Pushing the Public Option in New Mexico

In a post from Democracy for New Mexico, an open letter to President Obama from Anne Lamott is discussed as a "must read." We have to agree.

The letter, which is a compassionate plea from an Obama voter (actually 66 million voters) calls for and reminds the President that one of the main reasons he was elected was that the American electorate wants affordable and universal health care.

Health care by no means is a simple issue, despite what those at Tuesday's Rio Rancho Tea Party would have you believe (see video below), and as we have blogged numerous times before passions are heated surrounding this issue.

Rank-and-file-Democrats have been waiting to hear what President Obama will say during his address to the joins Houses of Congress scheduled for September 9. Sources close to the President note that his speech to Congress will include specific language on how he would want a reform bill to look like. CNN is also reporting that the White House is working on a bill of their own.

The oft-cited statistic that 77% of Americans support a public option seems to be factoring in heavily in Congressional caucuses.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has seemingly laid down the gauntlet for the President by stating that any bill without a "strong public option" would not pass the House. This speech comes on the heels of statements by the House Progressive Caucus that none of its members would vote for a Bill which failed to include a "robust" public option. Similar sentiments were echoed by the Congressional Black Caucus. The House Progressive Caucus has 83 members and the Congressional Black Caucus has 42 voting members. (Some members share membership in the two groups.)

The national debate for the inclusion of a public option naturally extends to the States as well. Next week at the Democratic Party of New Mexico's State Central Committee meeting, voting delegates will be asked to approve a resolution calling for and expressing support for a "strong public health insurance option."

Originally passed on August 19th by the Santa Fe County Democratic Party, the resolution notes that New Mexico ranks 49th in the country for the number of uninsured (some one in four) and that most of the uninsured or under-insured are working adults.

Importantly it notes that access to health insurance is a right for all people living in America.