So, are we going to actually do anything about the health insurance reform bill? Let's really talk.

Seriously.

DU has many brilliant posts and threads exposing the truth of the situation and the majority of this board is against the health insurance reform bill as currently written. And, this isn't limited to health care but the entire corporate governance of our country.

Okay, now what?

We are all floundering without leadership. Waiting for someone to do something. Phone calls and emails and letter writing are good actions but they aren't nearly enough. This nation is in red alert emergency crisis.

So, DU, what do you propose WE as a community do? What are your ideas to fight back for real reform before they enslave us into the for-profit insurance system for another decade or two? I am not being sarcastic, let's have a discussion. Should we ally with Mad As Hell Doctors and commit daily acts of protest?

How about a video campaign by the community?

Photographic journal of the suffering caused by the industry to garner media attention?

Rally a protest in Washington with all the other progressive and liberal sites - a commitment to get off the computer and onto the streets that we don't just talk about? Shut Washington down. We could all coordinate together for transportation, shelter, and resources.

Protest art across bridges?

Don't let this post fall to the bottom. Contribute. Give ideas. Think outside the box. We must join together to DO something.

Action posts sadly often fall to the bottom of the page and disappear within a hour on DU. This has to stop. We need to DO. We need to act.

We must be the change we want to see in the world.

Discuss:

of Leadership Positions, KILL THIS BILL.

I hope for nothing less than Status Quo GRIDLOCK in Congress until we can get legislators who care MORE about their constituents than lining their own pockets through kick-backs from corporate donors.

...you need to reconsider your strategy.

I have spent six months of my life studying this issue in depth. I know this bill is the wrong thing.

That is what this post is about. Action.

Campaign finance reform is a huge issue, but it isn't something that motivates people to action. A people's movement to overthrow corporate politicians and retaking of our government is the first step towards getting good policy enacted.

How?

How?

enough of them around that people can put their money into accounts with them instead of the big banks. The real health business unions that we need to develop could be maybe our own comprehensive and non-profit health insurance to compete with the profiteers. Since the only thing that this health bill left open, after forcing people to buy insurance, is a kind of choice of which insurance they will buy. How about something we put together ourselves?

So there is that. I am almost as certain that such an act would mark the end of health care reform for the rest of Obama's term, unless we can get a solid progressive majority elected this year (not looking very likely from my perspective.)

Am I wrong?

Not until I see a path to a better legislation. This bill is flawed, imperfect and generally sucky. We will have to fight and claw and struggle in the years to come to make it good legislation. But as flawed as it is, it is better than the nothing we have now. I regret that the bar is so low, but it is. It just is.

I have written about this until my fingers are stiff. Go to my journal if you want the arguments and reasons why this is so bad. It is all there. It goes back months and months and months. I took the time to write it, so if you are truly interested in the reasons why, go there.

Can you point me to the pertinent posts in your journal? I just clicked, and I've read many of your entries at the top, but I'm not sure which ones are most cogent to the current discussion. Thanks.

If you flip through, the vast majority are on health care reform - I would go to the November & December posts for specific details that emerged late in the game.

We'll likely have a disaster equal to or exceeding the current one within 10 years at the most. Without a public option, the reform is halfhearted and short term.

However, it's the best we're going to get out of a Congress full of conservatives and it's better than nothing. I've been living with nothing since I lost insurance in 1987 and I know that for a fact.

The most effective thing we can do is everything we can to elect any candidate who promises to revisit this issue next term. We need to defeat conservative Democrats in their primaries where possible and work to elect Democrats everywhere. That's going to take legwork, writing, contributions, and all that hard stuff nobody really wants to do.

The bill is a terrible one. The only way to serve notice on conservatives that their day in the sun is over is to get them out of office. That's the only way we'll ever get a rational health care system or anything else.

and you'll find your specifics.

And, discussing ideas to move ahead with that action.

Expand on the ideas suggested in the post. How do we implement them in the real world?

How do we get off the computer and enact them?

I haven't had one person respond. I threw out some general ideas to get the discussion flowing.

HOW do we get conservadems et al. out of office, when, e.g., the media does all it can to destroy every decent progressive candidate -- see the media's treatment of Edwards, Dean, and Kucinich, and compare their treatment of conservatives -- among many other challenges we face.

You can disagree with my specific example, but I think most of us agree on the drift: We've already done all kinds of protests, and work for the party, and giving $$ we could ill afford. So far, it's not working.

We are up against a lot. We need campaign finance reform, media reform, education reform. Our last great hope for spreading understanding of the problem, the internets, are rapidly being colonized and controlled by the same corps. that control everything else (along with our public schools, water supplies, etc.)

I'll NEVER give up; but I agree with debbierlus: we need NEW IDEAS and we need them FAST; AND we need to ACT on them.

The most effective thing we can do is everything we can to elect any candidate who promises to revisit this issue next term. We need to defeat conservative Democrats in their primaries where possible and work to elect Democrats everywhere. That's going to take legwork, writing, contributions, and all that hard stuff nobody really wants to do.

The bill is a terrible one. The only way to serve notice on conservatives that their day in the sun is over is to get them out of office. That's the only way we'll ever get a rational health care system or anything else.

got us.

NOw, you expect us to do it once more, with NO sign that we would not get fucked again.

For those of us who have been fighting the pukes for 40-50 years, the well is about dry.
For the young who were promised so much, the well has been punctured from the (right) side and drained.

The only water left is that trapped in the bucket - and it thinks it is in control. Truth is - the bucket is in control.

(well, along with factionalism), it tends to either give up after only part of a goal was achieved or rest on its laurels when it gets the whole thing.

It's a constant battle and we old battle scarred ex 60s agitators will probably not live to see the victory.

That doesn't mean we don't stop fighting the right with everything we have left.

. . . is co-opted or conflated by our party with the republican opposition. It's a losing effort to oppose the bill's passage, imo. I'm not even sure I want to be anywhere near the republican opposition in that effort, even in perception. That's what our Democratic leaders are counting on in their political approach to moving the negotiations forward to some compromise bill. They're busy assuring the Democratic caucus they'll have their concerns 'heard' while focusing most of their effort on overcoming republican and conservative Democrats' opposition to a final version. I don't think our progressive membership has made enough of a fight on our behalf, and I don't think our own efforts within the party have been forceful enough either. Part of the reason for that is due to the dynamic I describe above.

We need to be more forceful and persuasive in our arguments while working to build coalitions around our advocacy and positions, but the bulk of our party is bogged down with just defending the process itself against the republicans. Party leaders aren't ignorant of that dynamic and are moving (politically, rhetorically) to make passage of the bill an issue of republicans against our righteous Democrats, while playing down the objections of our own membership.

I suggest working on our progressive House members who promised to stand firm on the final bill. Beyond that, we can focus on the midterms, but I'm still wary of the dynamic of republicans angling to make a similar appeal against the bill (whatever the outcome) in their own campaigns.

Are we reduced to mere phone calls and shrugs of shoulders?

And, I couldn't disagree more with you about not speaking out and demanding real reform because we will be compared with the tea baggers. If we can't overcome that spin, we are dead in the water.

. . . that's a damn good question.

I'm not advocating not speaking out, I'm just pointing out the dynamic that we're running up against when we've protested to our legislators in this recent political climate and landscape. Crack that nut and we're in politically.

I've been thinking about this for a few, and I come down to basic politics. There is no easy answer, and I think you can see from my participation here that I advocate MORE speaking out, not less advocacy in the face of the confusion of loyalties from our party defenders.

That understood, we do need to rally better coalitions around our initiatives and views; use those coalitions to organize and elect representatives who share and promise to represent those views; then we need to hold them accountable at election day. That's not a foolproof calculation. We can't lose sight of the worse prospect of a republican majority rule and we'll always find it difficult to choose between withholding support for a recalcitrant progressive and enabling a knuckle-dragging republican challenger to slip in. The only answer is more advocacy. Remain engaged and insistent, even in the face of political defeat. Employ EVERY instigation of democracy in that effort.

what about a 24-hour ongoing demonstration in the form of bumperstickers and pins?

Say you buy up 100 pins that say something like "Single-Payer Health Care" or "Not Health Insurance, Health CARE." Every time someone compliments you on your button, hand them a couple of your extras and ask them to pass them along.

You could do the same with bumperstickers.

People who advocate progressive causes tend to feel alone in many environments. Seeing others expressing the same sentiments in unexpected places can be a real morale booster.

Also, many states have organizations dedicated to single-payer health care. Many DUers will be able to join their state organizations.

The Democratic Party and Democratic Party leaders don't organize mass movements. They may support or endorse specific mass actions, and that is good, but they won't build them.

We have to.

And we need to look back at our history to get ideas on how effective and powerful mass movements were organized.

If we don't learn from history we'll continue to fumble around and make mistakes. We need to learn from both the mistakes and successes of earlier generations.

Really, it is about individuals stepping up and organizing around one cause. Right now, I have a lot on my plate locally with the anti-abortion Susan B Anthony's list setting up shop in my town and fighting a Super Wal-mart coming to town. I have a website in the works as well (with a fantastic web designer), however I have been stuck on direction.

Thank you for keeping up the excellent posts on healthcare reform, btw. You have really been on top of it. Since we have been posting and being bashed in tandum, I consider you a strong allie and I will keep you up to date with the things I have been working on.