Sign (yet another) petition asking for an up or down vote on the public option.

I think I might have already signed this petition but I'll sign it again. I still think reconciliation is the way to go but we'll see. Related: This is a bad sign. More related: Slinkerwinks says keep fighting and calling for the public option.

Here's what I received in the magical emails.

Dear Philip,

The public option is once again under assault in the Senate.

The Republicans are attempting to use a procedural tactic known as a "filibuster" to indefinitely delay a substantive vote on the health care bill. A filibuster requires sixty votes to overcome, so by using this tactic the conservatives are hoping a minority of senators can avoid majority rule and torpedo any health care reform that includes a public option.

It's simply unfair and undemocratic for a minority of senators to kill something supported by President Obama, a majority of the public and both chambers of Congress (including the Senate).

Click here to automatically sign our petition demanding that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid move to use a procedure known as "reconciliation" if it's necessary to avoid a filibuster and ensure that a minority of senators do not kill the public option. 

Reconciliation is a senate procedure that would allow the health care bill to be considered and voted on without threat of filibuster. As you may know, the Republicans alone cannot sustain a filibuster. A handful of members of the Democratic caucus including Joe Lieberman (who is sometimes called the Senator from Aetna due to his ties to the insurance industry) have pledged to join the Republicans if the final bill includes a public health insurance option to compete with private insurance plans. It would only take a single defection from the Democratic caucus to allow the filibuster to continue.

This gives each potential defector an oversized role in the shape of the final bill. The likes of Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln and Joe Lieberman (all of whom have threatened to filibuster a bill with a public option) shouldn't be allowed to undermine a core part of the agenda that elected a supermajority of Democrats to the House and the Senate and ushered President Obama into office.

If there were ever a mandate for progressive values to prevail, this would be it. Yet Harry Reid, the leader of the Democratic caucus in the Senate, has said he won't use reconciliation.

Click here to automatically sign our petition demanding that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid move to use reconciliation if it's necessary to ensure that a minority of senators do not kill the public option.

If Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid puts reconciliation back on the table, it would restore the proper balance of power in the Senate during negotiations about the final bill. If the Democrats can avoid the threat of filibusters, they can have an honest debate about health care reform. Furthermore, it provides a clear path for passage of real health care reform.

There's no good reason to allow a small number of the majority caucus to hold the entire bill hostage unless their demands to weaken the bill are met (and make no mistake, the substance of their demands all move the bill in a bad direction). The stakes of this fight are simply too high.

Click here to automatically sign our petition demanding that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid move to use reconciliation if it's necessary to ensure that a minority of senators do not kill the public option.

Thank you for working to secure real health care reform.

Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

P.S. Reconciliation should be used only as a last resort. While the reconciliation process imposes some constraints on the substance of the bill (not every part of the current bill can be considered via reconciliation), the reconciliation process will allow important components of the bill to remain intact in a way that will never be possible if Harry Reid seeks to appease those threatening to filibuster. (Click here for more information about reconciliation.)