Larry Kissell - It's Time to Get On Board The House Healthcare Train

It is time, Congressman Kissell. The train is leaving the station. Will you be for helping ordinary North Carolinians avoid the comming healthcare catastrophe or will you be with the naysayers who claim we have the "best healthcare in the world".

You might be afraid of the coming ads from the GOP, savaging you for voting of Obama's healthcare bill. Not to worry. The public option for healthcare is supported by over two-thirds of Americans.

You might be afraid of the astroturf phone calling that your office has been getting from healthcare industry boilerrooms. Make no mistake. The people who are asking you to support the House Tri-Committee bill are more likely to vote that folks who are hired by the hours to pretend to be citizens.

Here is what you need to be afraid of: the loss of your Democratic base because you didn't stand with the president for healthcare reform; the loss of respect for one who showed so much courage in running against long odds in the first place.

It's time, Congressman Kissell; it's time.

Time to say: "I will not support a healthcare reform bill that does not include a strong public option that is available on day one, to everybody, nationally and with oversight by Congress. And as things stand right now, I will be supporting the Tri-Committee bill presented in the House."

Time to say it publicly and on tape.