This post was written by Sarah Jaffe, a blogger, freelance journalist and Nation intern.
Seventy-six percent of Americans, according to a recent poll, approve of the health insurance plan that Barack Obama proposed on the campaign trail, which includes a public health insurance option.
Yet certain Democratic senators have expressed opposition to the plan in favor of proposals to fund coverage on the backs of union members–taxing the health benefits that working people won in collective bargaining by forgoing wage increases. A new video petition by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee calls out by name the Democratic senators who have opposed the plan, including, most prominently, Max Baucus and Blanche Lincoln, and notes the amount of money each has received from the health insurance industry. Coincidence?
The committee wants your help. Sign the petition on its site to add your name to the video, which will eventually be aired as a television ad — in addition to an assured viral life. Names of people who support the public plan will be scrolled in the video’s background in stark contrast to the money donated by the insurance lobby. Join us in supporting a public option–watch and sign at WeWantThePublicOption.com.
