Heartland Videos

The Senate Finance Committee pushed through a bill with bipartisan support--if you call one senator from Maine bipartisan support. Meanwhile, the House and the rest of the Senate bills still contain a public option, so the question is: how far left can the Finance bill be pulled?On our roundtable, we have Paul Waldman from The American Prospect, Adam Thompson from the Progressive States Network, Representative Raul Grijalva, co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, and Sharon Lerner, contributor to The Nation and author of The War On Moms: Life in a Family-Unfriendly Nation.

The last health care reform bill is out of committee and now it's up to all of Congress to reconcile the many bills floating around into one piece of legislation to be voted on and--hopefully--signed into law. But there are many questions left to answer before the process is over, including the one most important to progressives: will the bill contain a strong public option? On our roundtable, we have Paul Waldman from The American Prospect, Adam Thompson from the Progressive States Network, Representative Raul Grijalva, co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, and Sharon Lerner, contributor to The Nation and author of The War On Moms: Life in a Family-Unfriendly Nation. They discuss the many options for the public option, including the new suggestion of an opt-out provision that would let states choose not to take part in a public health care plan. Will Blue Dogs really vote against their own party? And will conservative Senate Democrats really support a Republican filibuster? Are triggers or opt-outs worse as public option compromises? Our guests try to answer.

Health Care Reform for the Heartland sent video crews to state fairs around the country, asking rural Americans how the health care system has failed them. The stories they found are heartbreaking and illustrate once more how desperately Americans need health care reform--and the strong public support for progressive measures. Thanks to the Center for Community Change for this video.