McConnell is blowing hot air, stench-strewn, into a force that has momentum. I'd caution Mitch not to start pissing into the wind! -Kevo

okay... so there may (or may not) be the sight of a tail at the end of a long tunnel thru the horse shit...

If I'm Reid, that NRSC quote becomes my campaign ad.

Harry Reid: Don't Let His Wimpy Looks Deceive You!

The idea that a state -- even a truly deep red one -- would opt out is so nonsensical as to be ridiculous. Imagine the political firestorm when the Republican Party in, say, Mississippi, moves to cancel the public option and de-insure those who signed up. The Opt-out provision has the advantage of being reasonable to red-staters, but not being a threat. And, were a red state to opt out, fine. It would be asking to get back in, after the next election, when those who pushed for opting out were defenestrated, politically speaking.

If the public option isn't based on Medicare rates, it will be a sham and helpful to no one. Also, I read somewhere that private insurance companies would administer this option. So this boy ain't clapping no hands yet.

/cautiously optimistic!

Is it possible that Obama has changed the equation in Congress: where delay means defeat?

It seems to me that you are playing with fire when you give Obama more time to make his case.

Of course this doesn't work if what you are doing is not popular when fully discussed.

Sure, 2 of the 5 sentences were in support of the public option- but when Obama and crew stop talking and start twisting arms for the PO, then I'll believe he supports it. All talk and no twisty so far.

If a bill with an opt-out passes, and any red state opts out, that state's leadership deserves to be defenestrated literally, not figuratively. After all, in Prague, the defenestrators made sure there was an adequately sized pile of manure under the second story window to protect the health, if not the dignity, of the defenastratees.

The White House was never against the opt-out PO. They'd told Reid: "Do your best to get us what you can while we elevate you by seemingly preferring the trig option." The apparent preference of the WH for the triggered PO over the opt-out version seems to have been a strategic "leak", a purposeful distraction. It is why Reid did not seem to waver once he'd decided how he wanted to proceed. He knew all along that the WH was with him.

Well done, it worked!

It took an unprecedented amount of pressure to get this close to real health care reform.

Don't stop the pressure!

If the dems do succeed in getting 60 votes to forche thru obamacare, it will be a case of the majority ramming its wishes down the throats of the minority. It makes a mockery of our congressional traditions.

"If the dems do succeed in getting 60 votes to forche thru obamacare, it will be a case of the majority ramming its wishes down the throats of the minority. It makes a mockery of our congressional traditions."

Posted by: Al at 5:22 PM

Ram baby, Ram.

Al, you can't be for real. What congressional traditions are you referring to? The ones that kept Women's Suffrage and the Civil Rights Act from passing for decades? It has taken 40 years to get this far. If Democrats succeed in getting 60 votes to pass health care reform with a robust public option, it will be About D*mn Time!

So, Al, even the 60 vote threshold for cloture is undemocratic to you?

You, I would proffer, make more mockery of our Congressional traditions than Congress itself! You need a refresher on just what our polity is, and how it operates! -Kevo

"If the dems do succeed in getting 60 votes to forche thru obamacare, it will be a case of the majority ramming its wishes down the throats of the minority."

Welcome to democracy.

60 votes, Al? What happened to 50% +1? Oh that's right, that's what the majority is when Republicans have the majority. For dems it's 60.

Screw your version of democracy.

$400 billion in Medicare and Medicaid "savings"? Absolutely not going to happen.

$500 billion in new mix of taxes, mostly on high end "Cadillac" insurance plans? You must be joking.

A "paid for" public option without squeezing hospitals and doctors to accept 20-30% less than market rate fees (ie.: Medicare/Medicaid fees)? See above. The care delivery system will crash.

A plan under 1 Trillion, w/out taxing the under $250K cohort? That will not add a dime to the deficit?

Liberal fantasy, as per usual?

No, this time it's libs truly on heavy, heavy crack.

You ain't got the money (especially Benen & the gang on this thread) and the middle class isn't going to fork it over.

But carry on, this will be your own debacle -- a Bush like disaster, except domestic. The 2010 Congressionals will be a Democratic bloodbath. Even 2012 will be a battle.

If the final version of the bill includes the ability to go across state lines to purchase insurance, then the state's who opt-out aren't doing any damage to their citizens who want the public option. They can just go to the state next door and purchase the public option.
Thank you!

The apparent preference of the WH for the triggered PO over the opt-out version seems to have been a strategic "leak", a purposeful distraction. ... He knew all along that the WH was with him.

BULLSHIT.

The public option was included in the Senate bill because progressives refused to support a health care bill otherwise. I will NOT let those cowards in the WH take credit for ANY progress in this area.

AND, I don't trust that they won't sell us out in conference either.

Enough with the eleven-dimension chess bullshit. NO ONE trusts these guys anymore.

"Enough with the eleven-dimension chess bullshit. NO ONE trusts these guys anymore."

Actually, I do.

Look where we are.

The next tactic by the health care industrial complex will be to gut the public option such that it fails miserably. Then, they can get states to opt out and pick them off one by one.

The obvious way to have a successful PO is to use the existing Medicare infrastructure and expand it to include Medicare E (Medicare for Everybody).

We need to fight to have a strong, successful PO which will take a real bite out of health care costs without reducing quality. We know this is possible because every other industrialized nation in the world provides the same or better health care for much, much less than America.

Oh, and how to pay out up front costs? Tax the banksters that are having a feeding frenzy at the public trough, and use stimulus money.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell added that the "American public clearly does not like, and doesn't support" the Democratic effort.
~~~
Whomever wrote down McConnell's statement must have omitted a phrase, ie "30 percent of the" "American public clearly does not like and doesn't support" the Democratic effort. Otherwise McConnell would be lying, right? And he'd never, ever lie. /snark

It sounds great! Hats Off to "Leader" Reid and the other Progressive Dems in the Senate.
Next step- See & Read the Senate Bill.
For the Dems to pass healthcare reform legislation without a REAL way to limit Private Insurance carrier EXCESS profit would have been crazy.
I will only RELAX when I read about the final vote in the Senate and House.
Talk is cheap and I have read enough and heard enough Republican BS to last me for the next 5 years.
My sense of Dem Pride is starting to rise !

Cautiously optimistic while worried that some Dem. Senator is going to be paid off big time to oppose cloture - Mary Landrieu perhaps, so she can quit politics and move offshore. The way I see it any Dem. Senator who will not permit a vote on this KNOWS they have no future as a Democrat, so the only reason to oppose is some other HUGE payoff. Keep tabs on their assets, starting now. There is absolutely no way they could oppose this and expect not to be confronted by Lamont*1000 in a primary. The Base will pour millions into driving them out of the party. I know I will be part of that.

Keep up the pressure.

Any traitor to the cause so many have fought for, and a traitor to the millions who desperately need this fight to succeed, fully deserves a life of utter misery, shame and endless ridicule.

Whew! Harry Reid redeems himself. Good work, even though this conservative public option for a tiny percentage of individuals is a triple compromise...

(Single payer -> Public option tied to medicare -> level playing field PO -> PO w/ opt out)

And tao9@6:22, thanks for your concern trolling - I am fine with Democrats losing in 2012 as long as we pass Healthcare and create Clean energy jobs for Americans. You're obviously far more concerned about Democrats losing, and the concerns are duly noted.

"Enough with the eleven-dimension chess bullshit. NO ONE trusts these guys anymore."

WOW I guess the two hour meeting between Obama and Reid last week didn't MEAN anything??? That the WH wasn't signaling their intentions to Reid? Try NOT to be as naive as you sound...

"If the dems do succeed in getting 60 votes to forche thru obamacare, it will be a case of the majority ramming its wishes down the throats of the minority. It makes a mockery of our congressional traditions."

Posted by: Al at 5:22 PM

Payback for the last 14 years. Suck it!

If this passes and it will be successful once it passes, the Democrats are not going to lose in 2010 or 2012. This is our signature issue. This is going to fix so many problems we have that the idea that it will cause Democrats to lose after their stunning success is not only foolish, it is naive. Keep praying republicans. The republican Senators know that if they don't "break" Obama or the Democrats by stopping healthcare reform they will remain in the wilderness for a long time to come...right where they belong.