Do you remember having "staring contests" as a kid?  You would sit across from a friend, sibling or playground rival - eyeball to eyeball.  Willing your eye lids to remain open, while your eyes began to burn - begging to be refreshed by a blink.  If you were determined and disciplined enough, you would outlast your competition as their eyes slammed shut.  Victory!  Then relief...

The high stakes negotiations for health insurance reform continue around the clock in town hall meetings and in living rooms across the country.  Heated debate about the public option is reaching a feverish pitch.  Despite mounting pressures from Republicans, and from some "Blue Dog Democrats" to pull the public option from the table - I feel strongly that we need to persist.  I urge all members of the House and Senate to weigh the merits of a public option for the American people.  We need careful regulation of the health insurance industry, and to foster competitive pricing of health insurance to make it more affordable and accessible to all Americans.  I am asking our Congressmen and Senators who support health insurance reform not to blink when it comes to the public option.  When our members of Congress return to Washington after the August recess and they stare across the aisle - or even across their own caucus - don't blink.  Don't give in to the discomfort of burning eyes (or rhetoric), please be strong and see the public option through.