New Plot to Pass the Public Option
Public Option is Dead Long Live the Public Option
The Senate Finance Committee voted against the Public Option, as I relayed in a previous post:
The Senate Finance Committee voted against creating a new government health insurance plan to compete with the private market. The 15-to-8 vote could forecast the fate of the public option in the Senate as a whole.
Many would think that this seals the fate of any possibility of the Public/Government Option making it into any Health Care Reform legislation. With 15 - 8 against in the Senate Finance committee, there is slim chance of getting any 60 vote majority for H.R. 3200 in its current form containing the Public Option. There would also be a slim chance of overcoming any objection from opponents in any attempt to pass the bill through Reconciliation (requiring 51 votes to pass). With any objection of a provision in the bill during a reconciliation process, 60 votes would be required to overcome the objection and keep that provision in the bill.
There is another plan to pass the Public Option, using a rare parliamentary procedure- By Next Thursday.
The Senate will attach the Baucus version of the Bill to a House Bill that has nothing to do with Health Care.
Two Senate Health Care Bills will be merged into one by Reid in the Senate, allowing Reid (and Obama) to be the sole arbiters of what form the merged bill takes. Then it will be attached to H.R. 1586 (Tax on Bonuses related to TARP). The entire healthcare reform effort will be included as an amendment to a TARP bill that has been collecting dust in the Senate for months.
For this strategy to work, the proponents would need to hold together the liberal caucus of 58 Democrats (including Paul Kirk who was named last Thursday to replace Sen. Kennedy), and the two Independent senators (Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont).
References