Reid Lacks Votes for Public Option as Lieberman Stands Apart

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TweetOct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid doesn’t have the 60 votes he needs to win approval of a government-run health-insurance program.
Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent who organizes with the Democrats, said he will oppose the so-called public option. At least four Senate Democrats criticized the idea and won’t commit to backing their party, and the two Republicans who have signaled a willingness to support health- care legislation said they won’t vote for the program.
“The last thing that we want to do now is create another Washington-run health-insurance company,” Lieberman told reporters yesterday, saying the first priority should be protecting the Medicare insurance program for the elderly.
The proposal to start a new government entity to compete with private insurers is among the most divisive issues facing lawmakers as they try to overhaul the nation’s medical system, President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.
Reid, under pressure from leading Democrats and constituencies such as labor unions, took on the topic on Oct. 26 by asking the Senate to support a public option that would allow states to opt out. He may have to settle for a lesser version that allows states to participate only if they choose to or to start the program if insurers fail to meet benchmarks.
The difficulty with the Nevada lawmaker’s high-stakes gamble was dramatized when Lieberman said he would vote to block final passage if the provision isn’t removed.
Louisiana Democrat Mary Landrieu echoed doubts voiced by other Democrats: “I am very, very skeptical about the whole thing right now,” she said in an interview.
‘Put on a Good Show’
Still, by simply bringing the public option to the floor, Reid may succeed in placating more liberal members of his party before compromising, said Ross Baker, who studies Congress at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
“You put on a good show for certain elements of the electorate and say with all candor that you tried your hardest and you got it debated, but it’s very difficult to corral 60 senators,” he said, referring to the votes needed to prevent Republican stalling tactics. “That will satisfy most people.”
Reid will likely be forced to accept a proposal by Senator Olympia Snowe, a Maine Republican, to trigger the public option on the failure of the private market to lower costs, Baker said.
When asked about the lack of solid Democratic support for the public option, Senator Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, told reporters “the trigger is not dead.”
Waiting for Bill
Reid’s first hurdle is to get 60 votes to bring legislation to the floor. Lieberman said he would support him on that, though unless the bill is revised, he said he’d side with Republicans in blocking a final vote. Democrats critical of the public option wouldn’t commit to allowing debate to proceed.
“I’m not going to make up my mind until I’ve actually seen the bill,” said Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat. Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln was also noncommittal.
The inclusion of the public option means losing the support of Snowe, the only Republican who has voted for health legislation so far. She said she can’t see voting to let debate begin on a plan with a public option.
Fellow Maine Senator Susan Collins was also critical of Reid’s plan. “It was a mistake and forecloses any real possibility of Republican support,” said Collins.

Trigger as Compromise
The White House has signaled it would be willing to accept Snowe’s proposal for a trigger mechanism, and moderate Democrats such as Nelson have praised it. An alternative is to allow states to decide whether to set up a public option, an opt-in plan that has also drawn kudos from Nelson.
Lawmakers are trying to pass a bill that would cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans while curbing rising medical costs. Their proposals for new purchasing exchanges, subsidies and a requirement that all Americans have insurance represent the biggest changes to U.S. health care in four decades.
Reid has been melding legislation passed by the Senate health committee in July with an $829 billion plan approved by the finance panel on Oct. 13. The health panel included a public option; the finance committee rejected it.
He told reporters he expects to work with Lieberman and other lawmakers to resolve issues with the bill. “Joe Lieberman is the least of Harry Reid’s problems,” Reid said.
He also has other issues to address. Senator Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, said he’s not sure he will vote to begin debate on the measure because of concerns about the deficit.
Reid’s decision won plaudits in the House, where lawmakers intend to include some form of public option in their own legislation and plan to bring a bill to the floor next week. “Reid helped create an environment in which the American people now know we can no longer debate whether we will have a public option but what form it will take,” House Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn said.

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TweetLIKE IVE BEEN SAYING YOU LIBERALS WILL NOT HAVE A GOV RUN HEALTH CARE PLAN . REID WONT EVEN WIN HIS RELECTION IN OFFICE AGAIN