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The "Public Option" Ain't Dead

By Doug Bandow on 10.17.09 @ 3:17AM

The Baucus bill is bad enough.  But the so-called "public option" isn't yet dead.  Reports Politico:

The forces in favor of a public health insurance option roared back Thursday on Capitol Hill after weeks when their cause looked bleak.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) looked closer than ever to including a robust U.S. government-run insurance program in the House bill - saying recent attempts by the health insurance industry to undercut reform prove insurers can't be trusted.

And in the Senate, a weekly policy lunch turned into a heated debate when liberals went after the Senate Finance Committee bill and made clear they won't roll over for legislation that doesn't include a public option.

Reflecting deep divides within the caucus, the Senate luncheon turned tense, with voices elevated and senators venting. "In today's lunch, it even involved a little performance theater," Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) said, describing it as an "emotional catharsis."

In a week when the Senate Finance Committee passed a bill without a public option - raising questions about whether that would prove the public option's last gasp - progressives in both houses showed they won't go down without a fight.

As bad as the Baucus bill is, the end result still could be far worse.