President Barack Obama

From:	President Barack Obama (info@barackobama.com)
Sent:	Wed 9/09/09 10:57 PM
To:	Ronald White (rgbw46@hotmail.com)

Ronald -- I just finished laying out my plan for health reform at a joint session of Congress. Now, I'm writing directly to you because what happens next is critical -- and I need your help. Change this big will not happen because I ask for it. It can only come when the nation demands it. Congress knows where I stand. Now they need to hear from you. Add your voice: Ask your representatives to support my plan for real health reform in 2009. The heart of my plan is simple: bring stability and security to Americans who already have health insurance, guarantee affordable coverage for those who don't, and rein in the cost of health care. Tonight, I offered a specific plan for how to make it happen. I incorporated the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans to create a plan that's bold, practical, and represents the broad consensus of the American people. We've come closer to real health reform in the last few months than we have in the last 60 years. But those who profit from the status quo -- and those who put partisan advantage above all else -- will fight us every inch of the way. We do not seek that fight, but we will not shrink from it. The stakes are too high to let scare tactics cloud the debate, or to allow partisan bickering to block the path. Your voice, right now, is essential. See my full plan and call on your representatives to support it: http://my.barackobama.com/SupportReform Ours is not the first generation to understand the dire need for health reform. And I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last. Thank you, President Barack Obama Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Black Caucus Says Public Option Or Nothing

Black Caucus Says Public Option Or Nothing For Health Care

By News One September 9, 2009

Leading members of the Black Caucus are threatening to bring down healthcare reform if it does not include a strong public option.

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) said that President Obama will not be able to muscle through a bill that sidesteps a government-run plan.

"[Obama] can't get 218 without a public option," Conyers said on MSNBC last night. "This is simple arithmetic."

Conyers tallied up the progressive members he expects to join him in opposing a plan with no public option.

"There are 83 Progressive Caucus members, 42 Black Caucus members 25 Hispanic Caucus members, 14 Asian Pacific members, and most of them are public option people," Conyers said.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) agreed with Conyers's ominous analysis and warned that House liberals will not settle for the kind of compromise that might be necessary in the Senate.

"You're asking whether or not we will support some other altnerative to public option, and I want to be very, very clear," she told MSNBC's Ed Schultz.

"We've got to have a public option. I will not vote for anything that doesn't have a public option."

At a press conference today on Capitol Hill, Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee said there was no room for debate on the issue.

"As members of the Congressional Black Caucus, we are unwavering in our support of a robust public option," she said, according to First Read.

Obama is expected to push for the public option in his address to Congress tonight, but will likely not "draw a line in the sand" by threatening to kill any reform package that lacks such a plan.