Last night was the second of three endorsement meetings being held by the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats. I was working late, so I am relying on my wife's observations and the questionnaires the candidate had to fill out to be considered for a CBID endorsement (these are excellent resources and can be found at the CBID website for anyone who wants more info on the candidates) as well as my own previous experience with the some of the candidates. I urge everyone to check out these questionnaires.  read more »

Awhile back I reported something from Daily Kos which suggested that Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez, someone I know and respect, was either uncommitted on or leaning against the Public Option for healthcare reform. In this she was being listed among many Blue Dog Democrats who are, in general, far more conservative than she is. By contrast Jerrold Nadler and Anthony Weiner have been leading the charge for healthcare reform. I wondered about this and wrote an appeal to her on Daily Gotham (with arguements quoted below). I also contacted Nydia's office to ask for clarification. I have gotten a response from a Velázquez spokesperson that suggests Congresswoman Velasquez has decided to side with Nadler and Weiner and not the Blue Dogs on the public option:

“Congresswoman Velázquez supports a public plan option. As the Chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and a member of the Progressive Caucus, she has long advocated for reforms that will ensure all Americans have affordable health insurance coverage.”  read more »

Over at Daily Kos they have a round up of which Congressional reps are supporting, leaning towards supporting, or uncommitted/leaning against a strong public option for healthcare reform.

A Congresswoman I respect, Nydia Velazquez, is in the uncommitted/leaning against category. I would like to ask Nydia to please join her many colleagues in supporting a strong public option.

What does this mean?

From the Congressional Progressive Caucus (via the Daily Kos article):

The Congressional Progressive Caucus calls for a robust public option that must:

* Enact concurrently with other significant expansions of coverage and must not be conditioned on private industry actions.
* Consist of one entity, operated by the federal government, which sets policies and bears the risk for paying medical claims to keep administrative costs low and provide a higher standard of care.
* Be available to all individuals and employers across the nation without limitation  read more »