'64 in Mississippi Never Seems to Go Away

Not many of the central figures remain, but the story never seems to go away!
by Charlie Leck

Many of you followed my series of Mississippi writings in 2008 with something approaching intense interest. I received lots of communications about those essays. Well, the story of the ’64 killings of the three civil rights workers (Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner) never seems to go away.

The following report appeared in the Clarion Ledger, Neshoba County Mississippi in November of this year.

Ex-inmate: Killen boasted in prison

Says former Klan member bragged land never searched

Jerry Mitchell • jmitchell@clarionledger.com • November 23, 2009

The FBI has been told that Edgar Ray Killen bragged that his property was never searched, despite having evidence against those involved in the Ku Klux Klan's killings of three civil rights workers in 1964.

Larry Ellis, who had a prison cell next to Killen in 2007, told agents recently that Killen talked of possessing evidence that could incriminate others in the June 21, 1964, killings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.

Ellis, 57, who now lives in south Mississippi, also told the FBI that Killen talked about a murder weapon used in the killings being buried on his property.

FBI officials wouldn't comment on their ongoing investigation into the four still-living suspects in the slayings, but Chaney's brother, Ben, said agents should search Killen's home and property for possible evidence.

Killen, an 84-year-old Union sawmill operator and part-time preacher now serving 60 years in prison, is appealing his 2005 manslaughter conviction. His lawyer, Rob Ratliff of Mobile, said his client denies telling Ellis any of this, calling the former inmate "a con man with a history of violence."

Ellis spent two decades behind bars in Mississippi and Florida for a string of crimes that included burglary, assault, forging prescriptions, altering money orders and writing hot checks. All the crimes were related to his addiction to painkillers, Ellis said, adding that he's been sober the past four years.

Ellis, who has written a yet-to-be-published book on Killen titled Getting the Last Word In, showed The Clarion-Ledger dozens of handwritten pages discussing the trio's killings and other subjects. An expert analyzing those pages concluded they were written by Killen.

Before his 2003 death, former state investigator George Metz told The Clarion-Ledger that Killen had told him about cleaning up the murder scene immediately after the trio's slayings.

Former Meridian police officer Mike Hatcher testified at Killen's trial that Killen approached him a day after the killings and gave him a revolver to destroy. Ballistics showed at least two guns were used in the killings, but no murder weapon has ever been recovered.

Ellis told the FBI that Killen said one of the murder weapons used in the killings was never destroyed and remained on his property, along with other possible evidence. He said Killen talked of holding on to some of the evidence against the killers in case they tried to testify against him, saying, "The evidence proves them guilty, and I mean proves it."

In addition to those killings, Ellis told the FBI that Killen spoke of having a photograph of those who took part in the lynching of an unnamed black man near the Mississippi Gulf Coast - "five of them on that limb, trying not to look."

Ellis said Killen explained the photograph had come from one of the lynch mob members.

This was one of 11 killings of African Americans that Killen mentioned, Ellis told agents.

He said when he pressed Killen for more details, Killen replied, "Son, I told you what's private, so don't you dare tell that or I'm a cooked goose. But for your book, you can say that the boys said my place was the safest to hide anything because it was never searched even once."

He said Killen also remarked, "Do you know that not once was my home, property, records or anything searched? Amazing for someone so wanted and hunted."

Ellis told FBI agents that Killen talked of keeping names of Klan members tucked among official lists of church members he knew from decades of preaching.

The reason he said Killen cited his relationship with then-U.S. Sen. Jim Eastland as the reason his property was never searched.

He said when he asked Killen again about the subject, Killen replied, "Now that was our private talk when you were asking me about them never searching my home or property and me being the No. 1 suspect. Figure that one out, will you? While Big Jim was alive, you can bet your bottom dollar that none of them could get a search warrant to come on any of my property."

In prison, Killen received letters of support from white supremacists around the world, Ellis told the FBI.

He said Killen bragged: "They think it will all end with me, but my death will be a new beginning for all of the millions of good and pure-blooded Aryans around the nation and world who keep up with me."

If authorities have indeed never searched Killen's property, it's high time it happened, said Alvin Sykes, architect of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act. "There should be no sparing of expense in searching it from top to bottom."

To comment on this story, call Jerry Mitchell at (601) 961-7064.

According to an earlier story by Mitchell, Ellis has claimed that Killen confessed to him that he had taken part in the killing, but had no guilt about it because he was "a soldier fighting against evil" and doing the will of God.

But the FBI has now been told the 84-year-old, convicted of the crimes in 2005, has admitted his involvement in the June 21, 1964, slayings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.

Former inmate Larry Ellis told agents Killen described their deaths as necessary casualties, saying, "This was God's war."

Killen's attorney, Rob Ratliff of Mobile, denies his client admitted taking part in the killings. "That's something he's never done, and he continues to maintain his lack of involvement," he said.

For decades, Killen has insisted he had an alibi for that night. In 1998, he told The Clarion-Ledger he went to the funeral home for the wake "of a family that lost a ... child. The father and mother were there. We stayed till the morning hours."

But the girl's mother, Carolyn Dearman, said Killen couldn't have seen them that night because they arrived in town too late to attend the visitation of her 5-year-old daughter, Leslie Carroll Barrett, who died suddenly, apparently of Reye's Syndrome.

She said she and her husband didn't arrive until shortly after 10 p.m. By then, McClain-Hays Funeral Home was pitch black, she said, with no sign of anyone anywhere.

According to a statement given the FBI, the late Horace Doyle Barnette said he and fellow Klansmen dropped Killen off at the funeral home about 9:30 p.m. after Killen told them they had a place to bury the trio "and a man to run the dozer to cover them up."

Ellis told the FBI that Killen admitted he took part in the killings but said he did nothing wrong because he was a soldier against evil.

Ellis quoted Killen as remarking, "Those three communist Jews chose which side they were on and were soldiers in action. When the n----s joined the communists, they became soldiers, also. Now, how that's wrong you tell me?"

For the 22 days he was in the cell next to the man known as "Preacher," Ellis said Killen answered dozens of questions. He said he collected what Killen wrote as well as notes he took for a book.

Ratliff said the book isn't being done with Killen's permission. Ellis has a document dated Oct. 31, 2007, that appears to be signed by Killen, saying he is providing information to Ellis "to the best of my knowledge and memory under penalty of perjury, if false. He may write my story."

Handwriting expert Thomas Vastrick of Memphis has concluded the documents match Killen's handwriting.

Ellis said Killen expressed no remorse about the killings, saying, "I feel no shame in the deaths of communists, of those with anti-Christ beliefs.

"Our Bible says God will wipe them off the earth and withhold eternity from them. You can check the record - three enemy soldiers died in Neshoba County on June 21, 1964, and they came bringing communism and an anti-Christ war against real Americans."

Ellis said Killen did say he was "sorry for the pain I caused," explaining, "I wanted only to serve my nation and of course firstly to my God and his only begotten son, Jesus Christ. I know my sins, and those are between me and my God."

He asked Killen if he had any proof against others involved in the killings.

Ellis told the FBI that Killen replied, "If there is evidence, it was kept as leverage to keep them turncoats from telling lies on me or anyone else. The evidence proves them guilty, and I mean proves it."

He said when he asked Killen if the murder weapon still exists, the Klan leader replied, "They say it is buried somewhere with seven sets of blood-stained sheets and clothing. There was some old blankets and the canvas-type material used as tent material that they say it was all wrapped in, is what someone said."

Absolutely amazing stories keep coming out of Mississippi about this traumatic moment in my life. On my own voyage into the civil rights world, I arrived in Mississippi on 21 June 1964.

The Lieberman Tragedy

Lieberman's reelection in Connecticut is costing Democrats dearly!
by Charlie Leck

One of the most tragic things to happen to the Democratic Party and to the possibility of implementing the Obama Plan was the election of Joseph Lieberman to the U.S. Senate in 2008. Lieberman had been soundly beaten in his race for the Party’s endorsement, but came back to run in a primary as an Independent and won. He then went on to win the general election in November, winning huge Republican backing, and sent himself back to the Senate.

Ever since, Lieberman has been a thorn in the side of nearly all of Obama’s plans for change. Health care is the best example. I wonder why!

“Mr. Lieberman has taken more than $1 million from the industry over his Senate career. In his 2006 re-election campaign, he ranked second in the Senate in contributions from the industry. He doesn’t seem to have forgotten that.” [NY Times editorial of 16 December 2009]

There may be other reasons. For instance, Hadassah Lieberman, the wife of Senator Joe Lieberman, is a fromer lobbyist for the insurance and pharmaceutical complex and is currently a salaried employee of CURE FOR CANCER. Oh, my!

I find it very surprising that journalists don’t point this out and suggest that it might be a major conflict of interest.

Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake writes the following…

“Hadassah Lieberman's relationship with Susan G. Komen for the Cure is unethical and misleading. Important and often very personal donations made to Susan G. Komen for the Cure to benefit the sick and dying are essentially undermining their intended use.

“Hadassah Lieberman has worked for the insurance-pharmaceutical-lobbying complex, making her role with with Susan G. Komen for the Cure already questionable. And as Hadassah travels the globe under the banner of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, decrying the inadequacies of our health care system and the need to reform it, her husband is at home to kill the reform efforts we so desperately need.

“People who are racing for the cure wouldn't be racing to pay Hadassah Lieberman money, especially if they knew her ties to the same corporations that are blocking women's health reforms currently being debated in Congress.”

With Lieberman in the Senate it will be nearly impossible to get true health care reform. Had the Democrats sent a real party man to fill that seat, many of Obama’s plans for change, including health care reform, would probably have been realized. Connecticut’s Republicans love Joe Lieberman. The state’s real Democrats can’t stand him.

Personally, I have no respect for the man and history will regard him as one of the most destructive obstructionists to ever sit in the U.S. Senate. I do not understand why the Dems don’t strip Lieberman of his ranking positions.

REMEMBER THOSE WHO TURNED THEIR BACKS ON THE PUBLIC OPTION

It’s the way the democratic system works! Those who failed to give us real health care reform must be made to pay for it. That is, throw the braggarts out!
by Charlie Leck

There are a bunch of liberals (progressives) out there trying to hold on to the public option. I wish them luck, because the current plan is a kick in the ass for all those of us who wanted real health care reform.

Jim Dean, of Democracy for America, wrote the following in an email this morning.

“Here's the deal, Senate leaders are all over Washington claiming they finally have a healthcare reform bill they can pass, as long as they remove the public option. After all, they say, even without a public option, the bill still 'covers 30 million more Americans.' The problem is that's not really true.

“What they are actually talking about is something called the 'individual mandate.' That's a section of the law that requires every single American buy health insurance or break the law and face penalties and fines. So, the bill doesn't actually 'cover' 30 million more Americans – instead it makes them criminals if they don't buy insurance from the same companies that got us into this mess.

“A public option would have provided the competition needed to drive down costs and improve coverage. It would have kept insurance companies honest by providing an affordable alternative Americans can trust. That's why, without a public option,
this bill is almost a trillion dollar taxpayer giveaway to insurance companies.”

Dean, of course, is correct, but the players just aren’t there to get this ball across the finish line. There are too many conservative Democrats who won’t go along. That’s the President’s failure. He hasn’t made them understand that this would be one of the most important pieces of legislation ever passed and that it would transform America – saving it billions of dollars at the same time.

I have no interest in health care reform without a strong public option. None! The currently proposed plan is nothing less than a major victory for the health care, pharmaceutical and health insurance industry. What we are learning from this exercise is that this industry is far too powerful. It’s making so much money that it spends fantabulous numbers of millions of dollars on lobbying efforts to protect its money-making machine.

Minnesota has two of the most progressive Senators in Washington; yet, they are in for the meaningless compromise bill.

FISH ON PALIN’S GOING ROGUE

Stanley Fish has some important things to say about Sarah Palin’s autobiography and about truth and fiction!
by Charlie Leck

Those of you who follow me closely here on this blog know that I often refer you to the writing of Stanley Fish (NY Times commentator and distinguished professor at Florida International University and formerly a professor at the University of Chicago, the University of California at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins University and Duke University). Recently, Fish wrote two long and interesting columns about Sarah Palin – one of which was a response to the criticism and praise that the first one drew.

I don’t care much about Sara Palin. I think she is both a fraud and a lame-brain; but when Fish writes I enjoy reading what he has to say. So I worked my through both of his columns and took extraordinary pleasure from them.

The first column was published on 7 December 2009 and was titled “Sarah Palin is Coming to Town.” In it Fish explains a lot to us about the difference between biography (which Palin’s book is not) and autobiography (which Palin’s book is). Fish concludes that Palin’s book meets the test of autobiography and “the book is a good autobiographical read.” (An enormous amount of criticism came streaming in after that comment.)

A key paragraph in Fish’s column, which on first reading seems but a simple, unimportant statement is the following:

“The vice-presidential candidacy just happened to her; her account of it reads like an extended ‘what-I-did-on-my summer-and fall-vacation’ essay. For many politicians, family life is sandwiched in between long hours in public service. Palin wants us to know that for her it is the reverse. Political success is an accident that says nothing about you. Success as a wife, mother and citizen says everything.”

Lots of people want to argue with that statement and accuse Palin of being dishonest. Fish won’t have it. Though he’s, by no means, a Palin fan, he respects the fact that it is autobiographical. One doesn’t lie in an autobiography, Fish explains, but one reveals oneself to the reader. If the writer says something that is inaccurate that doesn’t matter in the autobiography. Again, it is only revelatory about the author.

Dozens of readers responded to that with a fury. They don’t agree. I think it is because they don’t understand. Though Palin doesn’t say it in the book, she reveals herself as confused about her wider role and her political calling. She doesn’t really lie. She just sees things in a warped way. As Fish says...

“Do I believe any of this? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that she does, and that her readers feel they are hearing an authentic voice. I find the voice undeniably authentic (yes, I know the book was written ‘with the help’ of Lynn Vincent, but many books, including my most recent one, are put together by an editor). It is the voice of small-town America, with its folk wisdom, regional pride, common sense, distrust of rhetoric (itself a rhetorical trope), love of country and instinctive (not doctrinal) piety. It says, here are some of the great things that have happened to me, but they are not what makes my life great and American. (‘An American life is an extraordinary life.’) It says, don’t you agree with me that family, freedom and the beauties of nature are what sustain us? And it also says, vote for me next time. For it is the voice of a politician, of the little girl who thought she could fly, tried it, scraped her knees, dusted herself off and ‘kept walking.’”

Fish gives us something to worry about when he warns us clearly about Palin’s future.

“The message is clear. America can’t be stopped. I can’t be stopped. I’ve stumbled and fallen, but I always get up and run again. Her political opponents, especially those who dismissed Ronald Reagan before he was elected, should take note. Wherever you are, you better watch out. Sarah Palin is coming to town.”

Most of the responders who disagreed with Fish were most upset at his description of the differences between autobiography and biography. Fish tried to clarify and, I think, did very well.

“The difference between what we expect of biographers and autobiographers is matched by the difference in the obligations and responsibilities they accept at the beginning of their respective tasks. A biographer is committed to doing research, consulting archives, checking sources, seeking out alternative views. An autobiographer does not typically call up his schoolboy friends and enemies to see if they remember things as he does or spend hours reading old newspaper accounts of the football games he recalls having won single-handed. Different genres, different procedures, different standards of assessment.”

One of my brothers, upon reading some of my autobiographical blogs about growing up, will often respond with notes scrawled across the printed blog, explaining that I ‘misremembered’ this or that – that sister, for example, was really living in another town when that happened. He is most likely correct most of the time. It doesn’t shut me down, however, as an autobiographer, because what I write are my ‘rememberings’ and not my brother’s. And that doesn’t mean I don’t want his corrections and refocusing of my memory. I do want those things and I most often will then go and edit and correct those memories, trusting that he is correct. He has extraordinary recall and I am pleased that he leaves as is 95 percent of what I write.

It is the reader who must bear the responsibility, when reading an autobiographical work, to keep in mind that memoirs are memories and remembering is not an act of perfection but is tainted and tinted by years, dreams, goals, failures, forks in the road of life and the just plain detritus of the mind. Autobiography should not be regarded as accurate history, but only a piece that explains its author.

I’m not going to accuse Palin of falsehoods. She is telling me something important about herself and it is not something I particularly like.

I had determined that I would not read her book, but now, after reading Fish’s columns, I’m going to pick it up on the cheap somewhere and make my way through it.

In replying to one of the most common criticisms from his readers, essentially that he was kissing Palin’s butt, Professor Fish has this to say:

“In saying this I am not, as a number of posters asserted, affirming and promoting her agenda. [One reader] complains that I have ‘written a love note to [Palin] in the New York Times,’ and she asks, ‘Do you have a sense of responsibility left?’ I have a sense of responsibility to the column I sat down to write, not to the columns some readers wanted me to write or thought I had in fact written. Why don’t I talk about her views on evolution, or the the charges that she abused the power of her office, or the racism some have accused her of, or the extent to which this is a ‘campaign brochure?’ Because that’s not what I was doing in the column. I wasn’t writing about Palin’s career or her future aspirations. I wasn’t commenting on or assessing her positions. I wasn’t taking a stand either for or against her. I was, as [as another reader] points out, analyzing a text, explaining how it works and speculating on its effectiveness. Celebrations and denunciations of Sarah Palin are a dime a dozen. I was after something else.”

I get touchy when people criticize Fish without really trying to understand him. A lot of people on the right perused these columns and thought Professor Fish was endorsing Sarah Palin. They praised him and thanked him. Many people on the left thought the same thing and reviled Fish for it. In fact, Fish was just telling us some very interesting things about Palin and expressing his opinion that we might want to watch her career. He also seems to be forewarning us that we may not have seen the last of her.

The woman has a way of connecting with an awful lot of common, everyday, working stiffs in this nation. The brother who so often corrects my blogs is just nuts about her.

It appears there will be an Obama correction in the next Presidential election (although it is way too far out to say that with certainty) and, if there is, the result may be a move way to the right toward a simplistic, Palin type answer or, less likely, further toward the left for a more progressive response to Obama’s failures to live up to his campaign promises.

If you wish, the paragraph above may be elided without losing anything of substance!

OBAMA AS A PEACE PRESIDENT

No, he didn’t deserve the Nobel Peace Prize and I think the Nobel Committee knew it! by Charlie Leck

A fellow local writer and commentator, Andy Driscoll, makes the following searing and insightful comment about President Obama and his Oslo speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies:

“Obama's speech is being hailed for being a ‘post-WWII liberal president's proper perspective’ - and ‘balanced’ in its realistic assessment of evil and the moral authority of war. If analyzed in the harsh light of day, this man's approach - his references to Gandhi and King and Roosevelt notwithstanding - is almost as committed to preemptory violence and a role as US global cop as our last president. It makes a mockery of the Peace Prize as Nobel envisioned it and as we've come to expect the committee to decide its recipients.”

Just for the record, plenty of people have hailed the speech and some have called it “historic.” I personally think the President is in a bind. He would never have let the nation get dragged into Iraq and he would have handled matters in Afghanistan much more capably than the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld triumvirate did, keeping our purposes much more on mission. Now he has to clean things up in a sensible manner that will cause the least amount of damage to those two nations (Afghanistan and Iraq).

Y’all know how hard I’ve been, in my comments on this blog, on our President. Though I share the frustration Andy shows above, I’m not endorsing this statement. This President may yet reveal his deep yearning for lasting peace around the globe. In his speech, he questions himself whether he deserved such an honor, but also pledged an attempt to prove himself worthy of it. I believe that’s what the Nobel Committee was hoping for!

Every day, however, the President is looking more and more like a one-termer, so he’d better get hoofing.

To see a video of Obama’s speech at the Nobel ceremonies, click here!

SANTA'S ELVES & HELPERS WERE OUT AND WORKING

I've haven't seen Santa out and about yet this year, but on Saturday I saw many of his elves and helpers rushing about and getting work done.
by Charlie Leck

I ran across quite a sight on Saturday in the neighboring town of Long Lake. I actually stumbled upon one of Santa's workshops and spotted his elves working with great efficiency and expertise, getting bikes ready for the big day ahead. What a sighting! I've been bubbling inside ever since I spotted all the exciting activity.

Wow! Was I amazed.
These busy workers were mostly from a local bike club called (gulp) ROADKILL. It's a very informal club. The leader just sends an email out occasionally, announcing a bike ride for a coming weekend, providing the starting place and time. There's no need to respond. The members just show up if they can and don't if they can't. At the announced time the bikers head out on a ride that provides both a good time and good excercise. They appear to be mostly middle-aged guys who are pretty responsible community citizens. Anyway, their hairlines are receding and their chests have shifted a bit. They've all got that good, healthy outdoor look, however, and they also possess gigantic smiles (or bigger).

A couple of years ago, the ROADKILL members decided they wanted to do a bit more than just have fun -- or, at least, just have fun riding their bikes. They came up with the absolutely crazy idea of providing free bikes for kids during the holiday season. Zany idea, isn't it? No way it could work!

Nevertheless, they started soliciting bike donations and they set up shop (quite literally). As the bikes came rolling in, ROADKILL began fixing them up and making them like near to new -- like bikes that would make big and little kids happy as can be.

I've never seen so many totally happy elves and helpers in any one place in my life. My, they are happy people. The more bikes that come in, the more work the elves need to do. Nothing pleases them more. Nearly a thousand bikes have come in over the last 16 or 17 months. About 700 of them have been fixed up and made ready to give away to kids from all over the metropolitan area.

ROADKILL has been helped out by some local bike shops and parts distributors. They've been given hundreds of brand-new tubes for repairing wheels and new parts for brake and gear-shifting repairs. Each bike is carefully inspected after it comes in and then fixed with the safety of its new, potential owner in mind.

No bike is refused, though some bikes don't make the grade as a potential gift to an excited kid. The bikes that can't pass muster are carefully recycled in other ways.

Literally thousands of hours of work time go into this project. The club also gets some kids involved, teaching them the art of bicycle repair and maintenance -- an activity as good as yoga and meditation for the quieting of the soul and the relaxation of the body.

On Saturday, I had the wonderful opportunity to watch the doors open for a day of bicycle give-away. People who are big fans of ROADKILL arrived first, bringing piles of doughnuts, brownies, cookies and banana bread. The Caribou Coffee Shop across the street sent over a huge container of nice hot coffee with cups and all the accessories needed. McDonalds, also across the street, sent over coupons that were to be given away for free goodies. A very big retail space and a huge storage room was supplied gratis by Otten Brothers Nursery. The nursery also received bikes for ROADKILL for the last couple of weeks.

The delightful people looking for bikes arrived in steady numbers. If parents brought their kids with them, these expert bikers fit the kids to the bikes quite precisely. When a family made its choice of a bike, it went into the line-up for one more very careful and thorough last minute inspection. All the vitals were checked and then the bike was released to its happy new owner.

No questions are asked about income levels, status or need. ROADKILL thinks that's none of its business. The elves and helpers happily doled out the bikes. After that final inspection, the workers help the new owners load them and secure them in cars, vans, pickups or trailers.

I saw some mighty happy new bike owners, but no one was as happy all day as the scurrying elves and helpers, tirelessly trying to find the right bike for eager kids and happy parents.

Dozens and dozens of bikes went out the door. As the showroom began to thin out dozens more were rolled in from the storage room in the back of the building. No one seemed to tire and the smiles remained wide and sincere all through the day. ROADKILL was genuinely happy and they were having the time of their lives. They think biking is important for plenty of reasons -- healthfulness being near the top of the list -- and connecting a kid to a bike makes them very, very happy.

Last year, during the holiday season of 2008, they gave away over 300 bikes to kids. This year they'll do far more than 400.

What a day! I was really amazed, but my amazement was nothing compared to that of so many kids who got their bikes absoutely free on Saturday from the fantastic ROADKILL bikers.

If you want to read more about ROADKILL and their project, go to their web site! If you want to help out, they are a 501(c)3 organization and they'd be happy to put your contributions to good and important work. If you are experienced and want to fix bikes, they could also use your help. Finally, you just might want to thank them for what they are doing for kids.

Want to visit the TreeHouse Youth Organization? [click here]

IF NOT DEAD, IT'S DYING

Progressive Congressional leaders are letting us down!
by Charlie Leck

I'm so frustrated about the recent Congressional compromise on the health care reform package, that I am ready to throw in the towel. What they are thinking about voting on is NOT health care reform. It doesn't change the delivery system one iota. It provides some older citizens with an opportunity to opt into Medicare, but at a cost most of them will not be able to afford.
Keep remembering that we are the only one of the developed nations in the world that does NOT provide guaranteed health care to its citizens. How uncivilized!

Robert Reich, who, along with Howard Dean, has been one of the champions of the public option, doesn't want to give up the fight. He writes, on behalf of Move-On, that we should pound on the doors of our Congresspersons and say, "no, no, no!"

Unfortunately, one of my Senators, Amy Klobuchar, is one of the leaders at the center of the compromise. Senator Al Franken is still wavering on it. My U.S. Representative doesn't think it goes far enough. It looks like the big, rich, powerful insurance companies are going to win on this one, folks. Nevertheless, if you've any energy left, communicate with your Congressional representatives and tell them you sill want the public option. Here a copy of the communication from Robert Reich -- just in case you didn't receive it.

"Dear MoveOn member,

Hi. I'm Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under President Clinton and currently a professor at the University of California.

You've probably heard about a possible "deal" in the Senate to do away with the public option. I'm here to tell you that this is no deal: it's a gift to Big Insurance, plain and simple. The details are sketchy. The only thing that's really clear is the deal would drop the public option from the bill. With no public option, there's no guarantee of real competition. And without real competition, health care costs will continue to be out of control. But the deal is far from done.

If voters generate a massive outcry around this and progressive leaders in Congress fight back, we can fix it. Can you sign a petition to leaders in Congress and the White House right away?

Click here to add your name: http://pol.moveon.org/gift/?id=18245-4150353-yqbLNgx&t=5

The petition says: "You must make sure health care reform includes a real public option—it's what the majority of Americans want. Anything less is a gift to Big Insurance." With no public option, the Senate "deal" is a giveaway to Big Insurance—and industry insiders admit it! One recently wrote "We WIN," in an email about the "deal."1

What's in this "deal"? Like I said, almost no one knows the details. That means that progressives who embrace it right now may be giving away the store without getting anything in return. But here's what we do know: First, it might allow some 55-64 year-olds to buy into Medicare. Second, it might allow those without employer health insurance to buy private insurance the way federal employees do.2 So what's the problem here? A system of only private insurers simply will not control costs. Without competition from a public option, insurance companies have no incentive to compete—just like now.3

Enlarging Medicare is no answer. The Senate bill slows Medicare's costs only if they're rising faster than total health spending. But with private insurers running the show, total health spending will still be out of control.4 Plus, we have no idea how many people might be allowed to buy into Medicare, or if it will be even close to affordable for them. Health care reform must include a strong public option. It's key to controlling costs, expanding coverage, and forcing Big Insurance to compete. Without it, we'll end up with a national health care system controlled by a handful of very large corporations accountable neither to American voters nor to the market. And that is not even close to real health care reform.

Please sign the petition to House and Senate leadership and the White House today. The deal is still up in the air. If congressional progressives hold strong—and public demand for a public option is clear—then White House and congressional leaders will have to do what they haven't: put pressure on the few conservative Democrats to get on board and help pass real health care reform with a public option.

Click here to sign your name: http://pol.moveon.org/gift/?id=18245-4150353-yqbLNgx&t=11

Thank you for all you do. –Robert Reich

Sources:

1. "Insurance industry insider: 'We win,'" Politico, December 7, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85731&id=18245-4150353-yqbLNgx&t=13

2. "How a Few Private Health Insurers Are on the Way to Controlling Health Care," Robert Reich, December 10, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85742&id=18245-4150353-yqbLNgx&t=14

I've signed the petition. I'm not very hopeful, but I may as well keep trying.

By the way, this is the letter Senator Franken sent out to those of us who have been bugging him (it's all wrong becasue this plan will no save people money). And, sorry Al, but I'm not giving money to you or anyone else unless they fight for the public option right down to finish line.

Dear Charles,

As you've probably heard, on Monday night progressives and moderates reached a compromise to keep health insurance reform moving through the Senate. After decades of talking about fixing our broken health care system, the Senate is poised to finally deliver for the American people - and it's about time.

I've said all along that health insurance reform must bring down costs and improve access to get my support. A public option would do that, so I was disappointed to learn that it's not part of this agreement. However, there are reasons to be hopeful that this compromise will succeed at keeping premiums down for families.

The plain fact is, we are one step closer to extending health coverage to 31 million Americans and giving some peace of mind to tens of millions more. If this compromise includes proposals I've been fighting for, like ensuring that a higher percentage of premium dollars are spent on health care rather than profits and wasteful administrative costs, we will achieve the end result that I want - high-quality, affordable health coverage for Minnesota families and small businesses.

I'll keep you updated as the bill progresses, as we've still got a ways to go. But there's one thing you can be sure of - Republicans and special interests will be on the attack in Minnesota to make a last ditch attempt to distort, derail, delay, or flat-out kill the reform effort.

If you can, please click here to make a contribution of $5 today to help us get our positive message out.

Thanks for all you've done, and all you'll do.

Best,
Al