Voting Against a Bill Without a Public Option

Right now, there are about 60 Progressive members of the House who have signed a pledge to vote against a bill without a robust public option. There is some controversy on the left as to whether this is such a good plan or not. I support these Representatives strongly, although I understand some reasons why people who do support a public option might think this is a bad idea or even silliness.

First, I think the arguments against are basically the same old idea that you should take what you can get, and maybe we just can't get a public option. People don't want health insurance/care reform to die entirely just because this one aspect of it isn't there. To an extent, I agree with this. I would rather we get some of it done than none of it.

However, I think this is a watershed moment for both the future of health care and the future of Progressive politics in America, and I think that if House Progressives roll over on this, they will be unlikely to ever get the White House or anyone else to listen in the future. Right now, it seems that the White House and the rest of the Dem leadership has been willing to roll over on basically every piece of craziness coming from the right, such as death panels and this nonsensical argument about coverage of illegal immigrants. However, everything the left wants seems to be consistently watered down or abandoned entirely. It seems to me that this is because the Dem leadership knows that the right and the right-leaning Dems will really, truly, actually vote against a bill if they don't get what they want, and the White House then has to cave because they assume that Progressives will still vote for the bill anyway. It's like a game of chicken, only so far, the Progressives have always caved. I know, because I vote for people like Senator Mark Warner because the alternative is a disaster like Gilmore. And I'm about to vote for Creigh Deeds because the alternative is Bob McDonnell (who apparently thinks I need to go find a man who can support me because women in the workplace is detrimental to families).

Not this time. Progressives need to finally stand up and say "no more." We need to prove to the rest of the political world that we are here, we're not going away, and we are powerful. Yes, I'd rather have some of it than nothing at all, but if we show we are willing to walk away from the table, then it becomes politically hard NOT to include the public option, rather than only being politically hard TO include it. Furthermore, it will guarantee the Progressives a seat at the table in the future, and probably grow the movement significantly once people see we can actually get things done. Obama supports the, 58% of Americans support the public option, and we are very close to having enough votes (yes, even in the Senate!) to get it done.

Thank you to the brave, principled Congresspeople who have taken this pledge. Please, for all our sakes, stick to it!