Nancy Pelosi seems to have figured out that a country that votes in Democratic majorities in both houses of congress and a Democratic president–get this–actually supports Democratic policies (It's a hard lesson for Democrats to learn):
I agree with the President when he said in March at his health summit that the public option is the best way to keep the insurance companies honest, that it would be the best way to increase competition so we can lower costs, improve quality of care, retain choice, and expand coverage. If somebody can come up with a better idea, let them put it on the table. We haven’t heard that yet, so we’re fighting very hard for the public option.
Co-ops, if someone thinks that a co-op can work for their state, that’s fine if they want to have one for their state, perhaps that could be included in the legislation, but it is not a substitute for a public option.
Let me say it another way: there’s no way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option. [Applause] As I say, unless somebody comes up with a better idea, that’s how we’re going forth in the House.
This is an opportunity, not of a lifetime, of a century. If we don’t pass this bill, with all the comprehensive aspects of it, now I don’t know when we’ll have a chance to do it.
Democrats with a majority, acting like Republicans without one? These are crazy days. Which will, in my opinion, lead Republicans to the next-best strategy:
Also, some polling came out yesterday (done by Survey USA) that may explain the sudden spine among Democrats.
Question: In any health care proposal, how important do you feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance–extremely important, quite important, not that important, or not at all important?
Extremely important….58%
Quite important……..19%
Not that important….. 7%
Not at all important…15%
Not sure…………… 1%
Interesting further info from Jed Lewison, writing at DailyKos:
If the question wording here sounds familiar, it's because NBC News and the Wall Street Journal used the exact same question in a poll conducted in June. That poll found nearly identical results to the one released today by MoveOn.org and SurveyUSA.
In the two most recent NBC/WSJ polls, their question wording had changed, dropping the word "choice" and instead focusing on whether a public plan should be created to compete with private insurance companies. The changed in question wording had a dramatic impact on the poll results, with just 43% supporting a public plan as they had described it.
The New York Times and CBS arguably have the best question wording on a public plan: "Would you favor or oppose the government offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan – something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get – that would compete with private health insurance plans?" Their most recent poll shows 66% support.
