EDITORIAL:

Hardball Time

When you come right down to it, the Weiner gambit to substitute a single-payer bill for the Massachusetts plan writ large was always a symbolic gesture, but one much of the health reform movement clung to as a test of our strength at the grassroots level. We’ve worked hard for years now to pressure our representatives in congress to stand up for HR676, the Conyers-Kucinich Medicare-for-all bill. And we’ve not been afraid to play hardball with them. Some suggest that the corrupting influence of the health insurance industry and other pigs at the trough is at play here, and of course they’re right. But there’s an additional factor, the lack of backbone factor. There’s a reluctance to step out of line and be identified as a die-hard opponent of greedy corporations, the real death panels. The Republican Party and the tea baggers will target you next year and make your life a living hell. So everyone plays hardball except the Democratic Party majority. The screaming tea baggers have set the agenda, and we haven’t consolidated our power enough to move in a different direction.

The Kucinich Amendment to grant states the waivers necessary to succeed at creating a breakthrough for real healthcare reform was our best hope to make a difference. And it too has been declared off the table.

This is where we need to take a stand. But we cannot afford any illusions here either. Some imply that the fact that California twice passed a single-payer bill harkens well for our movement. We need to be aware that the California constitution requires bills with funding mandates to pass by two-thirds. So the California bill lacked a funding provision. However, the passage of the bill, twice, was vital for movement building, but of itself was symbolic, not practical. In Massachusetts for years we wrestled with the question of whether to include a funding mechanism in our single-payer bill. For years our legislative sponsors counseled us not to. For the last several sessions we have included such a funding piece. But either with or without the funding, our bill never came out of committee, no matter how compelling our arguments at hearings or how many prestigious individuals and dedicated grass-roots people we mobilized at the State House. Several years ago a delegations from Mass-Care had a heart-to-heart talk with the House chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care, where she admitted that nothing comes out of her committee without the approval of the health insurance industry. In other words, single payer has been declared off the table here too. So maybe California or Massachusetts won’t be the US equivalent of Saskatchewan, but maybe Vermont, Maine, or any of the other states will make the breakthrough and set the example for the country. We are working hard to get Bernie Sanders’ initiatives in place. The movement is hoping to get ten senators to vote from the floor for Bernie’s single-payer substitution proposal (S.703), and many are hoping that the state-waiver piece to facilitate single payer will be included in the Senate version and survive conference.

So put the heat on Washington to stand up for this opportunity to win at the state level. Give them some backbone.

– Sandy Eaton, RN, Editor of CommonHealth

KUDOS:

Martin Luther King Award/CBTU

On January 18, 2010 MoSP was honored by the Coalition of Black Trade Unions. At the 32nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Human Rights Awards Banquet, MoSP was one of three groups presented with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights Award. The Coalition of Black Trade Unions supports HR676 and honored MoSP for our work to secure health care for all. Julia Lamborn, President accepted the award for MoSP. Stefany Brot, Esther Clark, and Mimi Signor were in attendance to help with the celebration. Over 300 people were in attendance for this awards presentation. Two standing ovations were received for our work. Sometimes we think no one notices or no one cares, but then something happens to refresh us.

We thank the CBTU for the award and thank all MoSP members and friends, without whom we would not survive.