There may be a Memorial Day recess for Congress, but there won't be a holiday for the health-reform debate.
Supporters and opponents of President Clinton's health-care proposal will be out in force on the airwaves, in town meetings and through the mail.
The Health Care Reform Project, which backs Clinton's plan, plans to spend $ 500,000 on TV ads targeting congressional districts represented by key committee members. The American Association of Retired Persons, also an ally, expects to spend close to $ 1 million, most of it on TV ads.
Says AARP's John Rother: "It is a critical recess, because all the committees have to start making key decisions right afterward, and many of the members of congress have told colleagues they are going home to listen to constituents and then decide how to vote when they come back."
But the National Restaurant Association and the National Federation of Independent Business - adamantly opposed to Clinton's proposal that employers pay at least 80% of workers' health insurance premiums - will be busy, too. "We are out there trying to convince them that no (employer) mandate is acceptable," says NRA spokesman Jeff Prince, whose group will spend $ 250,000 on radio ads.
NFIB is sending out 100,000 pieces of mail to its members, targeting those who live in key congressional districts.
One health reform mail campaign was denounced Thursday. The American Association of Retired Persons and the National Council of Senior Citizens slammed three direct-mail groups as "liars for hire," saying they are fleecing older Americans and poisoning support for health reform with frightening letters.
The direct-mailers - the American Council for Health Care Reform, the Seniors Coalition and the United Seniors Association - have sent millions of postcards and letters soliciting donations and warning of dire consequences if Congress passes Clinton's health plan.
Among their claims: "Jail time if you buy extra care" and "There will be no doctors left to treat you."
Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark., chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, condemned the direct-mail groups as "charlatans" and "modern-day snake-oil salesmen."
But Paul Bramell, chief executive officer of the Seniors Coalition, said the attack was a "clear indication that our members' efforts to alert Congress to the dangers of the Clinton health-care plan are getting results. And we are pleased, very pleased."
