Ried the majority leader of the weak and feeble mind; lacking courage and conviction. Ried has no fight in him and so goes the fate of the public option; thus giving the GOP control over Obama's remaining agenda!

Good to see that TPM has maintained its laserlike focus on a blow-by-blow account of health reform rumors. It's not like there's other stuff going on in DC and the world that might merit coverage.

Thanks. I appreciate this post.

This is a subject I care about, and though a few would like you to be silent, I appreciate the reporting.

At this point it seems clear to me that the PO doesn't have the votes in the Senate and doesn't really have the support of the White House. The only way I see it passing is if the White House pushes hard and twists arms to get all the Dem caucus to pass a cloture vote and then get the PO to pass on a simple majority vote (and even that might be iffy; there are about 15 Dem senators I count who might vote against it.) But I see absolutely no indication that the White House plans to do this and every indication that they do not.

The Progressive Deemocrats in the Senate should advise Reid they will "trigger" his removal from leadership if he doesn't eliminate triggers from the public option! The Progressives have compromised ENOUGH! Public Option IS the compromise from single payer! Reid just lets the Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats keep whittling away at what the public wants and lets the Insurers, Pharma and other healthcare components write their version of the bill. Reminiscent of Medicare Part D. Reid and the whole debacle in Baucus' committee is just sickening. The people lose again to big money. Next Energy will be buying Reps and Senators when their bills come around. After that the military industries will shovel money to them when they cut back on military spending. The Financial system is already doing that to stop regulation even after they destroyed the economy! Democracy my ass.

What in the hell does supporting something mean if he doesn't include it in the bill? Oh, yeah, it's called lip service.

Thank you, sir, may I have another?

It concerns me that the Leader of the Senate Dems is also worried about his re-election. This forces competing goals on an individual that has not proved to be an effective Majority leader even the years he's not up for re-election.

I think that it would be better to have a Senator from a solidly Democratic state(or at least mostly Dem such as Wisconsin or PA) in the Majority Leader position. He/She should encourage a solid liberal/progressive set of goals and let Senate moderates(Dem or Repub) bring it toward the center in the legislative process. As it is now, we have the opposite w/ Senate Dems trying to pull their Leader along.

I think this structure has contributed signifigantly to poor execution of the current heath reform process.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for moderates, I just don't think its appropriate for them to symbolize and communicate the party and its ideals/goals. This starts the negotiation process at a disadvantage because you've already compromised before you have to compromise w/ the opposition. Thus ending with a bill that is somewhere between Moderate and Repub. An effective MINORITY leader could do better.

They mess this up by passing regional, triggered options instead of a strong, national public option, insurance rates are going to continue to rise. We end up in the same mess with regard to cost. It's crazy not to pass a public option that looks like a pay-as-you-go Medicare or Veterans Administration plan.

Reid is being an idiot.

Talk of a 'trigger' is an insult to our intelligence and as good as accomplishing nothing.

He is in a very weak position and I hope that he will be replaced as majority leader. I also hope that Baucus will be replaced as Finance Committee Chair.

With leadership like his, who needs republicans.