Senators Feingold & Rockefeller Campaign For A Public Option. What about the other Dem Senators?

- Where are they, why are they not speaking out loudly right now in defense of a strong public option?
The Republican Senators have been dominating the discussion with their attacks on a public option. Senators Feingold and Rockefeller could use a lot of help, some backing from the Senators who have said they support a public action. Their silence and absence from this battle isn't helping matters. -


Key Demos defend public option in health plan
By ANNE E. KORNBLUT and PERRY BACON JR.
Washington Post
August 18, 2009

WASHINGTON -- Several leading Democrats voiced concern Monday about an apparent White House shift on health-care overhaul, objecting to indications that President Barack Obama may abandon the idea of a government-run insurance plan.

In the Senate, where negotiations now are focused, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va., said a public option, as the plan has become known, is "a must." Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., said that without it, "I don't see how we will bring real change to a system that has made good health care a privilege for those who can afford it."

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090818/NEWS/908181071?Title=Key-Demos-defend-public-option-in-health-plan

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Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold in Support of a Public Health Insurance Option

Monday, August 17, 2009

“A public option is a fundamental part of ensuring health care reform brings about real change. Opposing the public plan is an endorsement of the status quo in this country that has left tens of millions of Americans uninsured or underinsured and put massive burdens on employers. I have heard too many horror stories from my constituents about how the so-called competitive marketplace has denied them coverage from the outset, offered a benefit plan that covers everything but what they need or failed them some other way. A strong public option would ensure competition in the industry to provide the best, most affordable insurance for Americans and bring down the skyrocketing health care costs that are the biggest contributor to our long-term budget deficits. I am not interested in passing health care reform in name only. Without a public option, I don’t see how we will bring real change to a system that has made good health care a privilege for those who can afford it.”

http://feingold.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=317096

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Rockefeller wants to cut private health insurance influence
By Paul J. Nyden
Staff writer
Charleston Gazette
June 25, 2009

Today, Rockefeller is an outspoken political leader seeking to create a public health plan and cut the profits made by private insurance companies.

"To me, there is nothing that ultimately makes more difference to Americans than health care.

"We can't count on insurance companies. They are just maximizing their profits. They are sticking it to consumers.

"I am all for letting insurance companies compete. But I want them to compete in a system that offers real health-care insurance. I call it a public plan," Rockefeller said.

Earlier this month, Rockefeller introduced the Consumers Health Care Act that would give all consumers the option to participate in a government-run plan competing with private plans.

"I think the anger against insurance companies is going to spread," Rockefeller said Thursday. "But a public plan, run by the government, will make sure doctors get paid, hospitals get paid and people get good health care.

"There is a very small chance any Republicans will vote for this health-care plan. They were against Medicare and Medicaid . They voted against children's health insurance.

"We have a moral choice. This is a classic case of the good guys versus the bad guys. I know it is not political for me to say that," Rockefeller added.

"But do you want to be non-partisan and get nothing? Or do you want to be partisan and end up with a good health- care plan? That is the choice."

http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/200906250731

(Applies to Rockefeller, not Feingold)

I can't find a reference for it, but years ago, I remember an interview with the Senator. His mother, who eventually died of Alzheimer's, was unable to get health insurance, at any price. If a Rockefeller can't get insurance, he said, then what chance does the average American have.

Because the Rockefellers have tons of money and don't need to buy health insurance. They can pay cash. I'm sure that he easily covered the cost of providing full time nursing and other assistance for his mother.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200611/green-hillary/3

His mother, Blanchette Rockefeller, died in 1992. The original interview I referenced in my previous post was probably from the mid-1990s, and I can't find it on the Internet. Yeah, Jay can afford to pay for long-term care for his mother. But he's a Democrat. He has empathy. He realizes that most people can't afford the kind of care that he can pay for.

I know that a lot of folks on this board don't like Rockefeller. They seem him as too conservative, and fault him for not making public the intelligence reports regarding the Iraq War. He has voted with the Democratic majority 95.8% of the time in the current Congress, according to the Washington Post's Votes Database. He's no Ben Nelson or Joe Lieberman!