue what "the best way" was. I said, "It's reconciliation." DUH!!!

[customerserviceguy]

11. Bad comparison

Equating a vote on the public option (or any kind of vote on HCR, since Massachusetts) with a jobs bill is folly. With an official unemployment rate of nearly 10%, a vote on a jobs bill is a no-brainer for a Democratic congresscritter, and even some Repukes have been feeling the heat in the hardest-hit red states.

What's delaying the vote? The lack of wanting to be responsible for finally killing this thing, since it's been on a respirator since Scott Brown's election. It's all a matter of not wanting to be the hand that pulls the plug.

President Obama held a dog and pony show to try to shift the blame for this to the Repukes, and we're now waiting on the poll results to see if that took effect. There won't be any vote until that has run its course, unless there is another delaying tactic offered up in the meantime.

[jefferson_dem]

13. If it goes up for a vote, it will pass.

If it doesn't go up for a vote, it's because it couldn't pass if it did. That's what whip counts are for. I trust Durbin. It's not rocket science, really. Test votes on this and that would be a silly, nonsensical exercise, regardless of how much Cenk stomps his feet.

[depakid]

16. It's really a matter of putting Senators on record so their positions can be judged by constituents

The reason why senators would want to avoid accountability on the issue is obvious and understandable.

No one want their corruption exposed. Simple as that.

Unfortunately, do to the cowardice of a relatively few in the senate- a LOT of decent Democrats across the board and down the ticket are going to effectively be blamed for the fiasco that they've created.

[frylock]

15. knr

[quantass]

17. k&r

[handmade34]

18. Get it Done with 51!

[hulka38]

19. Uncomfortable for some but never the less, true.

[freddie mertz]

21. Amazing lack of support for this basic democratic principle here.

I am at a loss to understand it.

[hulka38]

22. What vision are the centrist DUers working toward? A 70 member Senate majority of Baucuses?

That would be a kick ass super duper majority for Dems. Can you imagine how much good we could do for the corporations?

[harun]

23. They'll never vote on it. Leadersip will protect them.

[freddie mertz]

24. You are almost certainly right.

Unaccountable government persists and thrives under the new "change" regime.

How sad, and what a disappointment.