Rockefeller, Brown, Boxer to Push Reid on Including Public Option in Senate Bill Today
By: David Dayen Wednesday October 7, 2009 12:31 pm
I'm hearing from sources about a letter to Harry Reid from a collection of liberal Senators, led by Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Sherrod Brown,
insisting that Reid publicly commit to putting a public option in any health care bill that reaches the Senate floor.There's a big difference between having a public option in the bill before the fact or trying to get it in by amendment. It's likely that amendments to the bill will require a 60-vote threshold, therefore it would take 60 votes to get a public option into the bill if it's absent, or 60 to get one out of the bill if it's present. Nobody has said that there are those numbers of votes to do either of those actions, so, whether the bill comes to the Senate floor with a public option or not is a crucial decision. The four people in that room making that decision are Max Baucus of the Finance Committee, Tom Harkin of the HELP Committee, Harry Reid and someone from the White House. A lot of this will depend on the White House's inclination, and they certainly floated their support over the weekend. But Reid's public statements have been noncommittal.
The liberal faction in the Senate, led by Rockefeller and Brown, but also
for the first time including Sen. Barbara Boxer, want a real commitment. According to sources, Sen. Reid will meet with this faction at 5pm ET today. Senator Reid's office confirms that this meeting will be held. So presumably, some kind of accommodation will be offered, although
the liberal Senators in the meeting will seek a definitive commitment, I'm told.more...
http://firedoglake.com/2009/10/07/rockefeller-brown-boxer-to-push-reid-on-including-public-option-in-senate-bill-today/
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