Gov. Dean's Scenario

On Morning Joe, he gave this as the likely scenario:

1. The House will pass a bill with Public Option.
2. The Senate will pass a bill without Public Option.
3. The two bill will be reconciled. The Public option will be placed back in the bill.
4. The new bill will pass both House and Senate. Only 51 votes in the Senate will be needed to pass the reconciled bill.


I hope this is the way it will go.

implying public option will move forward with no support from the WH?

I don't get any of this.

to get the initial bill passed in the Senate.

For a normal bill, the House and Senate version get combined in conference, and the resulting conference bill requires 60 votes in the Senate (and can be fillibustered).

Only with a budget reconciliation bill can the 60 vote requirement be waived. But this is extremely hard to do. The bill would have to be deficit neutral over 5 years instead of 10 years, which would be almost impossible without cutting major portions of the bill. In addition, any provision not explicitly related to the budget (i.e. the public option) could be stripped by a single senator unless 60 Senators override the Byrd rule. In his analysis this morning, he wasn't taking into account any of that.

I don't understand your reasoning..The Public Option IMO has the most effect upon the Budget.

Public option is NOT dead.

the public option. That way, he can always say the people forced him to offer it.

If people see it is being taken off the table, I think people will be more inclined to voice their opinion. The Repugs are screaming about anything and everything, but in truth, they also hope there is a public option available for them. They just don't want to approve it publicly, in case it turns out to be a bad idea.

I'm seeing hardcore Repugs weakening, but I'm also seeing Democrats caving in because they are tired of fighting.

Hold your ground.