Paranoia Strikes Deep

Last Thursday there was a rally outside the U.S. Capitol to protest pending health care legislation, featuring the kinds of things we've grown accustomed to, including large signs showing piles of bodies at Dachau with the caption "National Socialist Healthcare." It was grotesque — and it was also ominous. The key thing to understand about that rally is that it wasn't a fringe event. It was sponsored by the House Republican leadership — in fact, it was officially billed as a G.O.P. press conference. Senior lawmakers were in attendance, and apparently had no problem with the tone of the proceedings.

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Health Care Reform Vs. The Health Insurance Racket

 HEALTH CARE REFORM  Sen. John D. Rockfeller is joining Prof. Jacob Hacker in a conference call with reporters to discuss the public option in health care reform.

» Read Jacob Hacker's "Public Plan Choice in Congressional Health Plans: The Good, the Not-So-Good, and the Ugly"

 VIDEO  The Health Care Racket

Brave New Films has two new videos on what the public plan means for working Americans, and what the health Insurance racket does to American families.

» Robert Reich reveals "The Truth Behind the Public Option"
» "The Health Insurance Racket" show why we need the public option

 PLUS 
» Sara Robinson: "Postcard from Canada: Why I Missed Obama's Speech"
» Terrance Heath: "The Morality of Health Care Reform: Competing Voices"

The Tea Party's Takeover of the GOP

The anti-health care reform rally in Washington indicates the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement are increasingly one and the same.

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Obama Kept Public Option On The Field. You Must Get It Over The Goal Line.

After last night speech, I have no idea what President Obama's legislative strategy is regarding a public health insurance option. But I know he's made a public option more possible. And I know what needs to happen to get it done. more »

Obama Shows His Progressive Spine

In a plain-spoken, at times tough, and masterful address to a joint session of congress, President Obama spoke in pragmatic and moral terms about the importance of health care reform as a test of our nation's character. The speech still had a bipartisan flavor, but with a progressive spine.

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He Roped The Dopes

On August 10th, I suggested that President Obama should take a lesson from Muhammed Ali and use a rope-a-dope strategy to counter the attacks on his health care plan. Listening to his speech tonight, I saw him do this to his opponents. After laying out the benefits to those who currently have health insurance, he waded into the misconceptions and mis-truths that have been used to undermine the issue of health care reform. And what was the reaction of those in the Congress that have played this cynical game? Silence. Damning silence.

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Conservative Health Care Response Ignores Facts

The reviews of President Obama's health care speech before a joint session of Congress have been fairly glowing. Most agree that the President made a strong case for health insurance reform and did a good job of explaining why the public option is important, even if he stopped short of refusing to sign a bill without it. more »

We Have The Hope. Now Where's The Audacity?

Originally published by Peter Dreier and Marshal in The Washington Post.

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Why The Public Option Matters

Most arguments against the public option are based either on deliberate misrepresentation of what that option would mean, or on remarkably thorough misunderstanding of the concept. But what is one to make of the practical, political argument that any public plan actually included in legislation probably wouldn’t make that much difference, and that reform is worth having even without such a plan? There are three reasons to be suspicious of that argument.

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