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Conservative And Liberal Democrats Warm To Public Option Compromise
TPM Election Central —
... On the other side of the party, Howard Dean says, if he were a member of the Senate, he would vote for the proposal, not because it's his ideal public option, but because it would represent real reform. ...
No More Mister Nice Blog — ... Like Howard Dean, if I were in the Senate I'd vote for a bill that has a serious public option but also allows states to opt out, even though it's a less-than-ideal compromise "If this is what it takes to get 60 votes I say go for it," Dean says. Exactly. ...
Dean sees value in opt-out compromise
Political Animal —
... . In a nutshell, the health care reform bill would include a national public option, but states that didn't want to participate could affirmatively choose not to. Howard Dean obviously won't get a vote on this, but his voice is clearly influential in the process and among reform advocates. He told the Huffington Post today that he'd still prefer a genuine, robust, national public option that's available from day one, but Dean conceded that this compromise is palatable . "If I were a member of the U.S Senate I wouldn't vote for the [Senate Finance Committee] bill but I would ...
Dean reportedly would vote for the opt-out approach
Open Left - Quick Hits's RSS Feed —
According to Huffington Post - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/... -
"In a brief telephone interview, Dean stressed repeatedly that his preference remained, far and away, a national public option that was available to anyone -- regardless of state -- from the day of its conception. But in a wholly political context, he acknowledged, adding the opt-out option to the bill might be the best and only way to get something through the Senate.
"I would like to see that come out of the Senate because it is a real public plan," he said of the opt-out compromise. "Then they can ...
A shocked Ed Schultz: Howard Dean supports opt-out compromise for states
The Political Carnival —
... Howard Dean obviously won't get a vote on this, but his voice is clearly influential in the process and among reform advocates. He told the Huffington Post today that he'd still prefer a genuine, robust, national public option that's available from day one, but Dean conceded that this compromise is palatable. ...
The "Opt-Out" Compromise May Actually Be Better Than a Pure Public Option
The Anonymous Liberal —
There's been a lot of discussion in the last 24 hours about a potential public option compromise. The proposal is to have a national public insurance option but to allow individual states to opt-out if they don't want to be a part of it. Among those who have been fighting the hardest for the inclusion of a public option (and doing a fantastic job, I should add), this proposal has been greeted with a lot of skepticism and even outright scorn. With all due respect, though, I think these folks may be reflexively dismissing ...
America Doesn’t Want Obamacare
Stop The ACLU —
... They don’t want socialist healthcare. Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress keep on pushing for it. American voters oppose 47 – 40 percent President Barack Obama’s health care reform plan, and don’t want an overhaul that only gets Democratic votes, but they support key parts of the plan, including 61 – 34 percent for giving people the option of a government health insurance plan that competes with private plans, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. By a 57 – 37 percent margin, voters say Congress should not approve a health care overhaul with only ...
From the "Me too" file.
Upper Left —
Dr. Dean on "opt-out" public option proposals in the Senate... "If this is what it takes to get 60 votes I say go for it."Me too. Again, I don't expect to get much personal benefit out of any of the proposals likely to come out of Congress. If I'm to be forced, though, to make a contribution to an insurance company for a minimal plan rendered inaccessible to me by co-pays and deductibles, I'd prefer to make that contribution to a public entity. Since I'm reasonably confident that Washington would be an opt-in state, that ...
Quote of the Day: Arlen Specter on the public option
The Reaction —
... For more public option news, see Josh Marshall. I must say, I don't like this whole "opt-out" compromise being tossed around -- Chuck Schumer says it's being "very seriously considered," Howard Dean says he'd vote for it -- but Steve Benen may be right that states might only threaten to opt out: I can't help but wonder exactly how many states would go through with the opt-out. When the stimulus debate was underway, plenty of right-wing governors said they had no intention of accepting the recovery funds. They changed their ...
Public Option ‘Opt-Out’ Gaining
Taylor Marsh —
... If these fights took the form of ballot measures there would even be Election Day opportunities for health care fights. Progressives would have a soft-money vehicle to mobilize voters most supportive of health care reform, namely progressive votes who make up the Democratic base. Republicans would be better off politically accepting a straight-up Public Option than having an “Opt Out.”
Earlier this week, Howard Dean weighed in first and affirmatively, via Sam Stein:
“If I were a member of the U.S Senate I wouldn’t ...
Opting Out and Chillin'
Crooks and Liars —
... the right to opt out — that is, make it not available to their own residents. At first blush, that sounds good.
It’s true that the states most likely to opt out will probably be small states that really need the competition. But many states, with probably a majority of the population, would opt in. And if the public option works well, there will soon be pressure on politicians in the others to do the same.
Howard Dean also thinks it's a good idea. Dean: If I Were A Senator I'd Vote For Opt-Out Public Option
In a brief ...
Will Red States Opt Out of Blue State Generosity?
Crooks and Liars —
... of federal largesse voted for John McCain for President. Unsurprisingly, all 10 states at the bottom of the list - those whose outflow of tax revenue is funding programs elsewhere in the country - all voted for Barack Obama in 2008. And as the Wall Street Journal documented in March and again in July, Republican states are reaping outsized benefits from the $787 billion Obama stimulus package they so fiercely opposed.
While not ideal, Paul Krugman, Howard Dean and Nate Silver among others have argued that the opt-out public option approach ...
Don't punt the public option debate to the states
MyDD —
... . Former Governor Howard Dean, who has been railing against "fake" public options all year, told the Huffington Post he might support this compromise. ...
DFA Opposes the Opt-Out For the Public Option
Firedoglake —
... When Howard Dean made a statement saying that he would vote for the public option opt-out over the Baucus bill, many took that as an endorsement. But it was so loaded down with caveats I had a hard time believing that it represented the ringing endorsement that many assumed it was. ...
Floors Not Ceilings, Stupid
Open Left - Front Page —
... to be able to do so," as Obama's Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin told reporters.
Make no mistake about it: This fight over state and federal policy isn't limited to Wall Street. States, as the old cliche goes, are the laboratories of democracy. You can see that truth in financial reform and even in in the debate over health care: The Progressive States Network has organized a letter to Congress signed by more than 1,000 state legislators demanding real reform, and a leading proposal before Congress would allow states to administer their own public plan options. ...
Revisiting The Opt-out Craze
Open Left - Front Page —
Late last week, many progressive pundits gave vocal support to an "opt-out" public option idea floated by Senators Schumer and Carper. Howard Dean, Nate Silver, Markos Moulitsas (over twitter), Big Tent Democrat, Tom Matzzie and thereisnospoon were just some of the voices in the chorus.
Many of these progressives were eager to support the opt-out because they believed it would ease passage of the bill, create political problems for Republicans, and that few states would opt-out. However, there were always two major problems with the ...
New Poll Reveals 56% of Republicans Support a Form of Public Option: Clearly, Congressional Republicans Are in Denial
BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash —
... of it, about double their level of support without such a limitation. OK, so it's not the public option progressives have been hoping for, or even the one they've been willing to compromise for. As far as I can tell (because the poll itself merely asked about support for a plan run by states available strictly to those who lack affordable private options, not a specific proposal), they're not talking about the opt-out plan lauded by progressive lions such as Paul Krugman , Howard Dean and Nate Silver as a good compromise. That plan would be a federal program ...
For Red States, Opting Out is Not An Option
Crooks and Liars —
... of federal largesse voted for John McCain for President. Unsurprisingly, all 10 states at the bottom of the list - those whose outflow of tax revenue is funding programs elsewhere in the country - all voted for Barack Obama in 2008. And as the Wall Street Journal documented in March and again in July, Republican states are reaping outsized benefits from the $787 billion Obama stimulus package they so fiercely opposed.
While not ideal, Paul Krugman, Howard Dean and Nate Silver among others have argued that the opt-out public option approach ...
