I'm just setting this here:

For weeks now, the health care debate has largely centered around the public option and its political feasibility. But some policy experts are concerned that a separate shortcoming of the health care plans under consideration could be damaging to working- and middle-class people. It's a substantive problem only gets worse if there's no public option, and could become a political disaster for Democrats.

On July 7, Obama said establishment of a public insurance option is "one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices, and assure quality,"

Without regulations and a mandate, the public option won't be sustainable, so I don't see how reconciliation will work as a one-step method of passing the reform package.

At least, if you do reconciliation alone, the public insurance option will have to be radically restructured.

Doh, I thought this article was about Alex Trebek leaving Jeopardy, or that the song for the final question was going to be changed.

edit:

"...would BE significantly out of step..."

Man stop jerking us around. Pass the bill with the public option and stop acting retarded. We dont want no damn triggers. where not building a gn.

Insurance has had there time, the trigger has already been pulled, now is the time, to change the system. what you want it to get worse before you wake the fuck up? we rank 37th in the world whats it gonna take? for us to be 67th?

come the fuck on man

The more I think about the Snowe plan Brian theorizes about here, the better it sounds.

The trigger is unacceptable. It cannot be in the final bill. Delay is death for this reform, and the trigger makes no sense even to propose as anything except a sneaky attempt to delay or kill the public option.

But: Nancy Pelosi agrees with this. Pelosi's letter from yesterday clearly states that the House will not pass a bill with a trigger in it.

So let's say that the Senate caves in to the trigger, and this gets Snowe on board and somehow gets a lid on Lieberman and it gets us to 60 votes. That will be a major coup, trigger or no trigger. Getting the Senate to agree to any public option would have seemed near unthinkable a month ago. It will be almost impossible for many Democratic senators to walk back to a "no public option period" position from there.

And there will be no trigger in the House bill. It's safe to say, given the strong and energized response of House progressives and leaders and the silence of the Blue Dog caucus, that we will see a bill with a public option and no gimmicks pass the House.

If a bill passes the Senate with a trigger+public option, and the house passes with normal public option... if this somewhat over-optimistic scenario comes to pass, that is a really good position for the public option to end up in. If the House version has a strong public option and the Senate version has none at all, I have grave doubts as to whether they can get the public option in in reconciliation. If the public option gets booted out of the bill and we have to resort to the reconciliation trick... I'd love to see the Democrats try that, but I have REALLY grave doubts as to whether it will work. But if the House and Senate pass basically the same bill, separated only by a trigger? I like those odds. That's not such a big gap in reconciliation, and as long as adding the trigger loses us no more than 10 (!) votes we'll pass the conference version.

If they can pull it off, I say go for it.

Who elected Olympia Snowe president?

She's flaky, temperamental and untrustworthy. Her involvement in the economic stimulus reduced its positive impact and is leaving state and local governments more in the lurch today. And for what purpose, other than to satisfy her own ego?

If we can get the Mass. legislature to appoint an interim replacement for Senator Kennedy, we'll have 60 votes -- what's needed then is to enforce the party line on cloture. If we had a competent majority leader, that would not be a problem. And if that fails, go to reconciliation.

Stop dicking around with her, start playing hardball and go for the best bill that can pass, even if it's by one vote.

If health care reform ever passes, many citizens will need to use their mental health benefits!

More than once it seems to come down to one person who could gum up the works. It has been Grassley, Enzi, Blanche Lincoln, Nelson, Lieberman. Now it's Snowe.
Barack Obama, don't get Snowed.

As one of those who are most hosed by the current system, I'd rather see progressives abandon the bill altogether than pass something half-assed.

If dissatisfaction with health insurance/health care gets reduced at all, there will be no incentive for the comprehensive reform we need.

I'd rather see them keep the situation terrible than let the teabaggers win.

From where I sit there are three tightly intersecting but distinguishable issues that we talk about when we talk about 'health reform'.
The first is the issue of access; the second deals with costs; the third with quality.
Of course all of these issues must be addressed in a sustainable solution, but what seems to happen is that when one side talks about the fundamental claim of justice for providing universal access, an opponent shifts the discussion to cost or quality (that is the opponents who don't just shriek, lie and scare).
The administration's argument that the status quo is not a viable alternative on the basis of escalating cost is a valid one. But the fundamental argument should be a call to Justice: no one should die or suffer needlessly because of lack of access to quality health care. That argument trumps the scare tactics about death panels and socialism and is easy to understand. And to steal an argument from E.J. Dionne, no one should die in exchange for Olympia Snow's vote.

You guys are going WAY overboard. The trigger is actually a good tactical option for this point in the game. The big point is in the details. Where does the trigger kick in, what is the public option that is associated with it?

All you brave-hearts that want to go it alone and are vowing to only elect republicans from now on (?!?!) if you can't have medicare for all right now are flat out losing your minds. This is a multi-year fight, and we better stay in it to win it.

Also, as another poster commented, getting the option in with the trigger makes anything you want to do in reconciliation MUCH MUCH MUCH more likely. Stop and think for a minute. And calm down for god's sake.

I'd hate to go too long with a trigger actually in place, because you know the companies are going to start issuing reimbursement denials and blaming it on the need to reduce costs, and say "see this is what happens when the govt dictates price." But with the option philosophically in place, we have moved the ball down the field at least, and provided we stay successful electorally, we'll be in a good place when push comes to shove.

Seriously, if you guys want to make threats, how about you direct them specifically at conservadems, not the party in general. And quit with the "leadership and Obama are too whimpy" stuff. They can't enforce discipline like the republitards because of the system. Quit acting like it's a moral failing.

Getting angry.

Public Option, No triggers! Triggers are just a cop out. If there is a trigger, there will NEVER be an public option and we know it, so don't even attempt to spin it!

If House progressives don't want to budge too much on a 'robust' public option then what's wrong with letting them pass a liberal bill, and let the Senate pass an amended version with the necessary modifications to pick up Snowe and/or Collins and settle the differences in conference.

It will be a difficult conference committee, for sure, but it allows House progressives to save face and at least give it their best shot.

The outcome largely depends on what we can do in the Senate anyway, and it always has. Tough negotiation, and the pressure on those few moderate Republicans of resolving the issue in conference may help to give the bill momentum.

Caption reads - Obama Weighs His Options - truth is he only has one option - the public option. Sorry, couldn't resist. But it's the truth. Other truth is all you're going to hear on Wed night is "trigger" this and "trigger" that. Saw trouble coming about a month ago, his inability to make hard choices, his inability to lead. Sad really, but if the POTUS doesn't show some guts Wed night I feel that his presidency will become so marginalized that he'll be a lame duck for 3 years. Yea, I know, crazy you say, but the man can't take decisive action. Yea he's a rock star and can talk-the-talk more effectively than even Kennedy could (yes I'm old), but how can he fudge on something so personal to his own being and to millions of Americans. Hard to fathom, mystifying, and impossible to comprehend. Could just be a smart-ass and say lots of hope, zero audacity, but that doesn't work either. Someone help me.