By god, I think he’s done it…
Who would have thought a few months ago that the man most responsible for delivering real healthcare reform would be Harry Reid? Reid has apparently found his macho (with no small amount of help from liberal groups, who have pushed him to stand up for Democratic principles, sometimes seemingly against his will,) and will deliver a Senate bill that includes the public option. Better yet, he has taken Chuck Schumer’s politically brilliant idea of an “opt out” provision for states, which will force Republicans across the country to either provide real competition to the citizens they represent, or try to explain why they care more about the insurance companies than about them. Way to give ‘em hell, Harry. Now, get it passed, and you can bet back to raising that cash for your re-election.
Meanwhile, the White House issued this statement, which makes Team Obama sound a bit like a bystander, rather than a participant in the process. Well, if you believe recent reports of the White House negotiating on behalf of Olympia Snowe…
“The President congratulates Senator Reid and Chairmen Baucus and Dodd for their hard work on health insurance reform. Thanks to their efforts, we’re closer than we’ve ever been to solving this decades-old problem. And while much work remains, the President is pleased that at the progress that Congress has made. He’s also pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage, in this case with an allowance for states to opt out. As he said to Congress and the nation in September, he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition.”
Healthcare for America Now has posted a “thank you, Harry” petition, and they had this to say today:
This is a huge victory.
Putting the public option in the bill that goes to the floor makes it much harder to remove later on in the process. We haven’t won yet, not by a long shot, but we’ve passed a big milestone – we have a bill going to the Senator floor with a public health insurance option, something the pundits in Washington predicted would never happen.
Senator Reid stood up for America and took the lead today. He gave us a public health insurance option, something the vast majority of Americans want.
Meanwhile, Harry Reid’s statement seems to signal the end of the Snowe shadow presidency:
Reid, who spoke with virtually every member of his 60-member caucus this weekend, currently has between 56 and 57 votes for a proposal to create a national insurance plan but allow states to opt out of it, according to Democratic aides.
But Reid said he will not send the “trigger” option to the CBO — which endangers the support of Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who has not signed on to the opt-out idea. Snowe wants a public insurance option to kick in only if private insurers don’t expand coverage fast enough.
Asked about Snowe’s lack of support, Reid said: “We are going to have to move forward on this.”
The Business Roundtable is not amused:
“We have been working closely with the Senate to get this bill right. Unfortunately, the inclusion of the public plan option takes reform in the wrong direction. We remain committed to working with Congress and the White House to get health care reform that expands access to coverage for all Americans and achieves real and permanent cost cuts in the system, without simply shifting those costs to the private sector,” said Roundtable president John Castellani.
“We are disappointed by Senate Majority Leader Reid’s decision to include a national public health care plan in the merged health care bill.
And Politico continues to miss the point, insisting, along with much of the Washington press corps, that Reid needs 60 votes to pass the now bound for CBO scoring bill. Says the lazy Politico:
Reid’s announcement amounts to a dramatic bid to resuscitate the public option in the Senate after weeks of it appearing all but dead. Progressives — from the architect of the strategy, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), to activist groups that pushed relentlessly for the public option — hailed Reid as bold and his move as a “huge victory.”
But the task ahead for Reid is steep, and at this point, even expert Senate vote-counters say there’s no way to know if Reid can pull it off. It all comes down to moderates — and Reid’s skill at convincing them the opt-out plan is not the budget-busting Big Government health takeover many worry about.
The early signs are not encouraging for Reid.
Two Democratic holdouts, Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, have refused to commit to voting either way on the bill until they review it. And Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, the mostly likely Republican to support the bill, has said it would be “difficult” to support any bill with a government insurance option.
Um … no. What Reid needs, and what any rational person must assume he has assurances of, is for the Democratic caucus, including its two Independent members (well, including Joe Lieberman) to agree to vote for cloture — in other words, to vote to end a Republican filibuster. After that, Reid can pass the bill via a simple majority, which by all accounts, he has — with about 56 or 57 votes in favor of the bill. Reid, as leader, has probably done some horse trading — and some threatening — to make sure the odious Blanche Lincolns, Ben Nelsons and Joe Liebermans in his caucus will indeed vote to end debate. If not, he can always seize their gavels and bust them down to committee members. See how that works?
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