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Towards a just & healthy democracy in the Commonwealth... and beyond!
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Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 13:53:22 PM EST
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| The following article is meant to re-assure us that Pelosi is not going to back down on advancing real health care reform. Evidently a number of "progressive media" were included in a phone call from her, resulting in the story.
http://mcjoan.dailykos.com/
What Pelosi says on the phone with "progressive media" is not as revealing as what she says on the phone (or in the closed room with no transcript to circulate) with the insurance industry. Her job is to make sure that the industry continues to contribute more to Democrats than to Republicans. Those conversations are most certainly not recorded and available for download.
And why do the progressive media place a definite article before the words "public option?" What exactly is "the" public option? It seems there are many versions of it, none of which would removely resemble anything that a Canadian would recognize, and most of which don't seem to be publicly available at all.
I'm tired of the giddiness that results from these bones being thrown to people who say they want single payer health care.
I hope no one is going to ask me to "thank" Pelosi (no, I'll support her opponents who don't accept funds from corporate influencers) or to tell me (as another single payer advocacy group did) that as a "bold progressive" I should thank Olver for requesting a public option when there are no specifics. Politicians need to do much more than that to get my thanks, let alone my vote. They need to vote FOR things that advance single payer, vote AGAINST things that don't, and REJECT the influence of health insurance industry interests.
Obama states that he doesn't want to put health insurance companies out of business. I do; the rest of the world has shown that private insurance policies are not necessary for 95% of the public in other societies. Let's make private policies the "option" that 5% buy to supplement the public plan that delivers quality to all. |
| scott_laugenour :: Pelosi Talks (Ho-Hum) to Progressive Media |
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Green Mass Group is an online forum for Green thought and collective action in Massachusetts. It is a community forum for justice, sustainability, democracy and health in the Commonwealth and beyond.
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| Quotes |
"Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. I believe that we could have made the tough choices required - on entitlement reform and tax reform - right now, rather than through a special congressional committee process. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year. Most importantly, it will allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that Washington imposed on the rest of America."
--President Barack Obama on the debt ceiling "deal"
"Despite Democratic control over the White House, despite Democratic control over the Senate, despite overwhelming opposition from the American people, a small minority of the members of the Republican-controlled House have successfully pushed an extreme right-wing agenda onto the American political landscape. It is an ideology which believes that despite the fact that the rich are getting richer, the middle class is shrinking, and poverty is increasing, all - all of the burden for deficit reduction should rest on working people."
--Independent Senator Bernie Sanders on the debt ceiling "deal"
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Then and Now
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Then...
"Last year Evergreen, a Massachusetts company, agreed to establish their first-ever United States based manufacturing facility here in Massachusetts. They did so, or are doing so, at Devens. They have now agreed and chosen to triple their size at Devens. Their next phase of expansion, right here in Massachusetts, a signature company in a signature sector, and we congratulate all of the folks at Evergreen and look forward to continuing to work with you...
We made a personal commitment to Evergreen for the sake of Evergreen, but also because we wanted to show that there are ways in which state government, in working together with private industry and with the utility companies, could begin to create a different kind of environment, a different kind of business climate here, to grow that sector, and it is happening. It's happening. Evergreen is one of the most prominent examples, but there are a whole host of examples."
--Governor Deval Patrick, April 7, 2008, boasting about state investment in Evergreen.
and Now...
"Evergreen Solar Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, completing a stunning reversal of fortune for a high-flying alternative-energy company that once seemed to herald a new era for the Massachusetts economy... At its peak, Evergreen employed roughly 900 people locally and attracted more than $50 million in state support, as its stock price soared above $100 a share.
Yesterday, Evergreen's stock closed at 18 cents. The company shuttered its manufacturing plant in Devens earlier this year and now has only 85 employees left. Massachusetts is one of its top creditors, owed $1.5 million in rent."
--Erin Ailworth, Boston Globe, August 16, 2011
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