Pelosi: "A Bill Without a Strong Public Option Will Not Pass the House"

[WilliamPitt]

Pelosi: A Bill Without a Strong Public Option Will Not Pass the House
Brian Beutler | Talking Points Memo

September 3, 2009, 6:41PM

If you weren't already convinced that the House and the Obama administration are on a collision course, you might be now.

The latest statement out of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office is unequivocal: "A bill without a strong public option will not pass the House," Pelosi said.

Pelosi has said the same thing in the past, but with the fight over the public option reaching a fever pitch--and the White House signaling left and right that they're walking away from it--her renewed insistence is telling, and will no doubt come as encouraging news to progressives.

"If someone has a better idea for promoting competition and reducing health care costs, they should put it on the table," Pelosi said. "Eliminating the public option would be a major victory for the insurance companies who have rationed care, increased premiums and denied coverage."

Earlier today, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)--a leading public option surrogate--said a health care bill with a public option "trigger" might pass the House. But perhaps he spoke too soon.

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/pelosi-a-bill-without-a-strong-public-option-will-not-pass-the-house.php?ref=fpa

[fascisthunter]

1. Will.... what's going on with all the mexed missages

are we seeing deliberate misrepresentions of what our reps are saying?

[WilliamPitt]

5. My guess

You're watching Democrats be Democrats.

The one quality that makes the GOP so formidable is their talent for moving in lock step when it comes to politics and a public policy push. Dissent remains behind closed doors and sealed lips, and they get things done seemingly with one voice.

With the Democrats, you get factions, dissenters, and people who are going to make their opinions known. Intra-administration arguments, House v. Senate, Left v. Center v. Right, and when you add where the money is going, the mix gets even more jumbled.

Democracy is supposed to be messy, as the Founders intended, and the Democrats make this ideal a living, breathing thing. Will Rogers once said, "I am not a member of an organized political party; I'm a Democrat." He was right.

[fascisthunter]

9. sounds like a good guess to me

how'd ya like Hoyer's performance last night? I was pleasantly surprised...

[WilliamPitt]

12. I feel a lot better about Brady's knee after that

It's not the quarterback so much as it is the system. The Patriots have a superior system and a superior quarterback; put a superior program together with a good quarterback, as Cassel was and Hoyer appears to be, and you'll have a good season.

*phew*

[kentuck]

10. The mix is jumbled.

But unlike in the past, I am uncertain that this Democratic Party is capable of passing any progressive legislation, as they have done in the past under previous Democrats. Our Party has allowed an unseemly amount of corporatists within its fold. The special interests seem to have more of a hold on our Party than any time in my memory. I hope the liberal Democratic Party will win the struggle. The present make-up of Congress, more specifically, the Senate, does not bode well for any progressive legislation or any progress, for that matter. At the end of the road, there will have to be a national emergency or catastrophe for needed change to happen. In the meantime, we will dwell in this purgatory.

[HamdenRice]

11. Rofl! "Democracy is supposed to be messy..."

and the Democrats are indeed messy.

[dionysus]

2. but i read on DU that it's all over, and public option is dead. aren't i supposed to be calling the

administration a total failure?

[patrice]

3. All I know is that I have to keep a very close eye on what my bluedog calls a Public Option. nt

[kentuck]

4. We appear to be watching the disintegration of the Democratic Party.

It was just a matter of time. Some have sold their souls to the corporatists and now they are being called to answer. They can no longer hide behind their Democratic label. And it is creating upheaval within the Party.

[WilliamPitt]

6. See post 5

Thoughts?

[Stevenmarc]

7. .

[WI_DEM]

8. I don't get it. A health bill has to get out of the house first, and if it can't win there IF the

president backs down on the public option then what is the game plan? That has been the problem all along with the democrats approach they haven't been consistent.

[dccrossman]

13. This is double-speak BS, in my opinion

Pelosi leaves herself plenty of room for a "strong public option" that requires a trigger.

I wish she hadn't, but she did.

I hope Obama does the right thing on this. September 9th will tell the tale.

[Mudoria]

14. I waiting till after the 9th to say anything as well..

I would be highly upset if he thinks about dumping the public option.