Coloradans Exert Pressure On Bennet Over Public Option

On Wednesday, March 24, the morning after a major spring snow storm blasted Denver, a group of approximately 50 Colorado citizens led by local progressive radio host, David Sirota, braved the roads to deliver a petition to Senator Michael Bennet's Denver office. 

The petition, which amassed 35,000 signatures in just four days, asks Senator Bennet to follow through on his promise to introduce an amendment creating a public option to compete with private insurance companies.

In November 2009, Senator Bennet declared on CNN that he was willing to lose his senate seat over the public option. But now that the final vote for healthcare reform is upon him, he has wavered from the public option. This morning's group presented the petition with hopes of persuading the senator to keep his word.

Byron, from Arvada, CO, said he attended because, "the public option is necessary to foster competition and try and keep healthcare costs down."

Mike, a commodities broker in Denver, said, "It is a right for private corporations to make a profit but it is not their right to gouge the American people." He also noted that healthcare stocks are on the rise in the wake of President Obama recent signing of the House healthcare bill.

In addition to Sirota's petition, a group of progressive organizations including the SEIU, Colorado Health Care for America Now, Progressnow Colorado and MoveOn delivered a letter to Colorado Senators Bennet and Mark Udall, urging them to support the bill without amendment.

In stark contrast to the Tea Party, today's protesters were respectful and sincere with their support of the public option and hopes that Senator Bennet would make good on his promises.

Comments

[Nathan Reynolds]

10:57 AM on 03/25/2010

The only valid argument against putting the public option in the reconciliation bill was that it would force the bill back the the house for another vote. Now that it will have to go back for other reasons there are no reason not to add it.

Vote Romanoff.

[stopthemadness69]

11:00 AM on 03/25/2010

Yep. I called Harry Reid 2 hours ago and said that exact thing. Call your senators, they are in session but they still get thier messages.

[Mor-a-Les]

11:04 PM on 03/28/2010

Please sign petition to boycott Sarah Palin's show on the discovery channel http://www.thepetitionsite.com/21/boycott-the-discovery-channel-networks

[Samad Kachal]

09:39 PM on 03/24/2010

People of Colorado,

Please give up on the public option. We need unity and move on. I'm very glad that everybody went against the public option and single payer. The public option was very bad. The public option would have hurt families. And I love my family too much for that.

The democrats were right to remove the Kucinich amendment. Single payer health care will destroy our country. Only private health insurance companies are qualified to give us health care.

Health insurance has been around for more than a hundred years. Health insurance takes care of you and me. The people that own and are executives of health insurance companies are like you and me. And they are men and women of great integrity.

[escribacat]

12:53 AM on 03/25/2010

Gee, are you for real?

[aflyinyoursoup]

01:25 AM on 03/25/2010

WTF is in your bong, dude?

[gouko787]

07:42 PM on 03/24/2010

Makes me proud to be a Colorado Native.

This is what the AG should be fighting for, a Public Option, not some political talking point.

Life, Liberty and the pursit of Happiness start with being healthy enough to participate.