The Public Option Is Dead. Petition Obama Now.

The Senate is moving to kill the public option as part of healthcare reform, thanks to a minority of "moderate" republicrats. Firedoglake.org is organizing to petition President Obama to not allow the first real opportunity to reform healthcare in this country in a decades. Failure to provide a worldclass viable healthcare system in the US now will kill any real reform for a generation or more.

Jane Hamsher
Firedoglake:

Shoveling trillions of dollars into "too big to fail" insurance companies is not the change I voted for. The failure to establish a public option to control medical costs and increase competition is President Obama's failure alone.

Sign our petition to President Obama: the triggered public option is your failure, and it's up to you to fix it. Click here to sign:

http://action.firedoglake.com/obamafail

When Barack Obama announced his health care plan in 2007, he said insurance premiums for a family of 4 would be cut by $2500. This plan will see premiums increase $1000 each year.

Obama said "coverage without cost containment will only shift our burdens, not relieve them." This plan does nothing to meaningfully contain spiraling health care costs.

Obama said "it's time to let the drug and insurance industries know that while they'll get a seat at the table, they don't get to buy every chair." This plan includes a deal between the White House and PhRMA that guarantees there will be no negotiation for Medicare prescription drug prices.

Obama said he'd go after the drug companies who "sell the same exact drugs here in America for double the price of what they charge in Europe and Canada." But the White House deal not only doesn't do that, it bans the reimportation of cheaper drugs from Canada.

What does this deal do? It forces Americans to buy the products of large corporations, then the IRS penalizes them if they refuse.

The Senate's triggered public option is a failure of Barack Obama. Let him know. Click here to sign our petition: http://action.firedoglake.com/obamafail

President Obama is the only one who can save the public option and make these statements more than mere campaign promises. The fight isn't over, and we need to let him know that a failed public option will be his fault.

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