Pass the Senate Bill, Leading Health Care Experts say to House leaders

Clockwise from left: Nancy Pelosi, Charles Rangel, Henry Waxman, George Miller
They are the intellectual leaders of the health care reform movement - historian Paul Starr (Princeton),  public health policy analyst Ronald Bayer (Columbia), political scientist Jacob Hacker (Yale), and union leader Celia Weislo (1199/SEIU) among four dozen others.  The message:  Pass the Senate bill, work out kinks via the reconciliation process (which needs only 50 votes plus the Veep's.  Otherwise millions more will become uninsured as health care costs continue to rise and insurance premiums grow higher.

Abandoning health care reform--the signature political issue of this administration--would send a message that Democrats are incapable of governing and lead to massive losses in the 2010 election, possibly even in 2012. Such a retreat would also abandon the chance to achieve reforms that millions of Americans across the political spectrum desperately need in these difficult times. Now is the moment for calm and resolute leadership, pressing on toward the goal now within sight.

The full text, with commentary is available at Talking Points Memo HERE.