Dem Senators Call On Reid To Use Reconciliation To Pass HCR With A Public Option

If you don't ask forget it. Lieberman sure likes to be asked.

Harry Reid will do whatever 29 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus say he should do. That's what being "Senate Majority Leader" means. Do that which a majority of the caucus demands and do not do that which a majority of the caucus will not approve.

It's much more fun to act like he's Dictator of the Senate so he's easier to simplistically blackhat, but he's just the Commissioner of Baseball-he's got exactly as much power as a majority of his caucus will let him have and not one iota more.

Yes, except the president is the only one with a public megaphone and he needs to be out there constantly cheer leading, arm twisting, convincing the public and counteracting the ever-constant rightwing noise machine. He's done some, especially more recently, but in my opinion, not enough, and made too many early deals with the devils in this affair -- the insurance industry and big pharma.

I'm not unrealistic. I still have some fading hopes something will get done and still think it would be better for the House to pass the Senate bill as is, and hope to improve on it later.

I also recognize that even if Obama had been screaming every day, there is still a real good chance he would have lost to the corporate interests which control congress. Indeed, the WH probably figured as much and didn't want to expend the political capital for a losing cause.

But that's why I voted for him, because I thought he would at least fight the good fight. If he fought and lost, the base would still be with him and eager to fight again; now they are demoralized.

What world are these dems living on?

This one.

That's a link to the Quinnipiac poll, 14 Jan 2010.

Nationwide sample, conducted 5-11 January 2010, 1,767 registered voters, MOE +/- 2.3%

Question #28. Do you support or oppose giving people the option of being covered by a government health insurance plan that would compete with private plans?

Results (culled from answers - visit the link to see the full spreads and breakdowns)

Support: 59%. Oppose: 35%. DK/NA: 6%.
Democrats: Support 82%. Oppose 12%
Republicans: Support 34%. Oppose 59%.
Independents: Support 61%. Oppose 34%.

Liberals (self-described): Support 85% Oppose 11%
Moderates (self-described): Support 69% Oppose 26%
Conservatives (self-described): Support 35% Oppose 59%

Support fairly evenly spread across all age groups 18-55+ (spread 53%-68%)
Support even more evenly spread across all income groups $100K (spread 57%-62%)

****

Read those numbers again. 69% of MODERATES support a public option. 61% of INDEPENDENTS support it. Good God, over a third of conservatives, and over a third of Republicans, support it.

And compared with the popularity of Congress as a whole, of the Senate in particular, or of the health care proposal in general, now largely identified with the Senate bill, these numbers aren't even in the same league. And the approval numbers for the PO are also better than those of the President, but by a smaller margin.

So maybe these folks have only 4 Senators, but they seem to have a whole lot of the American public behind them. As they have since at least last summer, since poll after poll after poll consistently demonstrates numbers like these, and have for months.

Maybe these 4 Senators are on to something that the rest of the Senate, the leadership and conservadems in particular, haven't quite caught on to yet -- or don't think they have to care about. (After all, their seven-figure lobbying jobs await them the second they leave office, whether voluntarily, like Bayh, or otherwise.)

Maybe it isn't these 4 Senators who are out of touch, or, to quote calchala, "living in bizarro land."

I sure do.