BREAKING-Dorgan, Tester, and Akaka sign on to public option-making 40!

[jenmito]

Just heard it on Ed's show from Adam Green from Progressie Change Campaign Committee.

ETA link to list of those who signed so far: http://whipcongress.com/

[tekisui]

1. Go get the next 11!

:thumbsup:

[Lord Helmet]

5. They only need 10 -- Biden is the tie-breaker.

[vaberella]

15. No they need 11 or 12. I get the feeling a few people might call in sick.

You need to cover your bases.

[Lord Helmet]

19. 11 or 12 as a buffer -- technically only 10 :-)

[Supersedeas]

54. Will Senator Kay Hagan (NC) elected on coattails of Obama, please stand up!

[Lord Helmet]

2. woo-hoo!!!!

[kjackson227]

3. Great News!

[Clio the Leo]

4. Wish we had a list of who the other 19 were....

.... might make it easier to tell if the thing has a chance.

[jenmito]

6. It's at this site which I can't get on right now:

www.whipcongress.com

[ProSense]

10. It's working now, and updated. n/t

[Jennicut]

13. Here is the list:

Sen. Max Baucus
Sen. Evan Bayh
Sen. Mark Begich
Sen. Robert Byrd
Sen. Thomas Carper
Sen. Kent Conrad
Sen. Kay Hagan
Sen. Tom Harkin
Sen. Herb Kohl
Sen. Mary Landrieu
Sen. Blanche Lincoln
Sen. Claire McCaskill
Sen. Bill Nelson
Sen. Ben Nelson
Sen. Mark Pryor
Sen. John Rockefeller
Sen. Mark Warner
Sen. Jim Webb

And Joe Lieberman but we all know how that one goes....

[druidity33]

17. Begich is considering it and

Lincoln has recently hinted she may go along (thank you Mr Halter)...

:)

[Jennicut]

20. Lincoln said no after all. She sucks.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=214476&mesg_id=214476

But that is good about Begich.

[catgirl]

50. Obama's hanging with Claire McCaskill today

I bet she signs on!

[tranche]

51. Ouch, that's a tough list remaining.

[PatSeg]

56. Someone from FL just posted

that Bill Nelson signed on making it 41.

Edit to add link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/10/public-option-support-now_n_493725.html

[denimgirly]

7. Will Obama finally concede and support the Public Option?

[Arkana]

8. Concede WHAT?

If the public option makes it to his desk, he'll sign it.

[freddie mertz]

45. Obama has been the leading obstacle to the public option...

At least since August, if not from the very beginning, as I increasingly suspect.

I'd like to be proven wrong, but o far....

[FrenchieCat]

9. Looks like perhaps he needed us to get off of our lazy asses,

and get it done. Nothing can counter Senate contributions by lobbyists
like senators hearing the voices of the ones who actually get to vote on election day.

Obama could talk till he was blue in the face,
but what will actually get done what we want done is us (as in you and me and them).

[demwing]

18. Yeah, except that Obama DIDN"T talk till he was blue in the face

at least not in favor of the Public Option. So why even make such a comment?

[hulka38]

28. Don't get up Frenchie.

Just try to stay out of the way.

[FrenchieCat]

29. Plu-EA-zzzze.....

Like who in the fuck are you?




Some kind of well known "Activist"? :rofl:

[hulka38]

32. Maaaaybe I am.

I'm glad you took the cheap shot well :rofl: - loved the response.

[FrenchieCat]

34. An earnest and dedicated activist interested in making a difference

doesn't pee all over a thread written up announcing good news;
a thread which includes the expressed message of encouragement to keep the pressure going.

The cynical manner in which you litter this thread betrays
who you would want us to think you are.

[freddie mertz]

46. He never talks about the public option these days, "blue" or not blue

And has not, in positive terms, since mid-summer.

He is not for it, in other words.

The mandates, on the other hand, and the excise tax, those are things he really really cares about....

[catgirl]

49. Of course he's for it!

The votes weren't there. I'm sure they're working behind the scenes to get the last 10
or so votes. Who are you Glenn Beck? He he.

[freddie mertz]

55. He never pressured anyone to vote for the public option.

But we all know he did apply the screws for the excise tax.

This tells us all we need to know about this stuff....

[jenmito]

12. There's nothing to concede. He SAID if the votes are there, he'll support it.

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tridim]

11. 40 marks the dam burst - Get it done Dems.

[ShortnFiery]

14. They'll not get to 51 by next week. Therefore, we'll be stuck with a shitty give away ...

to the Insurance Cartel via MANDATES. More screwing of the working classes to transfer wealth to the upper 1%.

[jenmito]

21. Then blame those who won't sign on in the Senate. The bill is still MUCH better

than no bill.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DevonRex]

16. Thank you so much Jen! Great news. K&R

:hi:

[jenmito]

22. My pleasure, DevonRex.

:hi:

[Diamonique]

24. Woo hoo!

So good to see this after a horrible day at work!

[City Lights]

25. Oh my! That is fantastic news!

:bounce:

[ibegurpard]

26. what public option?

show me the public option and get to 51 and I might take this seriously.

[hulka38]

27. Okay, huddle up everybody! Here's what we're going to do. We'll pretend that we really want a PO.

Several of us sign a thing that says so. Trickle out a few every day, bog it down around 47 and say, "Damn, no PO. Can't say we didn't try." That'll be the end of it. Break!

[FrenchieCat]

30. WTF?

Actually, if only 47 sign to say that they will vote for it,
then don't we look at who remains......?
cause they would obviously be those who didn't want the PO,
since they aren't willing to sign their names to the letter.

Shouldn't we then "hold them accountable", the way we always seem
to say we are going to do with this President? They have a vote,
and they are elected, not appointed, so I'm not even sure what you
are talking about, nor why you are doing any talking,
considering that you ain't making any sense! :crazy:

[David Zephyr]

31. Bingo.

I've written here for months this would happen. You are right.

This is suck up time. If they somehow hit 50 or get close to it, then there will be some wavering on what they meant.

Remember, Joe Lieberman once was FOR Medicare being dropped to 55 in age UNTIL it almost happened.

If they wanted it, we'd have it.

[FrenchieCat]

33. Maybe if we acted like WE wanted it.....

not via citing polls, but by actually moving our asses and doing something,
and being relentless, perhaps, they'd get the message better.

What is Ironic is how those who profess to wanting something start predicting the future
in such a cynical way in a thread about keeping moving on, until it appears that their
only goal is to discourage those of us who are working on this.

After all is said and done, if we don't get to the 50, at least we'll know who
is standing in the way. May not be a PO we end up with, but if we don't,
at least we'll now who it is that stopped what it is that we wanted.

This is a process and we are a part of it. No, there aren't any fucking guarantees....
and so yeah...whatever we want, we are gonna have to fight for it. No feeding grapes
to mouths while hatching conspiracy theories, while being MIA as front line soldiers.

Those not willing to fight, can do all of the cynical conspiratorial opining they want,
but they should always remember that they themselves didn't add one iota to what
was needed to be done, cause they were so busy being the theorizing know everything grasshoppers,
instead of the hardworking dedicated ants.

[David Zephyr]

35. First of all, the build up toward 50 for the PO is possible because of Dems like Dennis

I'm not predicting the future, but past is, as they say, prologue.

I would love to be wrong. You can hang me from the highest tree and I'll provide the rope. I'd love to believe it, but we'll see.

In the meantime, by being resolute, holding his ground, Dennis and others like him along with the 40 pro-choice House Dems are inadvertently allowing the support for the PO by reconciliation have time to grow. Think about that.

[FrenchieCat]

37. Maybe so......

so you ought to think about it too.

I don't have a problem with Kucinich being Kucinich.
I wasn't expecting much different from what he's giving us.
Ain't nothing wrong with that.
There has been negotiations with the Conservadems,
so I don't see why there shouldn't be any compromising with the progressive wing too.....
but at some point, we need to get her done......period.
I think we have like 5 weeks, or something close thereto.

[David Zephyr]

39. I like that.

here has been negotiations with the Conservadems, so I don't see why there shouldn't be any compromising with the progressive wing too.....

[ibegurpard]

36. what would you suggest we do?

go to rallies? check
write our congresscritters? check
talk about it to everyone who will listen to we're blue in the face? check
what else do you suggest?
Do you understand why there is such RAGE at Democrats? because people are doing these things and being ignored.

[FrenchieCat]

38. Not everyone is "en-Raged"......

and not as many as should are doing the things you've mentioned,
even if you are.....
and you would know then that's its what it takes.....hard consistent work.

having 40 Senators thus far ain't "doing these things and being ignored",
and there is time yet.

That's what this thread is about.
What this thread isn't about is feeding discouragement,
although that would be an easy thing to do.

[jeanpalmer]

58. We don't need people representing us

who sit around waiting for e-mails and telephone calls. We need people of principle like Bernies Sanders, Sherrod Brown, and Dennis Kucinich who know instinctively what to do. If they have to scratch their asses and wait for phone calls, get rid of them.

[freddie mertz]

47. I have no faith in any of them, but that does not mean I am not "fighting"...

Time to retire the "if you are in any way critical of the process, then you must, by definition, be someone who DOES NOTHING" meme.

It was old in 2008, and is inexcusable now.

[jeanpalmer]

57. How about doing it out of principle

because it's the right thing to do. And why not take a complete head count today! Instead of drawing it out like it's some kind of drama. They all know where they stand -- take a head count. This is just pr.

[CTLawGuy]

40. it's a conspiracy!

but is it a CORPORATE conspiracy? Those are my favorite!

:sarcasm:

[HughMoran]

42. Yes, the Democrats opposed to it are just pretending

It's all part of a vast Public Option conspiracy!

Oooga Booga!

[Dawgs]

43. I was thinking the same thing this morning.

:hi:

[freddie mertz]

48. Until we get a vote, this is nothing but posturing.

I support the effort, and have made the calls and signed the petitions...

But let's be realistic, we also know that THEY know the "base" is pissed off about this, and they want us to THINK they are being responsive.

Claiming to support the effort is a good first step.

Now let's get on to a VOTE, and separate the patriots from the charlatans.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

53. Yes, this very well could be a political fig leaf --

that some Dems are trying to hide behind come electiom time. :(

[HughMoran]

41. Now here's some good news we can all agree on!

:woohoo:

[Supersedeas]

52. We will Kay Hagan join the list!!!