Hot Air thinks the public option is dead. Ed Morrissey reports that Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, who is a key member of the Senate Democratic Caucus, went on TV to say that pursuit of the public option for health reform is a “wasted effort” that will kill any chance of getting a bill through the Senate.
In an update to the post, Hot Air provided a video clip, which I purloined and have below, of Kathleen Sebelius "gently retreating from the public option," says Ed.
It doesn't sound to me as if Sebelius is backing away at all. In fact she assures us that there will eventually be a public option.
Well, I think there will be a competitor to private insurers. That's really the essential part, is... is... You don't turn over the whole new marketplace to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing.
Amazing. If there's one thing these town hall meetings have shown, voters do not trust their Democratic senators, congressmen, or the Obama administration to do the right thing. If anything voters are much more comfortable trusting the insurance companies and would rather have no health reform bill, than the mess now under consideration in congress.
It must be habit with Democrats like Sebelius. They just can't help but demonize, but at least this one's bright enough to pick a new target. Last week it was the voters. But then that didn't work out so well, did it. So she's going after the insurance companies with a casual observation. Of course they can't be trusted to do the right thing. Everybody knows that. It's just so obvious.
So it's better to trust the likes of her and Arlen Specter? Right.
Um..there already is. I call it self pay.
I comes from interest bearing "savings" set aside for "emergencies" or "crisis".
Of course, I had to forgo that Certificate of Attendance in a
higher education pursuit of "Humanities", and remedial Civics.
Posted by: CaptDMO | August 17, 2009 at 04:22 PM
Seriously now Cap, do you really think that's what she has in mind? It's definitely not the progressive plan.
Posted by: Tom Bowler | August 17, 2009 at 09:34 PM