Green candidates and party leaders said today that the passage of the Democratic health care bill, with its increased financial burdens on millions of Americans, should not slow the movement for Medicare For All.

Kip Sullivan is essential reading for those who wish not to forget that the public option movement has been a case study in skilled cooptation of well-intentioned progressive groups and impulses. This post highlights his latest contribution.

Lambert, DC Blogger and various commenters at Correntewire report an observed problem at The Wonk Room. Experience, tests, and screen shots indicate that the Wonk Room site is rejecting links to the PNHP and Health Care-Now web sites. Both sites advocate for enhanced Medicare for All, while the WonkRoom and its parent organization the Center for American Progress are advocates for the public option.

At least Bill Moyers still pays attention to single payer.

A skilled and knowledgeable dissection of the House and Senate bills by the Director of Public Policy of the California Nurses Association. He spoke last week at the Annual Conference of the single-payer organization, Healthcare-Now!

The story that hasn’t been told enough is that the rising cost of private insurance is hurting corporate America. It’s been a terrible strategic mistake. Progressives could have a powerful ally in the fight against Big Insurance/PhRMA: Corporate America itself.

Consider that even Wal-Mart, which spends far less than its peers just to offer it’s employees a junk insurance package, spent an average of $3,500 a year per employee on health insurance in 2002. The way to beat UnitedHealth Care and Blue Blue Cross is by offering Wal-Mart a public plan that is cheaper, yet offers better benefits: Medicare for Anyone Who Wants It.

Allowing any person, business or local/state agency to buy into Medicare is not single-payer, because it allows private insurance to continue to operate. But unlike the other falsely-advertised “robust public options,” Medicare for Anyone Who Wants It will actually lead to a public plan that covers at least 164 million Americans and will control cost. It makes real the false rhetoric for the public option.

Having one single-payer advocate out of 17 witnesses will probably prevent having protesters dragged out in handcuffs. Maybe it shouldn’t.

Congratulations to all who have worked to demand that Single Payer Universal Healthcare be included in discussions on healthcare reform! Some cracks in the edifice of exclusion are beginning to show.

Congratulations to all who have worked to demand that Single Payer Universal Healthcare be included in discussions on healthcare reform. Some cracks in the edifice of exclusion are beginning to show.

by DrSteveB. x-posted from Daily Kos with kind permission from the author