|
First of all, my legislation would be simple, with no extraneous provisions beyond eligibility, funding, and benefits, more like the 13-page HR676 than like the 1000-page HR3200. I would not release the text of the bill until it was ready.
Second, I would boil my proposal down to no more than five talking points. An important provision would be that all legal residents of the U.S., including members of Congress, would be on the plan. (In most countries, non-legal residents, whether immigrants or tourists, get true emergency care only and have to pay full price for the rest.)
Third, I would go on national television to present my five talking points, preferably with illustrations and personal examples, so that viewers could tell exactly how the plan would affect them. (This is a weakness of the Obama plan. It keeps changing, and I have a hard time figuring out how I would fare.) I would conclude by urging viewers to call or write their Congress critters and Senators in support of the plan.
Fourth, I would designate the best talkers in the Progressive Caucus as the point persons for the plan. I would send them out to all the talk shows and have them write op-ed pieces for national and local publications.
Fifth, and most important, I would send the Blue Dogs on a junket to Europe for a month to "investigate health care firsthand." This would make them unavailable when Fox News called. :evilgrin:
|