Senate Dems search for way out of public option hole
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Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) is confirming what we’ve known for some weeks now – the votes just aren’t there to force cloture and get a vote on a health care reform bill in the Senate so long as it contains a public option.
In an interview tonight with Talking Points Memo, Carper said,
We’re concerned that a number of centrists aren’t prepared to vote for a national public plan, even with an opt-out, We’re trying to find something that addresses their concern about government run, government-funded, but still addresses the need for the affordability needs and the need for more competition in states that don’t have it.
According to Carper, the Democratic conservatives in the Senate just can’t get past the “government run, government-funded” thing – despite the fact that the opt-out public option which Majority Leader Reid has announced will be included in the Senate bill is not government funded.
Carper, a member of the Finance Committee whose initial contribution to the debate had been the ‘opt-in’ approach where the government would stand up a public option and states could decide if they want to participate, is back at work trying to craft yet another convoluted and complicated approach more palatable to the conservatives. His latest effort would set an ‘affordability’ test on a state-by-state basis. For those states where no private insurance policy is available that meets the test, a public option, operated by a quasi-government, non profit board of directors, would be made available in that state via the state’s health care exchange.
Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate H.E.L.P. Committee and a supporter of a strong public option had this to say-
I’m sure if there’s some way of making this bill even more convoluted, I’m sure that someone will probably come up with it at some time or another.
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WHEN this whole thing blows up in the democrats’ faces, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves. The party’s lack of bold proposals and strong leadership has been appalling to watch. Not unexpected, but appalling nonetheless. And, when campaign season comes around, the leadership and the white house, will probably lavish campaign money and support on all those who stood in the way of even the most meager of reforms. They simply have no interest in any substantive change…PERIOD.
Sadly, you may very well turn out to be right.
In response to another comment. See in context »Mark,
In response to another comment. See in context »I can’t argue with you, but let me add some historical perspective. In the 40,000 years that humans have been recognizably human, humans in 2009 United States of America, with all this year’s problems, are still living in probably the top .1 % of all years and places ever. A lot of change isn’t really called for, no matter what Obama says. I agree that the progressive agenda would make things better, but we can afford to go slow. After all, there are thousands and thousands of examples of times and places we would never want to inhabit.