Substance Over Symbolism
Given the stubborn logjam between progressives and conservatives on the public option and other issues, here are six different scenarios for what might happen next.
Given the stubborn logjam between progressives and conservatives on the public option and other issues, here are six different scenarios for what might happen next.
Mitchell Bard | Posted 05.25.2011
I have criticized the Democrats for failing to properly use the power of their majority in Congress and the mandate from an overwhelming victory last November, so it's only right I give them their props for finally taking charge.
The Huffington Post | Rachel Weiner | Posted 05.25.2011
According to NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Mark Whitaker, some in the White House -- and on Capitol Hill -- think a 'triggered' public option is pr...
Zack Cooper | Posted 05.25.2011
The public option was never a coherent, well-defined policy tool. It's an amorphous concept that stands as a symbol of reform and as a perceived antidote to the greed and callousness of the insurance industry.
HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 05.25.2011
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), on Monday, will introduce a health care bill that includes a public option for insurance coverage with a s...
Jennifer Donahue | Posted 05.25.2011
Congress has the idea that health care reform is a political football game with two clear sides, and the public option a dividing line. But what if very few Americans see the debate through this prism?
Cenk Uygur | Posted 05.25.2011
Once again, Howard Dean is right and Rahm Emanuel is wrong. What Emanuel doesn't seem to get is that real change is realistic.
The Hill | Mike Soraghan | Posted 05.25.2011
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday shot down a healthcare compromise that has been viewed as the best chance for getting a bipartisan bill through...
Jason Rosenbaum | Posted 05.25.2011
The private insurance market has failed, and we've given them enough second chances. The American people support a public health insurance option that's available on day one, not a bailout of the insurance industry.
Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 05.25.2011
Let's not pretend Democratic health reform doesn't include new taxes -- and mandated fee payments to profitable private companies. If their bill passes in this form they'll pay a heavy political price for it. And they'll deserve it.
Lindsay Beyerstein | Posted 05.25.2011
To progressives, adopting the "wait and see" approach is like giving Bernie Madoff another five years to run his Ponzi scheme, just to make absolutely sure he's a crook.
Miles Mogulescu | Posted 05.25.2011
With a robust public option dead, the only way to prevent a massive Democratic-sponsored bailout of the health care industry is to regulate insurance premiums and put a trigger on individual mandates.
Cheryle Jackson | Posted 05.25.2011
We will not be able to meet President Obama's pledge to be the "last President" to tackle health care reform unless allowing people to choose a publicly sponsored health insurance program is part of the final bill.
The American Prospect | Tim Fernholz | Posted 05.25.2011
Senator Chuck Schumer is the third-ranked Democrat in the Senate, one of the most prominent advocates for a public plan, and among the earliest Democr...
The Hill | J. Taylor Rushing | Posted 05.25.2011
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) both cast doubt Tuesday on their support for a public-option component to the Democratic hea...
Roll Call | Posted 05.25.2011
Amid fresh signs that the White House is preparing to back a scaled-down health care overhaul that would only include a public insurance option as a f...
M.S. Bellows, Jr. | Posted 05.25.2011
Gibbs seemed to hint at a new twist in the debate over whether a government-operated health insurance program will be one of the options available in health reform legislation.
Allison Kilkenny | Posted 05.25.2011
Baucus isn't proposing a reform solution that will benefit a majority of Americans. He's shifting the burden from the insurance companies to employers, and ultimately to employees.
cnn.com | Posted 05.25.2011
Even as members of President Obama's fractured party appeared to warm to the notion of putting a so-called "trigger" on any public health insurance op...
The Huffington Post | Rachel Weiner | Posted 05.25.2011
Rahm Emanuel has caused consternation among progressives -- including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Howard Dean -- for suggesting health care legisl...
HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 05.25.2011
In a closed-door meeting of Senate Finance Committee Democratic members and their staff Wednesday evening, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) suggested that if...
Mike Lux | Posted 05.25.2011