No Public Option?

This is a victory for the American people.

Obama's goal of forcing government-run health care on the country to eventually arrive at his dream of a single-payer plan may be dead.



From the Washington Times:

In the face of strong public criticism at town-hall meetings and skepticism on Capitol Hill, Obama administration officials said Sunday that the president is willing to accept a health care proposal that includes nonprofit health insurance cooperatives rather than insist on a government-run insurance program.

The move was a major concession to conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans that quickly won applause from several lawmakers concerned that reform efforts were being sunk by fears that such a federally subsidized program would lead to a government takeover of health care.

"Look, the fact of the matter is there are not the votes in the United States Senate for the public option. There never have been," Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota Democrat, said on "Fox News Sunday." "So to continue to chase that rabbit, I think, is just a wasted effort."

Some prominent liberal Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, reiterated their faith in the public option. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas said it would be "very, very difficult" to win her support for a bill that did not include a public option.

Spokesmen for the top two Republicans on Capitol Hill were cautious when asked for reactions Sunday afternoon.

...Spokesmen for several ranking congressional Republicans said that while the concept of a health care co-op has merit, it's too early in the debate to say whether they would support such a plan.

A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said "it depends on how it's set up."

"If it's a government plan under a different name, it's not going to get support; it will be like having another Fannie and Freddie," said spokesman Don Stewart, referring to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the troubled government-sponsored companies that either guarantee or own almost half the nation's mortgages.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said "there is a lot of concern that co-ops would simply be a gateway drug to government-run health care," but he added, "It's hard to comment on a proposal no one has seen."

Jill Gerber, a spokeswoman for Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Senate Finance Committee's top Republican who has strongly opposed the public-option plan, said the senator is interested in the co-op approach, though she added that it "all depends on details and how things unfold."

I think there's reason to be skeptical about the co-op approach.

It would be a mistake to think that the Dems' openness to dropping the public option that Obama insisted had to be part of reform means that the threat of a government takeover of our health care system has passed.

I don't see this as a victory for opponents of government-run health care as much as I see it as an indication of just how vehemently against socialized medicine Americans are.

This co-op thing could really just be lipstick on a pig.

I don't believe that Obama and the rabid fringe Leftist Democrats are giving up that easily on their scheme to subject Americans to a government-run system.

This simply could be an effort to quiet the vocal opposition at the town hall meetings.

The smear campaign, all that "angry mob" talk and Nazi references, backfired on Obama and the Democrats. Time to try a new approach.

Extreme caution is in order, because they cannot be trusted.

Something to remember:

Nothing is standing in the way of the Democrats doing whatever they want.

Republicans do not have the power to block any legislation. They cannot serve as obstructionists.

Democrats are in control. The fact is the Democrat Party is fractured right now. The Republicans are't blocking anything.

Utlimately, the only thing preventing the Democrats from passing the bill, with or without a public option, is the American people.

Without their vocal opposition, there may have been a vote on the bill already.
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Howard Dean weighs in: "You really can't do health care reform without [a public option]."

From Breitbart, video of Howard Dean on the Today Show this morning.

MATT LAUER: Is it (public option) dead?

HOWARD DEAN: No. Uh, in fact, you really can't do health care reform without it.