Should President Obama agree to debate Representative Weiner on single payer?

If he could win the debate against single payer's best defender, it might bring progressives on board for whatever bill the Democrats cobble together. The debate would also bring in a large viewing audience which would give Obama the chance to educate the American people on why we need the kind of reform he's advocating.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/463782/don_t_let_the_white_house_spin_the_public_option_debate

Don't Let the White House Spin the Public Option Debate posted by John Nichols on 08/18/2009 @ 11:16am

President Obama referred to the creation of a public program to compete with for-profit health insurers as a mere "sliver" of his reform agenda and then told a Colorado town hall meeting that: "The public option, whether we have it or we don't have it, is not the entirety of healthcare reform."

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said the public option is "not essential" to addressing what ails a broken healthcare system.

Those statements, obvious signals of a slackening in commitment to take on the insurance companies, caused an outcry.

The outrage was best summed up by Congressman Anthony Weiner, D-New York, who has emerged as a key backer of real reform.

"Having a plan that doesn't have a public option is worse than having doing nothing at all," said Weiner. "Leaving the insurance companies in charge of this is kind of like leaving a pyromaniac in charge of the fire department."

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there isn't enough support to pass it in the house or senate. It would be taking time away from what we can potentially get which is a government option, which is what most liberals also realize is all we can get at this time. However, a successful government option may one day lead to a single payer system.

no matter how much I agree with him.


Have him debate Boehner over it... or some other puke who doesn't want any government involvement in health insurance

I have no doubt that Obama would sign it into law.
Tomorrow we should see how HR 676 fares in the House of Representatives.

I also have no doubt that the chances of both houses of Congress passing a single payer bill is about on par with my winning the next Powerball while being struck by lightning.

. . .we continue to look for ways to divide and segment ourselves. A debate between Obama and Weiner is counterproductive, besides Weiner both Obama and Weiner would support a public option.