So About That Public Option With a Trigger...

[PopSixSquish]

Having thought the matter over today, I wonder if the negotiating with Olympia Snowe was more the White House strategy all along than the public option itself.

Several of WH staff are former Congressional staffers and members of Congress as well all know. Despite what some DUers are saying, I've come to the conclusion that they aren't completely delusional when it comes to the workings of Congress and the personalities of specific Senators.

Were you to ask me last spring, I would have said "bet money" that Smoe Lieberrman would pull something stupid during HRC and that having Specter switch parties covers his vote for cloture. Then you just have to wait and see which of the usual suspects on the Democratic side of the Senate pitched the biggest hissy fit.

Why not get an agreement with Olympia Snowe on the PO with a trigger as a back-up? If she says yes and agrees to vote for cloture, then the full-force of persuasion comes to bear on Susan Collins. Both Senators don't have to vote for the final bill, they can even state that "although we don't support the final bill, we believe that the Senate should vote accordingly as that is what we were elected to do."

Then when Smoe Lieberrman threatens to filibuster and Ben Nelson decides to act like a neanderthal, the back-up plan kicks into place.

I don't know if this would have worked but my question to all who don't like the Senate bill and want to kill it, would you have supported the Public Option with a Trigger in place of this bill? Not in place of a robust Public Option, complete Medicare expansion or single-payer which would not survive a Senate filibuster but of this bill as it stands tonight?

[stray cat]

1. Many want nothing less than free single payer

[Cant trust em]

2. I was thinking about this last night.

I'd jump at the chance for a triggered public option at this point.

I was lukewarm on it at the time though. I preferred the opt-out as a 2nd tier strategy.

[Unvanguard]

3. I've wondered why they didn't go with Snowe instead of Lieberman or Nelson.

Considering that she won't even vote for this bill, maybe her demands were too extreme.

[PopSixSquish]

5. Maybe Reid Thought the Medicare Expansion Would Get Lieberman and Nelson

To borrow a phrase, Smoe was "for it before it was against it"

I do think Snowe is a lost cause at this point and the WH will take what it can get. But the fact that they kept after her all summer and fall does make me go hmmm....

[Teaser]

7. Reid put the PO in the first bill offering

and blew up any shot of Snowe.

[Unvanguard]

8. Why would that make a difference if it's not in the final bill? n/t

[Teaser]

12. personally, I think she is now just pissed they didn't go with her initially

because her objections now make no sense. (They're hurrying too much?)

[Orangepeel]

11. They would have if they could. Being able to call it bipartisan would have been worth a lot

to the White House. I'm sure they would have traded one of them for Snowe in a heartbeat. The coercion on the other side must have too strong.

[levander]

4. Haven't we wasted enough time on the public option?

Don't understand the "special personalities"? It was the special personalities in the Senate that continued to fight for the damn thing well after it was clear there never was enough votes and Obama started talking about "the public option only being one of the silvers".

It's time for Congress to stop fighting Congress and start fighting industry. Everybody with enough lobbyist in Washington got a sweet heart deal out of this thing. Why did the seniors get thrown under the bus with massive cuts to Medicare? Because the guys who usually represent them in Washington sold out.

Look, with 60 votes. Massive health care reform is never going to be as popular as it was in '09. This country had never done anything about it. Not that somethings been done, as bad as the bill was, people aren't going to be as anxious for reform. And, Democrats had 60 seats in the Senate. It's going to be a very long time before they ever have that many seats again.

It's time to put the public option behind us. Maybe after another few elections. But, as for right now, it's over.

[enlightenment]

6. Are you entirely certain you're on the right board?

Seriously. I've read several of your posts and you don't seem particularly liberal to me.

[Honeycombe8]

9. Because...negotiating w/Snowe has worked out so well so far? nt

[Azathoth]

10. I think the White House had a lot more foresight than most of their Progressive critics

They likely had a strategy mapped out similar to what you describe. Of course, the Left went looney tunes over the apparent attempt at bipartisanship, and so we ended up with a bill that had no chance of surviving a filibuster. Now, of course, it's all the White House's fault because they didn't "try hard enough".

[high density]

13. Snowe can't be trusted

Her latest talk about "oh it's all going so fast" is simply dishonest. And quite simply I saw comments from her after the President's speech in September that seemed to indicate she didn't even support her own trigger idea anymore.