Okay, politicians lie.

They even lie blatantly.

But sometimes, the lie is so bald-faced, it just takes your breath away.

Let’s take the so-called Progressive Caucus.

On August 17, 2009, Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona), co-chair of the 83 member Caucus, said this:

“As we have stated repeatedly for months now, a majority of the members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus will oppose any healthcare reform legislation that does not include a robust public option.”

“Our position has not, and will not, change.”

Earth to Raul – why did only two members of your Caucus – Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Eric Massa (D-New York – stick to that pledge and vote against the House bill?

You even admitted that the public option in the House bill fails the robust test.

On July 30, 54 members of your caucus signed a letter saying anything less than a public option tied to Medicare rates was unacceptable.

And then you accepted the unacceptable.

Single Payer Action has just completed a survey of all 83 members of the Progressive Caucus.

We asked each and every one of them:

Will you vote against any health care bill that does not include a robust public option?

We had low expectations.

But we thought we would at least get a handful to stand by their pledge of just a couple of months ago.

But only two members even responded.

Bob Filner (D-California) and Mike Capuano (D-Massachusetts) both answered yes – they would vote against any bill that didn’t have a robust public option.

But then again, just last month, they voted for a bill that didn’t have a robust public option.

So how can we trust them?

We are not asking for pie in the sky.

We are only asking that you stick to the pledge that you made in August.

Vote against the bill.