David M. Herszenhorn and Robert Pear write in the New York Times:

The fate of the health care overhaul largely rests on the shoulders of six senators who since June 17 have gathered "" often twice a day, and for many hours at a stretch "" in a conference room with burnt sienna walls, in the office of the Senate Finance Committee chairman, Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana.

President Obama and Congressional leaders agree that if a bipartisan deal can be forged on health care, it will emerge from this conference room, with a huge map of Montana on one wall and photos of Mike Mansfield, the Montanan who was the longest-serving Senate majority leader, on the other.

The battle over health care is all but paralyzed as everyone awaits the outcome of their talks.

Why this little scenario needs to change, right now:

Already, the group of six has tossed aside the idea of a government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers, which the president supports but Republicans said was a deal-breaker.

Instead, they are proposing a network of private, nonprofit cooperatives.

They have also dismissed the House Democratic plan to pay for the bill's roughly $1 trillion, 10-year cost partly with an income surtax on high earners.

The three Republicans have insisted that any new taxes come from within the health care arena. As one option, Democrats have proposed taxing high-end insurance plans with values exceeding $25,000.

The Senate group also seems prepared to drop a requirement, included in other versions of the legislation, that employers offer coverage to their workers. "

"In the House, centrist Democrats have temporarily stalled the health care bill, many lawmakers want to see what Mr. Baucus's group produces before voting on tax increases in the House bill.

I read this first thing this morning, and I cannot tell you how sick I feel. That the lives of Americans rest with this corrupt little crew "" at least some of them are essentially sponsored by Big Pharma and other parts of the medical-industrial complex, who are major campaign contributors "" is beyond outrageous. It is the utter failure of American democracy in microcosm.

My favorite quote:

"If this is the only bill with bipartisan support," Ms. Snowe said, "that will really resonate. It could be the linchpin for broad bipartisan agreement."

And we need broad bipartisan agreement so much more than we need health care.

These people need to hear from us:

Senator Max Baucus, Montana, Democrat

• Washington Office:

  511 Hart Senate Office Bldg.

  Washington, D.C. 20510

  (202) 224-2651(Office)

  (202) 224-9412 (Fax)

• Other office locations, with phone numbers
• Email form

Senator Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico, Democrat

• Washington Office:

  703 Hart Senate Office Building

  Washington, DC 20510

  Phone: (202) 224-5521

  TDD: (202) 224-1792

  Tollfree (in NM): 1-800-443-8658

• Links to state office addresses/phone numbers on this page
• Email form

Senator Kent Conrad, North Dakota, Democrat

• Washington Office:

  530 Hart Senate Office Building

  United States Senate

  Washington, DC 20510-3403

  Phone: (202) 224-2043

  Fax: (202) 224-7776

• Email form
• State offices and all other contact information
• Also, a toll-free number: 1-800-223-4457

Senator Michael B. Enzi, Wyoming, Republican

• Washington Office:

  379A Senate Russell Office Building

  Washington, DC 20510

  Main: (202) 224-3424

  Fax: (202) 228-0359

  Toll free: (888) 250-1879

• All office locations
• Email form

Senator Charles E. Grassley, Iowa, Republican

• Washington Office:

  135 Hart Senate Office Building

  Washington, DC 20510-1501

  (202) 224-3744 (O)

  (202) 224-6020 (F)

• State offices
• Email form (scroll down)

Senator Olympia Snowe, Maine, Republican

• Washington Office:

  154 Russell Senate Office Building

  Washington, DC 20510

  Phone: (202) 224-5344

  Toll Free: (800) 432-1599

  Fax: (202) 224-1946

• District offices
• Email form

Also:

The White House, so you can tell President Obama to veto any bill that doesn't contain the public option:

• 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW

  Washington, DC 20500-0004

• Phone Numbers

  Comments: 202-456-1111

  Switchboard: 202-456-1414

  FAX: 202-456-2461

  TTY/TDD

  Comments: 202-456-6213

• Email form

And

• Your Senator, if not listed above.
• Your Representative

Update: I looked up state populations (as of 2008) and calculated that all six of the senators put together represent 8,444,956 people. The population of New York City is approximately 8.3 million people.

2008 Populations

• Montana 967,440
• New Mexico 1,984,356
• North Dakota 641,481
• Wyoming 532,668
• Iowa 3,002,555
• Maine 1,316,456