Those Wanting to Kill Reform Push the Myth of 60 Votes

Yesterday, I posted a list of actions you can take right now to ensure that a public option is included in the health care bill. (see Tired of People Dying Needlessly? You Can Make It Stop!)

There are nay-sayers who point out (mistakenly) that a public option cannot be passed by the Senate because, supposedly, in order to pass public option, at least 60 senators will have to vote for it. But, the Senate doesn't need 60 votes to make health care finance reform happen. The majority of Americans want the choice of a public option and, here's the good news, majority votes in Congress will pass it!

The Senate only needs 50 senators and Vice-President Biden to pass - by majority vote - healthcare reform including a public option in a budget bill this year. Thanks to our grassroots efforts (petitions, donations, tweets, and emails), we now have 50 senators on record ready to vote for real reform.

But that's still too close for comfort. We need critical mass. If you have already done your part, thank you. If you haven't done all that you can do, please start checking items off your to-do list here.

Jim Dean, president of Democracy for America, is heading up a phenomenal grassroots effort to garner Senate support for a public option bill. He emphasized this today:

The myth of 60 is pushed by those who want to kill reform.

But the foundation of American democracy is based on majority votes and the United States Congress is no exception. While Senate rules allow a procedural tactic known as the filibuster to block most bills without the support of 60 senators, there are exceptions -- because Senate rules also ban the use of a filibuster to block budget reconciliation bills. That means, if the Senate can't pass healthcare reform including the choice of a public option with 60 votes, they can still pass it in the budget bill this year by majority vote.

Your hard work has identified a majority of Congress in both chambers -- at least 218 House Democrats and 50 Senators -- who will vote for the final healthcare bill if it includes the choice of a public option rather than vote against the bill and kill reform. So Congress has the majority votes needed to pass a public option.

The question is do they have the political will to fight back against right-wing fear mongering and misinformation to deliver real reform?

It's up to us to demand action. Let's work hard to get 50,000 signers by Monday.

Add your name right now.

We're winning because you know it takes action to succeed. You don't sit back and hope for change, you deliver results and get the job done. That's why we're going to win.

I know I can count on you to deliver.

The actions you take right here will make a difference.