NBC: White House Still Skeptical Public Option Has Votes

NBC News correspondent Chuck Todd reported Tuesday morning that the Obama White House, despite public expressions of support for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's decision to pursue an opt-out public insurance option, remains skeptical that Reid can come up with the votes.

The administration basically told Reid, "You're the vote counter. But don't come crying to us when you need that last vote," Todd said on MSNBC.

[UPDATE: Todd tells blogger Greg Sargent that he didn't mean that was the actual message the White House was sending. "It was 'as if' they were sending that message," Todd wrote to Sargent. "I feel like my quote is being a tad twisted."]

On Monday, an administration official called Reid's decision to go ahead with an opt-out public option "dangerous."

Reid's plan, which would allow states to opt out of a public health care plan, was proposed to the senator just three weeks ago. It satisfies progressives' desire for a public option while giving cover to more conservative Democrats.

Obama privately discouraged Senate Democrats from pursuing the opt-out plan, believing it wouldn't get enough votes to pass a filibuster. His concern was that by abandoning a trigger, the caucus would not only lose the lone Republican -- Olympia Snowe -- but also several conservative Democratic members. Public option supporters, however, don't consider the trigger to be a viable alternative; it could easily be written so that it's never pulled.

"Everybody knows we're close enough that these guys could be rolled. They just don't want to do it because it makes the politics harder," a senior Democratic source told the Huffington Post, saying that Obama is worried about the political fate of Blue Dogs and conservative Senate Democrats if the bill isn't seen as bipartisan. "These last couple folks, they could get them if Obama leaned on them."

But despite their private griping, publicly the White House is standing behind the Senate proposal. In a statement, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the president is "pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage."

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Comments

[snesich]

Let the Republicans filibuster. It will be the dumbest thing they ever did.

Let the Republicans stand before the voters of the nation, as they defend big insurance companies and stop the health care reform we so desperately need.

Just imagine the coverage building, day by day, "The Senate Republicans today continued their filibuster against health care reform, insisting they'll never let it even come to a vote."

[tran23]

The public option started with 130 million enrollees, now its down to about 10 million and administered by PRIVATE INSURERS. The public plan, in its latest form, will likely simply turn into a dumping ground for the sickest patients (after insurers cherry pick them) and be very expensive as a result. And the insurers get their mandate to force everyone to buy private insurance. Even after chopping the public option into smaller and smaller pieces, and making it nearly useless, they still can't get the votes? I don't get it. How ridiculous can things get?

[TheBaffler]

Oh, it'll be watered down even further, don't you worry.

[blaising]

That wacky White House...playin' cheerleader again.

[TheBaffler]

Change We Can Make Believe In.

Hopefully liberals will one day tire of having their votes taken for granted and stop playing the lesser-of-two-evils game.

[pissedmichael]

So, what are you saying? We should play the greater of two evils game? Not sure I get your point.

[tran23]

http://www.gp.org/index.php

[dbailey]

In a minute, i'm gonna need Obama to get out of the way! Do they know how serious we all are about this!!! You can't just hand us some crap on a plate and think we're going to be happy about it! Grayson said it correctly, we don't care about O Snowe, we don't care about your process or your politics, we want a robust public option! If they're thinking about the politics then they sure have it wrong. If we can't get the health care we all worked so hard for and campaigned for, to get a dem majority, then all that work went down the drain. Believe me, I won't listen to the rhetoric anymore from any one.

[dfranz]

It's time for the President to be Presidential. You have a bully pulpit, use it!

[SWforever]

The White House is "pleased" that the Senate wants to include a "public option" in its HC legislation?

Despite all the words of how much the President and his minions respect the "public". Using these tactics and political rhetoric, shows complete "disrespect" for an informed public.

The W.H. strategy is to keep the President's fingerprints off the congressional conflicts. Let Harry Reid and Speaker Pelosi swing in the wind. Whatever Congress can cobble together--they can't do much else without Presidential pressure and strong leadership--then the President can go out and say, for the first time in fifty years, I've passed health care legislation.

Well that's old, washed over, dried up political thinking! Rahm Emanuel said in January, he would get a health care bill, not matter what it is. He is the alleged "congressional genius". His strategy is "protect" the President, ubber allas, to hell with the voters. "Let em eat cake, if necessary! And, then there is the Summers/Gaithner twins! Their constituency is the "third party",ie the "finance industry party". The "public", who are they?

This White House makes policy for their advisors' constituency. The "public", the middle class, ie, workers, professionals, families, public interests, individual citizens are left out! The President has put "process" ahead of "transformative change". Harry Reid is being left to hang out there, on his own, while the "emperor has no clothes".

Our grandchildren will suffer for this "business-as-usual" approach, better known as "pedestrian politics", not "leadership".!

[DrToketee]

Allow me to translate: the White House is skeptical that the public option would pass in order to enable Obama to put a health care reform bill on his resume.

In other words, it's all about Obama's resume. He won't back something because it's worth fighting for, he only backs something he can get credit for.

[bluemike]

And he voted, "Present."

[nomobull]

so dumb and over used and over rated as insult.

[nomobull]

this article is another example of opinion news not fact. and as for chuck todd he has lost any credibility he had. and so has chris mathews.

[wheresthetruth]

This is infuriating.

Where is the reform we were promised? The reform we gave a mandate for?

"Yes we can!" has morphed into "Err, I'll get back to you on that...".

[CapitolHill2012]

Absolutely true!
Obama's slogan has changed. Instead of "yes we can" Obama now says "uh maybe we uh, let me be clear..."

[DrToketee]

What Obama is now telling and showing Americans is that their health care is NOT WORTH FIGHTING FOR IF IT RISKS NOT PUTTING A HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL ON HIS RESUME.

Are you people finally getting it? Will it take a 2 by 4 across the back of the head for you to see it?

[saraliba]

I believe the reason Obama is pushing the health care is to keep everyone busy thinking and talking about it .........instead of all the Marxist he surrounds himself with.

[richinkle]

Is President Obama playing an active role in this discussion? Aside from some good speeches, I don't see the necessary arm-twisting and hardball threats of retribution coming from the White House that we should at this point.

The leader of the country, and the party, needs to be bashing some heads together to get some results. Not just playing it cool. Makes me really appreciate the legislative acumen of Lyndon Johnson.

[Marcospinelli]

People mistakenly believe that Obama&Democrats want public health care.

If TheBushYears taught us nothing else, it's that anyone can sell anything to Americans, if you're stolid & relentless in your sales pitch & tactics. It's not that Bush&R0ve were geniuses & knew something that nobody else knew; Bush&R0ve were just more ruthless (clumsy & careless many political graybeards would say) in doing what politicians & the parties had gone to great lengths to hide from Americans.

Obama didn't get to be the first black president, vanquish the Clinton machine & the oldest, most experienced politicians in our nation's history (including the R0ve machine) by not having mastered these skills. Nor do Democratic politicians (more incumbents than ever, in office longer) not know how to do it. How do you think Democrats managed to keep impeaching Bush&Cheney off the table & have us still reelecting them, not marching on Washington with torches&pitchforks?

Obama&Democrats know how to do it -- They don't want to do it.

The trick for them has been to keep the many different populist groups believing that they really do support our issues, but that they're merely inept. And to get us to keep voting for them in spite of their failure to deliver on any of our alleged shared objectives.

[Gretel1or2]

Cutting and pasting the same thing 100000000 times doesn't make it true.

[wheresthetruth]

I don't know. What Marcospinelli says makes a lot of sense and sure would explain a lot of things.

[Samalabear]

How about Obama gets his preferred trigger and the Progressive Dems sink the bill -- for all the right reasons.

[Gretel1or2]

Unlike the LIES that HP, the MSM and DCBARRISTER (AKA CapitolHill2012)and ilk have been peddling, a senator (who is supportive of a robust public option) on the Keith Olb show this evening stated that the President is VERY MUCH involved in the process and is very supportive of their efforts to include a strong public option in the bill.

[wonketteRAWKS]

Wow, one whole politician!

[Gretel1or2]

Yes one whole politician who goes on record and directly makes an appearance on the news! Incidentally, Harry Reid also confirmed this. And I would think that of all people, Harry Reid would know.

All those "officials" who are supposedly claiming that he is not for a public option are "annonymous" and never appearing in person to make the claim.