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60 Seats in the Senate?

Posted by nyceve on October 5, 2008 - 12:12pm

There's an interesting article in Politico which makes the case for a possible 60 seat filibuster proof Democratic Senate.  An unthinkable dream only a few short weeks ago, is now being discussed as the electoral landscape looks increasingly dire for the thoroughly discredited Republican Party. Should this happen, such a miraculous turn of events, would be further fallout of the economic catastrophe Mr. Bush created and now bequeathes to his successor.

Certainly, a sixty seat Democratic Senate, would also be the ultimate referendum on the last eight years of the worst and most corrupt administration in the history of our nation. Finally, a neutered and defanged Republican Party. 

If this happens, will we see great progressive legislation? Will we see at the top of the list, universal, affordable and guaranteed healthcare reform? Will such historic legislation move with lightening speed through the House and the Senate and be signed into law by President Obama? 

Many analysts believe the financial crisis will worsen dramatically (despite the bailout of Wall Street) between now and January 20th. The collapse of the U.S. healthcare system seems poised to be the next shoe to drop in the pyramid scheme legacy of the Bush Administration.

 

As Rose Ann DeMoro states in The Nation, "If only the federal government could be mobilized so quickly to solve the nation's healthcare crisis."  Perhaps the repercussions from the bailout, and a 60 seat Senate will give us an unprecedented historic opportunity to enact sweeping healthcare reform.

What must single-payer activists do between now and then, to prepare for a possible 60 seat Democratic Senate? 

 

The meltdown of the U.S. economy has Americans deciding between milk and medicine. We won't get a second chance to make healthcare the top domestic priority of the Obama Administration.

President Obama will of necessity, hit the ground running. His economic team has some mess to deal with. 

Will we too be ready? 



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We are ready for reform

Submitted by Donna Smith - S... on October 6, 2008 - 7:55am.

The challenge for all of us will be to focus our energy now and immediately post-election to keep the single payer message moving forward. As major health reform becomes a more likely possibility, the forces hoping to protect the for-profit private health insurance giants will step up their efforts even more to make sure that buying more of their product -- private health insurance -- is more certainly part of the mix going forward.

Work on single payer must continue to educate citizens so that when they hear a ruse they will recognize it as such. I'd rather see a real health reform "bail-out", er, I mean rescue package, passed in the first term (as Obama is promising) than see a quickly presented and passed half-effort with more insurance company growth pushed through the Senate.

I hope the experience of the Wall Street bail-out (no hearings, no chance for public comment, etc) will make passing legislation become a more considered and careful process with the new Congress.

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Citizens between elections

Submitted by lucretiamott on October 6, 2008 - 11:14am.

Read with great interest RoseAnn's piece about the swiftness of the Wall-Street Bailout bill and the bi-partisan spirit behind the emergency measure to save Wall Street and its money lenders. My question is when do we, the citizens of this country, get something we actually need like HR 676. That's been waiting in the wings for quite awhile now and yet, no bipartisan spirit to help out patients who are now showing up at "Health Care Expos" to see a doctor or a dentist and get their kids vaccinated because they can't afford un-affordable health insurance.

The health care system is already on life-support and yet no one is talking about it's impending collapse from the same corporate entities who put money first and the patients dead last.

Looking beyond November 4th, what do citizens do between elections outside of just waiting for the next campaign or candidate to come along asking for our support, our money and our precious vote.

Yes, I'm voting and working to raise money for Obama but I'm also thinking beyond 08, when the problems and my patients will still be there. I'm focusing as a nurse and a member of CNA/NNOC on HR 676 and SB 840 in 09 and how to convince more Americans in the long run it will not only save money but our very lives as well. I want to be part of a movement of citizens between election cycles.

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