My Most Public Contribution to the Health Care Debate

Yes, this country has to have health care for all. The public option is already a compromise. I have said this or similar things to everyone who can tolerate my blather for months, maybe years.

When I met the organizers and activists who came to Maine to help us persuade our Senators of the wisdom of health care for all we started to work the phones, Interwebs, newspapers, parties and sidewalks. One day, Alex the poet, and SEIU organizer who runs a mean meeting, asked me if I would tell my tale of health care woe and intrigue on camera for his "bosses." Never a wallflower, I said, sure.

One evening a few weeks later the phone started to ring, Director Will Robinson called, Producer Edna Snowe-Jensen set up an interview and the next morning a gigantic truck full of film equipment was in my yard.

It turned out to be one of the hottest days of the summer. We had to close the house to keep the sound consistent. Despite the stifling humidity and heat, everyone was cheerful, encouraging and positive. Hardly anyone in the house had health insurance. Of the 11 people there that day, only the director, producer and I had decent coverage. Everyone else had out-of-reach deductibles or no insurance at all. If this ad works at all it is because everyone there was committed to the cause.



Remember, the public option IS the compromise. We cannot let hundreds of corporate lobbyists write health care legislation. Our lawmakers must do their jobs and represent our interests.

And the next person who complains to you about the cost of health care reform, ask him or her to outline the costs of doing nothing.