The Public Option Hot Potato

[t0dd]

The White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have been engaged in a game of kill the public option hot potato for awhile. Yesterday, Robert Gibbs justified the lack of a public option in Obama's health care reform bill by laying it at the feet of Harry Reid.

The White House says it’s up to Harry Reid whether the Senate votes on the public option <...>

White House press secretary Robert Gates said today that the White House will leave that up to the Senate Majority Leader.

“I think they’ve asked for a vote on the floor of the Senate, and that’s certainly up to those who manage those amendments and up to Leader Reid,” Gibbs said.

Now, there seems to be some efforts to possibly blame the failure of the public option on the House Democrats. Clearly, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer wants no part of the blame, and has passed the hot potato right back to the White House and Senate Democrats. After all, the House did pass the public option once already. (Via TPM)

“I think the public option can pass in the House. But it’s not in the President’s proposal,” Hoyer said in response to a question from TPM.

“I think it is obviously an item the President has decided–he was for the public option as well–decided is not something that perhaps the Senate can buy,” he said.

The public option is incredibly popular with the American people, supported overwhelmingly by the Democratic base, and is fiscally conservative. It is good politics, good policy, and maybe the only hope of turning around health care reform’s awful poll numbers. The only problem is that lobbyists from private insurance companies don’t like it, and Democrats have decided it is infinitely more important to keep a few lobbyists happy, instead of delivering on promises to constituents.

So, the public option hot potato game continues, and Democrats slowly destroy any hope of keeping control of the House or the Senate in a misguided, Alamo-style defense of the private insurance industry. At least Congressional Democrats will go down fighting for what they believe in: protecting unpopular, large, private corporations from competition, or anything that would help regular Americans save money.

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/02/23/steny-hoyer-passes-public-option-hot-potato-back-to-senate-and-obama/

And I'll add my own commentary: Senate leadership has said that in order to get the votes for a public option, Democrats would need "strong, explicit support from the White House." Instead of doing that, the WH, as it has all along, uses the excuse that the "votes just aren't there" and that the public option is only a "sliver of reform". Except when he was trying to get elected, Obama never wanted a public option.

[maglatinavi]

1. public option

Obama hiding under the skirts of Congress!!! Give e a break!!!
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[nykym]

2. Just wanted to say

Spot on! - I used your last graph to email my senators hope it is OK with you. Thanks

[flyarm]

3. More of that "BRILLIANT " CHESS GAME..right...and then this..

quote from OP ;

"... and Democrats slowly destroy any hope of keeping
control of the House or the Senate in a misguided, Alamo-style
defense of the private insurance industry. At least
Congressional Democrats will go down fighting for what they
believe in: protecting unpopular, large, private corporations
from competition, or anything that would help regular
Americans save money."

I beginning to think that was the plan of this White House all
along..and that that is the master plan of that great chess
game..

If so ..we are all fucked!!

[Enthusiast]

4. One termer.

[mmonk]

5. I don't expect anything.

I've learned my lesson. I don't even have any interest in discussing it anymore. I've already written too many letters and signed too many petitions. Politicians just don't give a damn about what you have to say. They spend too much time "dictating" what you want to listen.