Open Letter to Democrat Senators

Dear Senator (fill in the blank),

I understand that Joe Lieberman and the Republicans are again making every effort to thwart the progress in health care that the American public desires. Public opinion polls show that 76% of Americans want a public option available to those who can not otherwise afford health care and yet here we are whittling away a perfectly good bill just to appease a few rogue senators.

As a lifelong Democrat, I am particularly disturbed at the lack of a backbone the members of the Democratic party are showing in this debate. For six years, with only a slight majority, the GOP shoved a number of Bush policies down our throats and we sat by and took it. I think it is time for the Democrats in the Senate to exhibit this same resolve and put the public option back in the health care bill. The worst the GOP can do is filibuster. This would be political suicide for them. With public polls against them, any prolonged filibuster will hurt the Republican brand. The GOP spin will be that the Democrats are holding up the government from important work, however, the truth would be that the Democrats would be willing to vote whenever the petulant Republicans stop fighting for the insurance companies and start working for their constituents.

The biggest concern for me as a Democrat is that by giving into the demands of the few who represent less than 25% of the public interest, it will set a precedent that the Democrats in the Senate are too spineless to fight for what Americans want. The current negotiations have gone from being a compromise to making this a GOP bill. We need to take a stand now and do what the vast majority of the public wants or run the risk of being bullied for the next few years.

There are very few issues that garner this level of public support and calling the Republican’s bluff is only way to proceed now.