Why Aren’t Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan On This List?

A new SurveyUSA poll shows that 77% of Americans polled think having a public option is extremely or quite important. The people have spoken.

The folks at Blue America created an ActBlue fundraising page called Standing Up For The Public Option to reward those members of the U.S. House who have pledged to vote NO on any health care reform bill without a genuine and robust public option:

These are the progressive members of Congress with the guts to stand up to Big Insurance, Big Pharma and to the pressure from their own party bosses. They stood with the American people and ordinary working families when push came to shove and both political parties decided propping up a disastrous health care system and a corrupt Insurance Industry was more important than keeping the promise made over and over to working families. These were the men and women who promised to vote against any health care reform bill that didn't include, at the minimum, a robust public option. 60 signed a letter to Secretary Sebelius and 18 took the FDL Pledge.

Democratic members of Congress need to understand that a healthcare reform bill with a Public Option is simply not an option-- it's a requirement. The congressmembers on this list have said in no uncertain terms that they will not vote for a bill without a public option all the way through Conference. That takes courage, and we need to show them how much we appreciate them for doing so. Please make a contribution-- and thanks for everything else you're doing for the public option.

The page has already raised almost $212,000 for the cause, and more is no doubt on the way.

I know that two of our Congressmen from New Mexico -- Martin Heinrich (NM-01) and Ben Ray Lujan (NM-03) -- have said they strongly support a public option. Rep. Lujan, in particular, has passionately spoken and written about his dedication to a public option. However, as push comes to shove, more and more people are wondering why Heinrich and Lujan won't publicly commit to fight for a public option by making it crystal clear that they believe, along with virtually every Democrat I know, that any reform bill that lacks a public option is inadequate, unwise and unacceptable.

Now, more than ever, we need our members of the House to line up on the side of true health care reform and send a strong message to the Senate that they'd better start getting real over there and put the phony "bi-partisanship" to rest, once and for all. If President Obama won't step up and state without reservation that a bill without a genuine public option is a sham -- it's up to the U.S. House to do it.

I hope you'll donate a few bucks at the Blue America page and contact Reps. Heinrich and Lujan to ask why they're not on the list of those pledged to demand a public option in any reform bill they consider supporting.

For more on what we need to demand and why, read mcjoan's diary at Daily Kos.