Options
March 5th, 2010 by Derrick DePledgeNational progressives are urging the U.S. Senate to include a public option in healthcare reform, and one of their targets is U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii.
The public option -- a federal government-backed insurance plan that would compete with private insurers -- has largely been abandoned as President Obama searches for a compromise that will win passage in Congress.
But progressives are not conceding. Activists sent an e-mail blast to Hawaii residents and are urging allies to call Akaka’s office. From Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, in an e-mail on Thursday:
We officially launched an online ad campaign in Hawaii today calling on Sen. Akaka to join Sen. Inouye and 35 total senators who said in the last 2 weeks that they would vote "yes" on a public health insurance option if it came up in reconciliation.
Akaka, in a statement, said he supports a public option but does not believe it will make it into the reform bill.
I have consistently supported the establishment of a public health care insurance option. However, the prospects for inclusion of a public option in reconciliation do not look favorable at this time. We will have many opportunities in the future to make further improvements to the health care proposal.
*Update: Akaka now says he would vote for a public option if it hits the Senate floor.
*Update II: Jesse Broder Van Dyke, Akaka's spokesman, said that while progressives are taking credit for Akaka's commitment, the senator's position has not really changed.
Akaka supports a public option but does not believe it will come up for a vote. The senator has not signed the letter the progressives are using as a benchmark on the issue, and has no plans to sign.
"I did see that the progressive group put out an email claiming credit for this, but really there is no position change," he said. "They should have always had him down as supporting the public option."
March 5th, 2010 at 9:19 am
Even Akaka is afraid of the ramifications of doing this through reconciliation. Thank goodness he is of cooler head.
Aloha,
Keahi
March 5th, 2010 at 10:58 am
I have great affection for Senator Akaka, but his answer strikes me as evasive and non-responsive. He is not being asked about the chances of the public option passing through reconciliation, he is being asked to declare his support for doing so. If a majority of Democrats would so declare, then it WILL pass.
Why is he hiding on this?
And Keahi, while a majority of Americans now do not support the current Senate healthcare bill, that changes to a solid majority when the public option is included. Not everyone is critical of the bill from the right. Many of us think the bill contains too little actual reform and too many concessions to the insurance companies.
The same insurance companies who have been financing the teabagger movement's disruptions of town hall meetings.
A national bill based upon Hawaii's law would have fit on a five page document. An expansion of Medicare to cover everyone would have been of a similar size. The current bill is so long because it cobbles together so many concessions and half-measures to satisfy so many special interests AND the Blue Dog Democrats and Republicans who FRONT for those special interests.
Obama screwed this up ROYALLY. But the GOP stands exposed as crazed, idotic zealots with their incessant "No, No, No", and talk about communism and socialism. The ethics of Fox News have infected and consumed the formerly Grand Old Party.
Stop celebrating Lincoln's birthday. You guys have NOTHING in common with him.