Kentucky: Chandler

That bastion of dirty liberalism known as the Nebraska Democratic Party just passed a resolution supporting a public option, in explicit opposition to their Democratic Senator Ben Nelson.
This follows the dirtier liberaller (?) North Dakota Democratic Party, which recently sent a letter to their Democratic Senator Kent Conrad, asking him to support the public option.
Ben Chandler remains our only Democratic legislator in Washington DC who opposes the public option.
Kentucky Democratic Party? Your move...

Because healthcare "co-ops" aren't any kind of reform at all.

Blue Dogs can only act like real Democrats for so long, I guess...

Chandler said he believes the health insurance industry needs revamping, but stopped short of defending the president’s proposal for a publicly-run insurance plan.

“There’s no point in talking about it if you can’t get it through the Senate,” Chandler said.

He suggested that a proposal to create health insurance cooperatives is more feasible.

As a member of the conservative Blue Dog Coalition of Democrats, Chandler was among those on Capitol Hill who saw no reason to vote on the health care issue before the August recess.

Don't worry, Ben. You'll still be friends with Grassley and Scarborough...

OK folks. Blue Dogs in Congress are currently standing in the way of true health care reform. Whereas Obama, most Democrats, and most of the country want a strong public option to health care to keep the insurance companies in line and guarantee quality care for everyone, the Blue Dogs and their insurance lobby cronies are trying to sabotage it.

It's time for Kentuckians to flood Rep. Ben Chandler's office with calls letting him know that we need real health care reform. Anything less than a strong public option is like putting a band aid on an open chest wound.

Though Chandler is certainly a Blue Dog, he has certainly been less "Blue" in the last year and a half, so this is not a lost cause.

Funny, according to the insurance companies that finance Mitch McConnell's political career, everything is puppies and rainbows in Kentucky.

Looks like reality and its liberal bias strikes again...

(REMINDER: call Yarmuth and Chandler and get them on the record where they stand on the public option)
KENTUCKIANS CAN’T AFFORD THE STATUS QUO

• Roughly 2.4 million people in Kentucky get health insurance on the job1, where family premiums average $11,413, about the annual earning of a full-time minimum wage job.
• Since 2000 alone, average family premiums have increased by 61 percent in Kentucky.
• Household budgets are strained by high costs: 24 percent of middle-income Kentucky families spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care.