Philadelphia Weekly

When I read that Clinton-era fossil/Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel says "Obama is 'open to alternatives' to a new government insurance program in order to get legislation overhauling the health-care system to his desk", my initial reaction was exactly what it is now: FUCK THAT.

I realize this may be news to many of the 556 members of the House and Senate receiving government-provided health care, but here in this place called "Reality" we're in the middle of a crisis that has been building for years, and which just got worse as GM moved into bankruptcy, shedding thousand of jobs, including the "termination of health benefits and jeopardiz[ing] retirement benefits for current and former employees and their families." We have millions without care, and a lot more who are routinely denied coverage by an industry that puts profits over the people it's supposed to serve. And now you guys are signaling that maybe we won't get a public option after all? You have to be shittin' me.

Now, so far as representation on the issue goes, we're semi-lucky in Pennsylvania. Sen. Bob Casey has come out strongly for a public option. Even pretend Democrat Arlen Specter is making noises about a public option. And we have reliable progressive Chaka Fattah on the case as well.

Oh wait.

Maybe not so reliable.

You see, just last month Fattah, a member of the Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus, voted for another supplemental that funds the wars he claims he wants to end. In addition, the bill contained a massive hundred-billion-dollar loan to the IMF, for the purpose of bailing out European banks. Fattah even signed onto a letter distributed by Maxine Waters, putting his objections on the record. So why did he vote for the final bill? I've called the office in DC a few times to inquire, and have never received an answer that made any sense at all.

And guess what? When it comes to health care reform, I've been getting the exact same kind of runaround. No one is his DC office seems to be willing to nail down Congressman Fattah's position on health care reform. His West Philadelphia office couldn't answer either, and referred me (where else?) back to DC. The most anyone would say was that he supports a public plan.

"What does that mean?" I asked. "Something strong like Medicare? Or something toothless like Kent Conrad's "co-op" proposal?" The aide repeated herself, saying "The congressman supports a public plan, but I can't tell you how he'll vote."

It's not exactly rocket science: As a progressive, it shouldn't be too hard for Fattah to say unequivocally, "I am for a public option, available immediately to everyone, and accountable to the voters. And I won't support anything that doesn't do that." I mean, if wishy washy Bob Casey can make a solid statement, why can't staunch progressive Chaka Fattah?

So you'll pardon me if I'm less than satisfied with the congressman, and less than willing to assume he'll vote the right way on health care. It's very easy to say you're for this thing or the other, and quite another to actually act on those statements. In fact, in the past three years since the Democrats took control of the House, the Senate, and now the White House, it has been VERY difficult to get the so-called party of working people to actually live up to their promises.

The sad fact is that electing Democrats wasn't enough. (Did anybody really think it would be?). But it's worse than that. As comedian Bill Maher lamented last week, the Democrats have moved so far to the right, they've become the new Republicans, the "party for hedge fund managers, credit card companies, banks, defense contractors, big agriculture and the pharmaceutical lobby."

Shouldn't there be one party that unambiguously supports cutting the military budget? A party that is straight up in favor of gun control, gay marriage, higher taxes on the rich, universal healthcare, legalizing pot and steep direct taxing of polluters?

These aren't radical ideas. A majority of Americans are either already for them, or would be if they were properly argued and defended. And what we need is an actual Progressive party to represent the millions of Americans who aren't being served by the Democrats. Because, bottom line, Democrats are the new Republicans.

I'm not waiting for Chaka Fattah to just hand me my health care on a silver platter. I made that mistake on the vote to continue funding our wars, directing my calls to people like Pat Murphy and Bob Brady, assuming Fattah was already on the right side.

I'm not about to let that happen again. That's why I'm thankful for people like Jane Hamsher at firedoglake. Disgusted by Democratic faithlessness when it came to funding a war they promised to end, she set up a Citizen's Whip Tool. Why leave the job of uniting our reps to James Clyburn, when through concerted, coordinated action we can do it ourselves? In the end, we failed to stop the war funding, but we made the Obama Administration fight for it. We needed 39 votes to stop the bill, and starting from zero we made it all the way to 36, dragging the president himself into the fight to whip for what is now HIS war.

In short, we made an impact. And we can do it again. There is a broad and well-funded coalition of insurance companies, doctors, and politicians ready to fight for the status quo of service denial, pre-existing conditions, and premiums no one can pay. IF you want health care reform, you are going to have to fight for it yourself: Click here to tell Chaka Fattah (and Bob Brady, and Mike Doyle, and anyone else who should be standing up for health care reform) to vote for a public plan that's available nationwide, on day one, and which is accountable to Congress and the voters. No other vote will suffice.

Don't doubt that concerted citizens' advocacy can work. By Wednesday June 25, the Congressional Progressive Caucus stated they won't vote for anything that doesn't have a public plan: so far Congressmen Keith Ellison; (MN) and Raul Grijalva (AZ) both issued strong statements detailing their position. Fattah? I've been calling for the past 4 days to no avail. And while his website lists a number of health-related priorities, neither single-payer health care or even a public option is mentioned. You can send a message to the Congressman: 202,225.4001 is his DC number. Tell him I told you to call.

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Addendum: Last week, in the comments to "The Dead Pool" I suggested that some of the wealthiest corporations in Philadelphia, who receive major tax breaks and other incentives to set up shop here, should contribute to the cost of keeping ALL of Philadelphia's pools open. That garnered some criticism, and I want to clarify my position. I don't believe that corporations should "move in on that space," at least not in any permanent sense. However, I do believe that "to whom much is given, much is expected."  Verizon beat expectations in the first quarter of 2009 and did quite well for itself in 2008. Comcast tells a similar story. Goldman Sachs, who many hold responsible for much of our economic woes "reported a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter profit Monday, bouncing back from its worst quarter as a public company".

Those corporations, many of which are headquartered here, can afford to drop $3 million per year on the city's pools for the duration of the crisis, allowing the city some space to get back on its feet. I have no objection to letting them put up a [removable] banner or a sign touting their contribution if that sweetens the offer. All of these companies like to boast of their "good corporate citizenship," and keeping our community pools open is a perfect way to walk the walk. However, I want to make clear that my suggestion for increased corporate philanthropy is not taken as endorsement of privatization.