Rockefeller: "The president wants [a public option] he told me personally."

Jay Rockefeller on the Public Option: 'I Will Not Relent'

Jay Rockefeller has waited a long time for this moment. Since 1964, to be exact. So he was unabashedly emotional as the Senate Finance Committee neared completion of its work on health reform. "I feel the way I feel and I am who I am," the West Virginia Democrat said at the end of a teary, post-midnight monologue about his work as a VISTA volunteer 45 years ago.

<snip>

President Obama often says a public option is needed to drive down costs and keep insurance companies honest. To Rockefeller, it's both more basic and more vital: The federal government is the only institution people can count on in times of need. To conservatives, that same government is inefficient, intrusive and, in Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley's words, "a predator" in the market. The coming clash promises to be a defining moment, for Rockefeller, Obama and both political parties.

The Senate Finance Committee is expected to approve its bill this week, and it will not have a public option. Rockefeller's version lost 15-8, and a variation from New York Sen. Charles Schumer lost 13-10. The heated committee debate previewed what will be a similar but higher-profile debate on the floor.
Will the end result be the same? Rockefeller sees these reasons for hope:
- Four other House and Senate committees produced health bills that have a public option.

- A Finance Committee member came up to him after the public option vote, "somebody who had not necessarily voted for it," and told him to stick with it because "it could work out well in the end."

-The Senate is fluid. Tweaks may draw new support for a public option. Some people may agree to vote to shut off a filibuster, which takes 60 votes, even if they oppose a public option or a bill that includes it. "People make speeches in July or August, 'this is my line in the sand,' and then life gets to be a little bit more realistic. People can change. Pressure is brought to bear. The president enters the situation."

-"The president wants it, he told me personally. I think he will work very hard for it." When the House and Senate are ready to reconcile differences in their bills, "you may have that conference in the Cabinet Room at the White House. The White -House is going to be very, very much involved in that."


- Other alternatives are weak, and the Senate floor is a good place to expose their weaknesses.

more...
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/10/04/jay-rockefeller-s-health-care-moment-45-years-in-the-making/