U.S. House presents healthcare reform bill that includes a public option

Breaking news, as reported in the L.A. Times:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, unveiling the House's plan for a compromise on healthcare legislation today, said the bill would offer new insurance for tens of millions of Americans and lower costs for those who already have coverage.

The plan represents a compromise among various interests in the House, the speaker said. It also will lead to a planned House vote and position House leaders for negotiations with Senate leaders crafting their own plan.

Pelosi maintained that the House leadership's compromise would make healthcare more affordable for the middle class and more secure for seniors. The bill offers health insurance for an additional 36 million Americans, she said -- offering coverage for 96% of all citizens -- and its cost over 10 years, under $900 billion, would not increase the federal budget deficit.

The article states that a vote on the bill is expected to happen in the next two weeks. The full article is available on the L.A. Times website.

Make your feet -- and voices -- heard at March for Quality Healthcare Reform Nov. 4

Volunteers For Change-Fresno, along with a number of other community and labor groups, invite you to make your voices heard during the 'March for Quality Healthcare Reform,' scheduled 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in downtown Fresno. Sponsored by the Central Valley Health Care Reform Coalition, the March is intended to demonstrate wide support for meaningful healthcare reform here in the Central Valley.

March participants will meet before 11:30 a.m. outside the offices of Sen. Diane Feinstein and Sen. Barbara Boxer, 2500 Tulare St. in downtown Fresno. Both Senators Feinstein and Boxer have declared their support both for healthcare reform and a public option, so our purpose there will be to thank them visibly for their support.

The March will then proceed to the office of Rep. Jim Costa at 855 M Street. With Rep. Costa still holding out on healthcare reform, our purpose there will be to demonstrate to Rep. Costa that there is wide support for both healthcare reform and the public option. Having a good turnout of marchers will be important, because we're planning to line both sides of the street at Rep. Costa's office.

Want to participate? Contact Nancy Griesser at (559) 325-1616 or via e-mail to nancyg@csufresno.edu. Lunch will be provided, but it recommended that marchers bring quarters to pay for the metered parking available. Six quarters will pay for two hours' parking.

The battle for healthcare reform is far from over. We've made great efforts, but we need to see this through to the finish line. Let's march!

V4CF members and friends invited to our 'Obama Campaign Reunion' event Nov. 3

In lieu of a formal Volunteers For Change-Fresno meeting in November, we're inviting all of our members to join us during the evening of Nov. 3, for a celebration marking the one-year anniversary of President Obama's election.

With many of our members coming to Volunteers For Change as a direct result of their hard work on the Obama Campaign , the one-year anniversary of the election seems a good time to come together, to reconnect with those whom we worked alongside during the many hours of canvassing and phonebanking, to celebrate the anniversary and recount V4CF's successes in 2009.

Our 'Obama Campaign Reunion and Toy Drive' is scheduled 7-8:30 p.m Tuesday, Nov. 3, in the large community room of the Woodward Park Library, 944 East Perrin Avenue in northeast Fresno.

The evening's festivities will include a video and slideshow from last year's Fresno For Obama campaign. We'll have some appetizers and refreshments there, and we're asking attendees to bring some kind of 'finger food' to share.

Last but not least, at the Reunion we'll be collecting toys for this year's 'Santa's Village' event. To donate, please bring a new or slightly used toy to the Reunion. Volunteers For Change will donate those toys to the Southwest Policing District's 'Santas Village' event.

We hope to see you there!

Healthcare update: Public option in the House, Lieberman in the outhouse

Just passing along a quick update on healthcare reform legislation. Yesterday, independent Senator Joseph Lieberman announced he would join a Republican filibuster to prevent a public option from being included in healthcare reform legislation. For details, see the full story on CNN.com.

That said, it appears the House of Representatives is ready to support one form of a public option in the legislation it will consider. For the details, see the full story on CNN.com.

It's not over yet. Stay tuned, and keep making those phone calls. Those numbers are:

Representatives:

Jim Costa -District 20
Local: (559) 495-1620
Washington, D.C.: (202) 225-3341

George Radanovich - District 19
Local: (559) 449-2490
Washington, D.C.: (202) 225-4540

Devin Nunes – District 21
Local: (559) 323-5235
Washington D.C.: (202) 225-2523

Senators:

Diane Feinstein
Local: (559) 485-7430
Washington, D.C.: (202) 224-3841

Barbara Boxer
Local: (559) 497-5109
Washington, D.C.: (202) 224-3553

Sen. Reid now backing inclusion of a public option

From CNN and other news sources:

The contentious debate over health care took a new twist Monday as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced his decision to craft legislation including a public insurance option allowing states to opt out.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, has been melding legislation from the more conservative Senate Finance Committee and the more liberal Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. The Health Committee included a form of the public option in its bill; the Finance Committee did not.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has insisted that the House of Representatives will pass a health care reform bill including a public option.

President Obama is "pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a written statement.

The full article is available at CNN.com.