... a full-fledged "progressive" propaganda rollout, starting, of all places, with TNR. Or perhaps that is not so surprising. These are the questions I asked:

1. Why does the implementation of the public option need to wait until 2013? Even the moderate HCAN has established a principle that the public option should be available on Day One, and there was large-scale campaign in the progressive blogosphere based on that principle. Why did you reject it, and them?

2. How many people do you expect to enroll in the public option? Reuters has indicated that Congressional staffers believe that there will be 9 million by 2019. Do you agree with that number, and, if so, do you regard it as high enough to "keep the insurance companies honest"?

3. How many people do you expect not to be covered by the bill? Reuters has indicated that 10 million will not be covered. Do you regard that coverage as "universal"?

4. There are three ombudsman in the bill. First, why is there not a single ombudsman to cover the whole program? Second, do the ombudsmen have conflict resolution authority, and do they have the confidentiality, neutrality, and independence that ombudsmen typically have? Specifically, will they be able to offer whistleblowers protection?

5. The bill is both complex and unproven. HR 3200 is over a thousand pages long; by contract, HR 676 (single payer) is only 27 pages long. Since single payer has been proven to work in other countries, and so save both a great deal of money (France's per capita spending is half ours) and lives (we lose 18,000 people a year in our system), it is clearly the science-based solution, based on the evidence. Do you feel comfortable advocating health care policies that are complex, experimental, and not science-based? If so, why?

Thanks for your attention!

ends up not going live for another four years, I think that will be time well-spent continuing to push for a better way - single-payer. Because I think the insurance companies are not going to be minding their p's and q's, will continue to soak their subscribers for higher premiums while providing fewer services, will continue to rack up huge profits while sighing over the high cost of care, and I do not believe the people are going to stand for them getting caught doing the happy dance while people suffer.

How sad is it that I find myself saying, "only 9 more years til I can enroll in Medicare?" Sadder still is that I have to add to that, "assuming there is anything left of Medicare by then," since I now have no confidence that Medicare will not have been gutted by the time I could qualify, sacrificed to pay for a program that will do little to improve the care people need.

JOIN US -- JULY 30TH --FOR THE SINGLE PAYER RALLY AND LOBBY DAY IN WASHINGTON, DC.

Join your fellow Americans on July 30th in Washington, DC to show Congress and President Obama that we support a national, single-payer healthcare system and demand the passage of HR 676.

Single Payer Rally and Lobby Day in Washington, DC, July 30th. See more information here: http://www.healthcare-now.org/campaigns/single-payer-rally/

Please download the flyer and post it everywhere: http://www.healthcare-now.org/docs/july30.pdf

Our fight for equal access to healthcare for all is about democracy, freedom, human rights, civil rights, and basic human decency.

SPREAD THE WORD! TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

I offer that headline, free of charge, to anybody who wants to work through the C&L post to see what she says. I could do that, but I don't want to monopolize all the fun....