Does Pelosi's Softening Rhetoric Spell Doom for the Public Option?

It's not about Obama, it's about the Senate filibuster rules and vote counting. Obama will shepherd what is doable. He doesn't control the votes of either chamber of Congress. And the blue dog Senators are the balance right now. When it comes down to it, Dems know they have to pass a bill with or without a PO. And the prima donnas who are in the Senate face election every 6 years, so are more likely to keep majority control in the first election cycle. House Dems are much more likely to cave if they have to. And they can come back next year to try to add a strong PO if they can make headway in that effort.

Yes. Pelosi has been trying to create wiggle room for about a week now so she can wiggle out of supporting the public option.

There is no robust public option to begin with -- not even close. What makes a public option more robust isn't the rates it can negotiate at but how many people have access to it, and whether or not some of the unpopular decisions insurance companies make (see Sarkisyan, Nataline) can survive the political process the public option entails. So few people have access to the public option that it's not significantly going to lower costs.

It's not so much the public option that brings down costs but abandoning the employer-based system that brings down the costs. The more people we have comparison shopping on the Exchange, the more we can control health care costs. The Commonwealth Fund study finds a federal Exchange with no public option and where all employers have access will lower premiums for a family by $1,575/yr. by 2020.

Pelosi, Reid, and President Obama's pubic statements relative to the Public Option don't concern me in the least anymore. Who knows if what they are saying is how they really feel or not? Or if its just a smoke screen of some sort? This is politics after all.

As long as the House Progressives hold the line, and continue to reiterate that they are a "NO" vote without the public option, then reform is dead without one. The three leaders will have to go along with them in the end.

And if at the end of the day we don't get reform because of it, then, we're no worse or better off than we are today.

We can't be so afraid to fail, that we completely capitulate on all our values; on those things that we KNOW to be right. We've already given on single payer (Medicare for all). Now they are coming after the only thing in reform that would REALLY be valuable for the most people; the PO.

They can't have it.

Exactly what is the profit margin on a social contract?

The only plan here is to raise a lot of money in order to fund dinky "all politics is local" campaigns in marginal House districts next year -- full employment for the usual pimp-consultants and legislative aides this year.

So, the GOP is trying to re-play the 1994 campaign, and the DNC/DSCC/DCCC are helping them. What is new?

A disciplined party that delivered on health care reform. That would be new. But, Pelosi is about to become an insurance-lobby "queen" in the tradition of Tom Foley. That is not new.

And, it is no surprise: Every pimp-consultant wants to become a lobbyist, come in from the field, ascend to K-Street. And, all Pelosi/Hoyer have done since 2006 is expand the Democratic contingent on and and market-share from K-Street.

This is all the Democratic party establishment knows how to do.

Governing is simply the challenge they are not up to. No, these are "lifestyle Democrats" whose only objective is incumbency and only history is pandering to interest groups: big ones in DC, little ones at home -- double lives.

They have no discipline and are so cowardly as to be easily routed by a handful of wing-nuts. So, Democratic voters will have three choices next year:

Vote D,

Vote R, or ...

Do not vote at all.

Those bad odds on a flabby party could result in more than the "20 seat loss" projected by and for the pimp-consultants as they earn a living by destroying any hope of responsible, two-party government. These are the historic choices they are giving us:

(I) A return to GOP extremism or (II) more wheel-spinning on a failed coalition of corrupt Democrats and moderate Republicans, or corrupt Republicans and moderate Democrats, or ... whatever.

Where is a "hard center"?

Here's a question: Did Pelosi's hardening rhetoric a couple weeks ago signal a "collision course" for the public option? Back then it did, at least on this site.

Now the "softening" rhetoric spells doom.

Seems to me that these past few months, respective sides were staking out positions for the negotiation room, but leaving themselves room the whole time. Now almost everyone is echoing the language used in the president's speech last Wednesday. You'd think after all the griping about "messaging" and "consistency," we'd at least be able to give them credit for sticking to the script.

In many ways TPM has come to (gasp) mirror the beltway media. Instead of providing actual information, they provide drama, contrived drama at that. TPM is beginning to give up journalism and become a sportscaster instead, just like the rest of the whole talking head culture.

Is anybody else old enough to be reminded of that long running "Generalissimo Francisco Franco still dead!" from the days when Chevy Chase did Weekend Update? on SNL?

Everybody needs to calm down!! There will be a public option. Pelosi and everybody are probaly hoding everything cloe to the vest as they say. September 15th is almost here

I hate all this fretting about every little thing on TPM. It's tiresome.

But I have to say, I've given up on expecting anything "progressive" out of all of this. My best guess now is that any "reform" will be more based on how much it increases corporate profits rather than seriously reducing costs through a strong public option with the power to negotiate costs. What we end up with will merely expand the current system with our tax dollars rather than create anything substantially new. Obama and democrats are far more comfortable shoveling billions in government funds to millionaires and corporations rather than to working folks, and that's what our "new" health system will reflect.

If we get anything better than that I'll be very pleasantly surprised.

Follow the money. I am sorry to say that greed probably controls the situation. Another credible news source carried the details of a formal fundraiser to be held on Friday 9/24/2009 at the Washington DC home of lobbyist Steve Elmendorf who is a registered UnitedHealth lobbyist. (This was reported last Friday by a credible journalist --- see URL below.) They are asking $5000 for PAC representatives or $2400 per person at the door. What's sad is the fact that the Pelosi family is also already very wealthy. For a few dollars more these people in Washington are selling out the American citizens and our future. This is just disgusting.

http://www.openleft.com/diary/15066/unitedhealth-lobbyist-announces-big-fundraiser-for-pelosi-as-she-backs-off-public-option

Time to turn on the heat. Call the Senate at let them know we must have a public option.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/observer2/2009/09/public-option-senate-contact-l.php