42 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 20 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Life Arts    H3'ed 9/14/09

Talking with Todd Gitlin about President Obama and the Health Care Crisis

By       (Page 3 of 5 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   1 comment
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Joan Brunwasser
Become a Fan
  (89 fans)

And, as we watch this play out, do you have any predictions? Will we be pleasantly surprised down the road or are we in for another chapter of entrenched special interests coming out on top?

I've never been very good at predictions. That said, I'm going to predict that Obama will end up signing a health care bill that includes either a public option or Olympia Snowe's trigger--in which case, a few years down the pike, the trigger will click and there'll be a public option that, over time, will grow.

Will such a victory help build momentum for decent climate change legislation? Right now, I'd bet against it. I desperately want to be wrong.

Short-run:

1. Target the profit-soaked, administration-heavy, big-lobbying insurance companies. Put a face on the enemy. MoveOn is planning to do this on Sept. 22.

2. Do a serious inventory of states and districts where Blue Dogs are vulnerable to "primarying"--running primary candidates to their left. Start planning to do that in 2010.

3. Young people (especially) who worked for Obama and consider themselves true-blue environmentalists: start organizing rallies in behalf of climate change legislation. Include unions and low-middle income community groups. Momentum, momentum, momentum.

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 1   Well Said 1   Valuable 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Joan Brunwasser Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Joan Brunwasser is a co-founder of Citizens for Election Reform (CER) which since 2005 existed for the sole purpose of raising the public awareness of the critical need for election reform. Our goal: to restore fair, accurate, transparent, secure elections where votes are cast in private and counted in public. Because the problems with electronic (computerized) voting systems include a lack of (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Interview with Dr. Margaret Flowers, Arrested Tuesday at Senate Roundtable on Health Care

Renowned Stanford Psychologist Carol Dweck on "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success"

Howard Zinn on "The People Speak," the Supreme Court and Haiti

Snopes confirms danger of Straight Ticket Voting (STV)

Fed Up With Corporate Tax Dodgers? Check Out PayUpNow.org!

Literary Agent Shares Trade Secrets With New Writers

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend