No, we don’t, and Democrats in Congress are the reason we don’t. In the House of Representatives, the Blue Dog Democrats wrecked health care reform. In the Senate, five right wing Democrats joined the Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee today to vote against a public option in health care reform. These five Democratic turncoats were:

Max Baucus
Blanche Lincoln
Kent Conrad
Bill Nelson
Tom Carper

Progressive organizations agree – without a public option health care reform is rendered virtually meaningless. Now, these right wing Democratic senators have killed the public option. They’ve ripped the heart out of Barack Obama’s reform program.

So what are we going to do about it? Sit around and mope? No. We’re going to teach these anti-progressive Democrats a lesson about what happens when leaders break promises made to progressives. The progressives get organized, and they fight back.

In Arkansas, John Gray is leading the charge. He is challenging Blanche Lincoln from the left, asking why Lincoln is abandoning Democratic Party promises and voting like a Republican instead.

Today, Gray responded right away when he heard that Blanche Lincoln had voted against Barack Obama’s public option. Gray linked Lincoln’s anti-reform vote to the large campaign donations she receives from insurance companies and other commercial entities that make a profit from the broken status quo. “She has a rather large campaign chest, almost half of which is from the medical industries,” Gray said. “The fact that she is loyal to her sponsors is not at all surprising.”

Gray pledged to support single payer health care instead of the pro-industry sham promoted by Senator Lincoln. By eliminating the commercial inefficiencies created by insurance companies, the Gray Health Plan would enable savings that would pay for health care coverage for all Americans.

Universal health care coverage – remember that promise? John Gray has not forgotten. That’s a darned good reason to vote John Gray for Senate in 2010.

To support Lynne Williams in her gubernatorial bid, put one of these stickers on your car, kayak or bicycle. Then wait for the fruitful conversations to begin.

On the negative side, the California Democrats have been positively disappointing. On the national scale, there’s Nancy Pelosi, who seems dedicated to taking every good progressive idea off the table, and has been enmeshed with terrible Republican policies such as the use of torture. On the state scale, California Democrats have been celebrating the Supreme Court ruling upholding Proposition 8, denying marriage equality.

On the positive side, the Green Party of California is putting forward great candidates. In the 10th congressional district right now, Green Party candidate Jeremy Cloward is talking about ideas such as free day care, cutting military waste, and supporting marriage equality. Greens like Cloward are doing now what California voters are always hoping that the Democrats will do… someday.

Isn’t it time that you voted along with your actual values, instead of with the Democrats’ excuses? I think so, and that’s why I support the Green Party of California – with this bumper sticker.