Reid Is Only One Or Two Votes Shy On Opt-Out Public Option ¹, The Huffington Post, October 23, 2009, by Sam Stein and Ryan Grim, excerpt quoted verbatim:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is just one or two Senate votes shy of having a filibuster-proof majority in favor of a public option for health insurance coverage with a provision allowing states to opt-out, multiple sources tell the Huffington Post.

The Nevada Democrat, according to Hill sources, is furiously working the phones today to ensure that 60 Senators (including him) will back the provision. The work will continue through the weekend and comes despite reports that the president prefers a public option that would be triggered in by economic conditions over the "opt-out" alternative.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the lone congressional Republican to hint that she would support health care reform, favors the trigger proposal and has said she would oppose the opt-out version. The White House, Democratic sources say, is keen on ensuring there is bipartisan support for the final package -- which would explain its support for the trigger proposal.

"He certainly didn't embrace it and he seemed to indicate a preference for continuing to work on a strategy that involved Senator Snowe and a trigger," said a senior Democratic source who was briefed on the meeting. A second aide whose boss was in the room confirmed the general nature of the exchange.

But administration officials stressed on Friday that the president "did not express a preference" between triggers or opt-outs during the meeting with Senators.

Read more about this at HuffPost: Reid one or two votes shy of opt-out public option ², Daily Kos, October 23, 2009, by Jed Lewison.

Crunch Time: Pelosi Puts Dem Reps on Record on Public Option ³, The Huffington Post, October 23, 2009, by Ryan Grim, excerpt quoted verbatim:

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) ramped up the pressure on wavering Democrats Friday morning, calling on them to state in front of their colleagues where they stand on a 'robust' public health insurance option.

"Robust has become a code word on the Hill that means a public option tied to Medicare rates; it is the preferred policy of progressives.

"At a closed door meeting of the Democratic caucus, Pelosi ordered the party roll to be called. Reporters outside the room could hear names being called out loudly.

"The question they faced, according to Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.): If the health care bill has a robust public option, will you vote for it on the House floor?

"The framing of the question is key. The Speaker is not asking whether the member supports or opposes the public option, but rather whether he or she could support a final bill that included such an option. 'The leadership clearly wants to do that if they have the votes,' Nadler told reporters.

"Some members left the meeting in an apparent attempt to avoid the roll call. Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kansas), a key swing vote, left before the roll was called and told HuffPost he has yet to be surveyed. Asked if he'd back the robust public option, he demurred. 'I'm gonna wait and see,' he said.

"House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), exiting the meeting, told reporters that the survey would continue throughout the day." ....

Read the full story, here ⁴.

*****

Politico Lies to Pressure Pelosi
to Drop Robust Public Option

Evans Politics, October 23, 2009

Politico Lies to Pressure Pelosi to drop Robust Public Option ⁵, Daily Kos, October 23, 2009, by Engine 08, quoted verbatim:

"The story leaked by politico’s Mike Allen ⁶, that the 'robust' public option has no votes in the House is fake and lies solely to pressure the House from proposing it. Luckily it has been immediately and effectively shut down by both the White House and Nancy Pelosi because

House leadership sources are telling TPMDC they think news on the 'robust' public option is leaking out to pressure House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the health care discussions are getting hotter, and closer to the final deal.

Politico's story this morning suggests Pelosi doesn't have the votes, but our sources insist the leadership isn't yet at that stage. The Democratic whip's office has been surveying members on the public option for the last several days to get a sense of where they stand on different elements of the bill, a strategy that will inform the final version of what the House introduces.

"Mike Allen knew it was fake and false yet he published it because

House sources think Democrats may have spoken with Allen to apply pressure on Pelosi at this late stage in the game.

"Also the White house quickly and effectively put an end to this and the other rumors ⁷ that has been floating around that Obama prefers a trigger.

In denouncing the report Presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett went further when she jabbed at the Politico story while appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe today, saying of the reporter who penned the piece, "I don't know whether Mike Allen can actually count votes or not."

"This is not a coincidence. It is a coordinated attack by the opponents of the Public Option. They want to control the story in order to kill the Public Option. I am glad that the quick reaction from the Whitehouse and the House has put that to an end. But they will stop here. Politico's Mike Allen an ineffective Whitehouse reporter for the Washington Post during the Bush administration is back to his old tricks of fake news reporting."

*****

Public Option Looking Good in the Senate ...
Baucus Ballistic According to ABC News

Public Option Looking Good in the Senate ... Baucus Ballistic According to ABC NewsAlterNet, October 22, 2009, by Adele Stan, quoted verbatim:

"After weeks of hand-wringing over the alleged inevitability of a filibuster against any health-care reform bill that contains a public insurance plan, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid now thinks he has the votes, according to Jonathan Karl of ABC News ⁸, to bring a bill with a public option to the Senate floor, where it is almost sure to win. Karl writes:

Reid is now convinced that Democratic critics of the public option will support him when it counts – on the procedural motion, which requires 60 votes, to defeat a certain GOP-led filibuster of the bill. Once the filibuster is beaten, it only takes 51 votes to pass the bill.

"And one health-care camper is said to be very unhappy: Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of Senate Finance Committee, whose bill purposefully omitted any public health plan. As Karl explains:

I am told that Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) – who worked for months to get Olympia Snowe’s support for the bill and has consistently said a public option cannot pass the Senate – was apoplectic when Reid told him he wanted to include the public option. 'Baucus went to DEFCON 1,' said a source familiar with the negotiations, referring to the alert level the military uses for an imminent attack on the homeland."

See Not Dead Yet ⁹, Truthout, October 23, 2009, by William Rivers Pitt.

See Seething Dems Hit Back At Report That Public Option Is Dead In House ¹⁰, The Huffington Post, Octoberr 23, 2009, by Sam Stein and Ryan Grim.

See Rape Is a Pre-Existing Condition? The Heartlessness of the Health Insurance Industry Exposed ¹¹, AlterNet, October 21, 2009, by Danielle Ivory.

*****

Jarrett on Pres. Obama:
"He's Committed to the Public Option"

*****

Pelosi: We've Always Had the Votes

For a Public Option

Talking Points Memo - Oct. 23, 2009 - 3:11