This picture illustrates what many Americans fear will happen with the public option
Yesterday, both the White House and senior members of the government began to backtrack on the inclusion of a public option in health care reform legislation. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius both began to downplay a public option and said that a plan can be passed without it. North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad, the Democratic Chairman of the Budget Committee also said that there have never been the votes for a plan and health care reform will not pass the Senate with a public option included. A public option essentially creates a government run entity that provides care to people that wish to be enrolled in it. Well, that has been one of the main obstacles to passing reform due to opposition from Republicans, Independents, and moderate Democrats. People simply do not want the government expanded further into health care and point out that the government is not effective at running programs.
When news of this broke, the liberal wing of the Democratic Party became incensed due to the compromise. A public option has been the centerpiece of their health care reform agenda and many wish for the government run option to pave the way for a universal single payer option. This, of course, is opposed by most people and the American people made their voices known in recent weeks. The liberals see that they control the White House, 60 votes in the Senate, and a sizeable majority in the House of Representatives, so therefore they should be able to get their goal of a public option accomplished. The mistake that they made was that the moderates in the Democratic Party and those in swing districts cannot support the idea of making government even bigger. They also certainly did not count on President Obama being willing to support a plan without a public option and making a political decision, instead of an ideological one. The president has long said publicly that his goal is a public option, so this is an example of him making a political judgment call.
What the hardcore liberals do not understand is that while they won the election in November, it does not give them carte blanche to do whatever they want. The American people have made it quite clear that they are opposed to government run health care and do not support the Democratic proposals out there. A new Rasmussen Poll shows that 54% of Americans would rather pass no health care reform plan, than pass the Democratic version. The public support for socialized medicine is not there, but the left does not seem to get it. President Obama will face an outraged liberal base, but he will probably gain points with the moderates. The Senate will not pass a public option, as Senator Conrad said, but you can be sure that Nancy Pelosi and her fellow liberals will try to pass a public option in any bill they vote on. It is truly sad when politicians cannot simply realize that the policies that they are promoting are the ones that the American people are opposing.
If a bill without a public option is crafted, there are other considerations that need to be addressed still. The security of medical files, the funding for the bill and concern over rationing is all at the top of America’s list. A public option is the wrong choice and if the White House holds firm, they deserve some credit for realizing what they want and the American people want are two separate things. The liberal base will likely be quite outspoken on the public option in the coming days and weeks and will likely step up their vitriolic attacks, but to no avail. Enough people with common sense can read the writing on the wall, that the public option is too unpopular to pass.
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