Schumer and 16 other Senators sign on to Public Option! Will Chris Dodd?

Just wrote Dodd (0.00 / 0)

inviting him to sign and listing the reasons why reform isn't meaningful to me without a public option.  

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by: saramerica @ Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 00:09:48 AM UTC

I called Dodd's office yesterday and (0.00 / 0)

spoke to his aide.  She said he's looking at the letter and hasn't decided yet.  I asked when she thought he'd come forward with a decision and she said that "he's out of the country on official business and the office hasn't had much contact with him".  I asked her to relay the message that I'm in full support of the public option and him signing the letter.  

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by: LAF @ Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 13:38:14 PM UTC

What he said (0.00 / 0)

"I believe that the public option is a key component to successful reform, and I will continue to lead the fight for it on the Senate floor."

Chris Dodd
October 26, 2009 press statement

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by: iBlog @ Sun Feb 21, 2010 at 21:32:12 PM UTC

The non-response I just received from Chris Dodd re: if he will sign on to the Public Option (0.00 / 0)

Thank you for contacting me regarding health care. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

I share your concern about the future of health care in the United States. Those who lack health insurance coverage face significant risks to their physical, emotional, and financial well-being should they or a family member become seriously ill. Even in times of good health, the fear of the potential financial consequences of injury or illness can be overwhelming.

The need for comprehensive health care reform could not be more dire. I strongly support quality affordable health care for all Americans. Health care costs are skyrocketing; in Connecticut, from 2000 to 2009, health insurance premiums for working families have increased nearly 95.9 percent. The costs associated with treating the uninsured are shifted to those with health insurance, resulting in an increase in their premiums of more than $1,000 a year, per family. Today, approximately 47 million Americans lack health insurance. The large majority of these individuals are members of families with at least one person working outside the home. According to Families USA, 86.7 million Americans under the age of 65 were uninsured for some period of time between 2007 and 2008. Health insurance makes a significant difference in how and when individuals receive care and, ultimately, in their overall health. According to the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, those without health insurance are three to four times more likely than those with insurance to report problems accessing needed medical care and are more likely to be hospitalized for avoidable health problems. Considering the impact of a lack of insurance, this issue demands an immediate and aggressive response.

As a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), I am proud to have had the opportunity to serve as chief deputy for health reform to former Chairman Ted Kennedy. Serving in that role, I am pleased to have shepherded the HELP Committee's health care reform bill, The Affordable Health Choices Act through the committee process. Most recently, I worked with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus to merge the HELP and Finance Committees' health care bills into one Senate bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. On December 24 2009, the Senate voted to pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I am proud that this landmark legislation will reduce health costs, protect individuals' choice of doctors and plans, and assure quality and affordable health care for Americans. This legislation offers a comprehensive and thorough approach that comes in under budget and finally makes stable, affordable, quality care available to every American. I have every hope that this bill will be reconciled with the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives and become law soon.

This journey began last January when I hosted a series of town hall meetings across Connecticut, under the title "Connecticut Prescriptions for Change," to listen to the experiences and ideas of the people of Connecticut related to health reform. I appreciated all the feedback and participation at these events, and compiled the stories and ideas I learned and used them when working with the committee to craft this legislation, which I have included a summary of for your review. Please be assured I will continue to keep your views in mind as we move closer to making our country stronger and healthier.

You should also be aware that on February 4, 2009, President Obama signed into law H.R. 2, The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2009. I strongly supported this legislation that will provide an additional $32.8 billion for the program over the next four and a half years. This increase in funding will help to provide health care for an additional 4.1 million uninsured children. CHIP has proven itself a successful program for covering previously uninsured children. There are currently more than 6 million children enrolled in this landmark program, and since the implementation of CHIP, enormous progress has been made in reducing disparities in children's coverage rates. Uninsured children who gain coverage through CHIP receive more preventive care and their parents report better access to providers and improved communications with their children's doctors.

Additionally, President Obama recently signed into law the historic American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, PL 111-5. For Connecticut, it couldn't come at a more critical moment. This bill will provide a direct infusion of funding to Connecticut for critical investments in health. Among other things, these investments include $1.32 billion in Medicaid Assistance for the HUSKY program, $1.5 billion for community health centers, $10 billion for biomedical research, $24.7 billion for COBRA continuation coverage and nearly $1 billion for prevention and wellness programs. Taken together, these investments in our health care infrastructure will enhance our ability to provide care for Connecticut residents.

Thank you again for contacting me. If you would like to stay in touch with me on this and other issues of importance, please visit my website at http://dodd.senate.gov and subscribe to receive my regular e-mail issue alerts. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if I may be of assistance to you in any way.

A simple yes or no answer would have sufficed. But I'm reading this as a no. And I'm very disappointed.

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by: saramerica @ Tue Feb 23, 2010 at 20:42:38 PM UTC

I've been calling too (0.00 / 0)

The message I've heard is that he's for the public option but against doing it through reconciliation. Since you can't have the public option without reconciliation, then he's effectively against the public option, in my opinion.

I've never seen anyone who tries as hard to come across as a liberal stalwart, but who actually isn't, than Chris Dodd.    

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by: CaptCT @ Tue Feb 23, 2010 at 23:19:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What's his rationale for being against doing it through reconciliation? (0.00 / 0)

Seems totally au contraire to the way he was talking pre dropping out of the race at blogger meetup in New Haven.

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by: saramerica @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 01:42:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

What's his rationale for being against doing it through reconciliation? (0.00 / 0)

Seems totally au contraire to the way he was talking pre dropping out of the race at blogger meetup in New Haven.

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by: saramerica @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 01:42:09 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

What he said (Part II) (0.00 / 0)

"First, and let me be very clear about this: I am going to fight for a strong public option. The simple, undeniable fact is that a public option will save money - and it will introduce more choice and competition into an industry that badly needs both. It is the single best way to keep costs low for middle class families - and keep the insurance companies honest. And I am by no means ready to back down on making that argument."

Chris Dodd
Posted on DailyKos.com
October 9, 2009

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by: iBlog @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 00:30:58 AM UTC

I refer you to Sam Stein's take on the issue (0.00 / 0)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/17/dianne-feinstein-signs-on_n_466435.html

UPDATE: Thursday, 4:40 PM --  Sen. Chris Dodd's (D-Conn.) office released a statement today that reiterates the senator's support for a public option for insurance coverage but doesn't touch the issue of whether he'd like to see the proposal passed using reconciliation.

"Senator Dodd is and always has been a strong supporter of the public option," the statement reads. "It was under his leadership that the HELP committee passed a bill with a strong public option last summer. And he will continue his work to get comprehensive health care reform passed."

It seems likely that the senator doesn't want to get ahead of the process. An upcoming health care summit with the White House and ongoing health care negotiations between Democratic leadership make discussion of reintroducing the public plan slightly premature. But it would be bizarre, if not highly unthinkable, to see Dodd oppose reconciliation to pass the provision after pushing it through committee and restating his support.

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by: Adam Wells @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 13:14:39 PM UTC

Stein's article is from last week ... (0.00 / 0)

... and still nothing from Dodd on reconciliation. In fact, just the opposite. He's against it.

Meanwhile Schumer and about 20 other Senators have no problem "getting ahead of the process."  Actions speak louder than words. If Dodd is for the public option, he should be working to get it passed through reconciliation.

It shouldn't be people like Jane Hamsher and Chris Bowers who are doing a PUBLIC whip count in the Senate on this. It should be Senator Dodd.

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by: CaptCT @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 14:08:25 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What he said (Part III) (0.00 / 0)

"The overwhelming majority of people in this country want options. I think having a public option, that is not subsidized by taxpayers, but can compete as part of the options available to the general public, is healthy."

Chris Dodd
New Haven Register
July 9, 2009

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by: iBlog @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 13:53:44 PM UTC

Rockefeller said the same thing as Dodd (0.00 / 0)

Back in October, as Glenn Greenwald points out, Jay Rockefeller said he'd fight for the public option:

"I will not relent on that. That's the only way to go," Rockefeller told me in an interview. "There's got to be a safe harbor."

... and now Rockefeller says this:
 

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) threw a wrench into Democratic efforts to get a public option passed through reconciliation, saying that he thought the maneuver was overly partisan and that he was inclined to oppose it. . .

   "I don't think the timing of it is very good," the West Virginia Democrat said on Monday. "I'm probably not going to vote for that" . . . In making his sentiment known, Rockefeller becomes perhaps the most unexpected skeptic of the public-option-via-reconciliation route. The Senator was a huge booster of a government run insurance option during the legislation drafting process this past year.

... inspiring this comment from Glenn Greenwald:

In other words, Rockefeller was willing to be a righteous champion for the public option as long as it had no chance of passing (sadly, we just can't do it, because although it has 50 votes in favor, it doesn't have 60).  But now that Democrats are strongly considering the reconciliation process -- which will allow passage with only 50 rather than 60 votes and thus enable them to enact a public option -- Rockefeller is suddenly "inclined to oppose it" because he doesn't "think the timing of it is very good" and it's "too partisan."  What strange excuses for someone to make with regard to a provision that he claimed, a mere five months ago (when he knew it couldn't pass), was such a moral and policy imperative that he "would not relent" in ensuring its enactment.

Just substitute Dodd for Rockefeller.

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by: CaptCT @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 15:08:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What he said (Part IV) (0.00 / 0)

"If you like the insurance you have today, you can keep it. If you don't like what you have today, we'll give you better choices, including a public option for health care."

Chris Dodd
Statement on Health Care Reform from HELP Committee Hearing
June 11, 2009

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by: iBlog @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 18:28:42 PM UTC