Of all the stories I've reported on here at the Mercury, I think Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden's failure to sign up and support President Barack Obama's plan for health care reform is the most politically depressing. Naively I thought someone like Wyden would be on the side of smart reform. But when it comes to Obama's plan for a national public health insurance option to keep the corporations honest, Senator Wyden ain't listening to Oregon's small business people, and he sure ain't listening to protests outside his office, so perhaps he's listening to his corporate health care donors. Who knows.
Late last week, Senator Wyden signed on to a letter urging the president to slow down his plans for health reform, prompting former state representative Jo Ann Bowman to call him out on Blue Oregon. "It's bad enough that Sen. Wyden wants to mandate that we all buy insurance from the private market," wrote Bowman. "But now he is joining forces with them to try to scuttle health care reform. Join us in sending a strong message to Sen. Wyden that we are watching and that he is out of touch with Oregonians."
Bowman was also kind enough to list Wyden's various office phone numbers so that you can make a call telling him you want him to stop placing corporate profits before the public interest, now:
DC - (202) 224-5244Portland - (503) 326-7525
Eugene - (541) 431-0229
Salem - (503) 589-4555
Medford - (541) 858-5122
Bend - (541) 330-9142
La Grande - (541) 962-7691
If the line's busy, try again.
