Dem holdouts on a public option have nothing to do with supporting a trigger

[ProSense]

Their concern is cost:

Dem leaders vow to hold Obama to deficit pledge

By Michael O'Brien - 09/10/09 12:49 PM ET

Democratic leaders in Congress will hold President Obama to his pledge that any healthcare bill be deficit neutral, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) promised Thursday.

Carper, the Senate's deputy majority whip, vowed that Democrats in Congress would make sure that healthcare legislation will not add to the national debt over time.

"Oh, absolutely," Carper said during an interview on CNBC when asked whether he and other Democratic leaders would hold Obama to his pledge that any health bill needs to be paid for, and not run a deficit.

"The president has said he will not sign a bill that raises the debt, the nation's debt ceiling, over the next 10 years," Carper added. "He won't sign a bill that doesn't rein in the growth of health care costs."

Carper asserted that he himself wouldn't vote for a health bill that weren't deficit neutral or effective in bringing down healthcare costs.

"It's all well and good that we talk about extending health care coverage to the people who don't have it," he said. "By the same token, if we don't rein in the growth of health care costs, we're not going to be able to extend coverage to those who don't have it for any kind of meaningful period of time."

Mr. Obama met Thursday afternoon with Carper, Lincoln, and a dozen other moderate Senate Democrats, some of whom have expressed concerns about costs and oppose a public plan.

Carper said later that the group welcomed Mr. Obama's commitment in his speech to hold down health care costs. "He received a lot of reinforcement from those of us there today that we wouldn't vote for a bill that fails to rein in health costs and we wouldn't vote for a bill that increases the deficit," Carper said in an interview.

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I agree with Harkin: I don't think they'll vote against the bill just because it has the public option in it

Democrats need to get this done, with or without reconciliation.

[krispos42]

1. Cost...

[ProSense]

2. Exactly. n/t

[Cant trust em]

3. That is the sense I get from DiFi. She's my senator.

Her staff told us that she supports the public option.

[grantcart]

4. That's a fair issue and should be easily dealt with

Its fair because the President laid it down as one of his own principles.

[ProSense]

5. No one can show strong support for a trigger

or co-ops. Yet the meme is that somehow the overwhelming majority of Democrats need to cave for an alternative that has little support.