Progressive Democrats take a stand on health care

Some members of Congress are going to fight for a robust public option and a single-payer amendment

August 3 - Last Friday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a 1,000-page health care bill with a 31 to 28 vote, fulfilling Speaker Nancy Pelosi's promise to get approval on the bill from all three House panels before leaving Washington for a five-week-long recess. An amendment proposed by Representative Anthony Wiener, which would have created national single-payer, was supported passionately by a number of members of the committee. At the hearing, Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) spoke in favour of the health care bill. "The goal is to provide every American, finally, after so many decades, with an opportunity to have affordable access to health care. The goal is not to just support an insurance industry that has brought us to a point where we live sicker, die younger, and pay twice as much as any other country," Schakowsky said. The outspoken support for single-payer was echoed the day before, on July 30, at a rally organized by Health Care Now, commemorating the 44th anniversary of Medicare at Upper Senate Park. TRNN producer Ania Smolenskaia spoke to activist David Swanson, of Democrats.org, who attended both the rally and a press conference held by single-payer supporters. At the press conference, Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, announced her caucus's support for single-payer. "We have a letter to the leadership and to the three committee chairs that will, during this break, pull the three committees together and all the bills together. We have 53 signatures on our letter, and I have a few to hand out to you, and you'll know how strong and how committed we are. We've gathered here today to demand that the final health-care reform legislation has a robust public option," Woolsey spoke. Swanson told TRNN that the public Progressive demonstration of support for single payer was commendable. "[It's] so rare for progressives to take a stand that you have to almost stop and cheer. But, you know, many of the more active citizens who really want a serious solution want better, [they] want to push for single-payer. And so I was at the press conference, and I asked whether they would fight to keep the language in the bill that would allow states to do single-payer should they choose. And the response I got was "Hell, yes, we'll fight for that." Swanson also told TRNN that even if a nation-wide single-payer is not feasible, there is still legislation open to the creation of single-payer states. "When the Labor and Education Committee voted out its bill, there was an amendment successfully attached by Congressman Dennis Kucinich that would make it easier for states to develop single-payer. [If} we get [a successful vote on single-payer] in the fall, to fight for a better public option, whatever those possibilities turn out to be, and to fight to keep that language in that would at least allow states to do better than whatever the federal government does." To view the complete video, please click on the link below: http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&ta ... For Press Inquiries, please contact: Sharmini Peries Senior Editorial Board Member US 917 463 3599 US CELL: 310 384 9947 CAN CELL: 416 402 9478 Email: sharmini@therealnews.com