Senate Democrats spar over public plan

Source: Politico

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) runs the health care negotiations like the patriarch of a sprawling clan, urging his members to keep their feuds within the family.

But internal clashes about the government insurance option have begun to spill into the open — as Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has gone public with his case against consumer-owned health care cooperatives, which are viewed as a compromise between progressives who want a public competitor to private insurers and Republicans who don’t want a new government plan.

“I will be darned if I support or allow to move forward — to the extent that I can make a noise about it — something which sounds user-friendly,” Rockefeller said in an interview. “What I have to worry about is, are co-ops going to be effective taking on these gigantic insurance companies? And from everything I know from people who represent them, the answer is a flat ‘no.’”

With four of five congressional committees having endorsed health care bills with a public plan, the focus now turns to the Finance Committee, where debate on the issue has been heated and mostly private up until now.





Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/25711.html

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It's a shame Rockefeller isn't chairing the committe instead of that idiot Baucus

Firstly, they should have a vote to determine that instead of giving up in advance.

Secondly, maybe there are 60 votes. It's easy for Republicans to say now that they won't vote for any bill with a public option, but once they're given a choice of voting Yes or No for the biggest piece of health care reform in decades, I think some of them will choose Yes. (At least one of the Senators from Maine, for example.)

crossed that when the final bill comes around, well see just that. 60 Dem votes for.

one time basis? If so, they should change it. Even if the change is permanent, just about the only time 60 agree to increase the deficit is for "defense" anyway.

NT

I believe the 60 votes is only if the minority party starts a filibuster.

But there are other methods to break a filibuster as well. For instance, bring back the old rules for filibustering - let's see if the conservative piggies have the stomach for a real filibuster, which requires them to speak non-stop.

though some kind of vote in the Senate should be taken on single payer.

A caller to Stephanie Miller this morning reported hearing Al Franken speak in Duluth this weekend and he appears to be lukewarm on a public option (much less single payer) and indicated he'd be willing to support that useless coop plan that Baucus has floated. This doesn't surprise me. I tried to speak to him about single payer health care during his campaign - (his position is that every state needs to find it's own solution) and he wasn't receptive to any idea that he didn't agree with.