Baby Steps
Encouraging news out of the Gang Of Six, although I’d be a lot happier if I saw a quote that actually contained the words "public option":
Sen. Jeff Binagaman (D-NM)–one of the six members of the Senate Finance Committee who have been hashing out a health care reform bill for months–says that if bipartisan negotiations go nowhere, he’d support an effort to circumvent a filibuster and pass legislation without any Republicans.
"If we are unable to do it any other way, that is an option. It is a very difficult option," Bingaman told a crowd of about 200 at a town hall event in Albuquerque yesterday. He was referring to the possibility that Democrats will pass health care reform through the so-called budget reconciliation process.
So after months of trying to entice Republicans with increasingly awful compromises, one of the three Democrats involved has finally recognized that maybe, just maybe, the Republicans aren’t negotiating in good faith, and will not vote for any bill that doesn’t give the healthcare lobbyists everything they want and nothing they don’t. (Think universal mandate, <65% reimbursement rate, no public option, no restrictions on rescission or denial of coverage)
It’s especially interesting that Bingaman’s statement comes so soon after House progressives got $400,000 in donations plus lots of non-financial love and support for signing the "no public option, no way" letter. I’d like to think that Senate Democrats – and perhaps Obama himself – are starting to believe that maybe, just maybe, the Progressive Caucus is really serious this time.
As long as progressives could be counted on to fold, the Baucus Caucus could pursue its strategy of "compromising" reform closer and closer to the insurance industry’s platonic ideal until it finally became enough of an abomination to attract Republican votes. Now that the success of that approach is in doubt, budget reconciliation suddenly looks like the path of least resistance, Reid and Obama’s favorite route.
But before we get too excited about the possibility of passing the public option through budget reconciliation, remember that we still have to get to 50 first. Open Left counts only 45 Senate Democrats committed to the public option, and they’re trying to persuade five more. Will you help?
Baby Steps
Encouraging news out of the Gang Of Six, although I’d be a lot happier if I saw a quote that actually contained the words "public option":
Sen. Jeff Binagaman (D-NM)–one of the six members of the Senate Finance Committee who have been hashing out a health care reform bill for months–says that if bipartisan negotiations go nowhere, he’d support an effort to circumvent a filibuster and pass legislation without any Republicans.
"If we are unable to do it any other way, that is an option. It is a very difficult option," Bingaman told a crowd of about 200 at a town hall event in Albuquerque yesterday. He was referring to the possibility that Democrats will pass health care reform through the so-called budget reconciliation process.
So after months of trying to entice Republicans with increasingly awful compromises, one of the three Democrats involved has finally recognized that maybe, just maybe, the Republicans aren’t negotiating in good faith, and will not vote for any bill that doesn’t give the healthcare lobbyists everything they want and nothing they don’t. (Think universal mandate, <65% reimbursement rate, no public option, no restrictions on rescission or denial of coverage)
It’s especially interesting that Bingaman’s statement comes so soon after House progressives got $400,000 in donations plus lots of non-financial love and support for signing the "no public option, no way" letter. I’d like to think that Senate Democrats – and perhaps Obama himself – are starting to believe that maybe, just maybe, the Progressive Caucus is really serious this time.
As long as progressives could be counted on to fold, the Baucus Caucus could pursue its strategy of "compromising" reform closer and closer to the insurance industry’s platonic ideal until it finally became enough of an abomination to attract Republican votes. Now that the success of that approach is in doubt, budget reconciliation suddenly looks like the path of least resistance, Reid and Obama’s favorite route.
But before we get too excited about the possibility of passing the public option through budget reconciliation, remember that we still have to get to 50 first. Open Left counts only 45 Senate Democrats committed to the public option, and they’re trying to persuade five more. Will you help?
