Clyburn: Public option 'could very well' return to health reform bill (plus whip count)

[ProSense]

Clyburn: Public option 'could very well' return to health reform bill

By Michael O'Brien

A public insurance option "could very well" be a part of the final health legislation, the third-ranking House Democrat said Thursday.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said the government-run plan, which had been scrapped in order to win over centrists' votes in the Senate, could reemerge if the Senate were to use a procedural tactic to pass a set of additional health reforms with only a simple majority vote.

"So I think so far as the public option is concerned, if you're going to do a 50-vote or a 50-plus-one strategy, rather than a 60-vote strategy, I'm not too sure that the public option cannot be a part of this plan," Clyburn said during an appearance on MSNBC.

"Because we were trying to get the 60 votes by dropping the public option, so if you're not going to do a 60-vote strategy but instead a 50-plus-one strategy, the public option could very well be a part of this package," the whip added.

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New: Public Option Through Reconciliation Scoreboard: 16 Signers + 3 Supporters = 19

There is a full push on in the Senate to save the public option through reconciliation.

As of now here are our HEROES!

Sen. Michael Bennet CO
Sen. Barbara Boxer CA
Sen. Sherrod Brown OH
Sen. Roland Burris IL
Sen. Dianne Feinstein CA
Sen. Al Franken MN
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand NY
Sen. John Kerry MA
Sen. Frank Lautenberg NJ
Sen. Patrick Leahy VT
Sen. Jeff Merkley OR
Sen. Barbara Mikulski MD
Sen. Jack Reed RI
Sen. Bernie Sanders VT
Sen. Tom Udall NM
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse RI

Things have been happening fast this morning. Yesterday it was 8 and today it is 16. Thanks to your efforts this morning Boxer, Reed, Mikulski, Tom Udall and Lautenberg signed the letter.

This effort has legs people.

Keep up the fight!

Check out the WhipCongress site (great job WhipCongress!) for the latest tallies, to sign the letter yourself and to get contact information for your senator. If your Senator is one of our HEROES, call them their office and show some love. If they are a "supporter" (Cardin, Klobuchar, Levin) call them and ask them to sign up. It they have not signed up, call them and demand that they get on board! There is NO PLACE TO HIDE this time!

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