It looks like the White House is trying to put the cat back in the public option bag AGAIN. Apparently Sebelius "misspoke" that a public option is not part of health reform. Let's see who else gave away the true intentions of Obama willing to sign a health care bill without a public option and had to cover for him? Oh yeah, Raham Emauel, "misspoke" when he said Obama would sign a bill without a public option. Max Baucus, Senate Finance chair, had no problem taking the public option off the table, giving away a significant bargaining chip when he didn't have to. Even the Blue Dog Dem Rep, Kent Conrad knows the score, "The fact of the matter is there are not the votes in the United States Senate for the public option, there never have been, so to continue to chase that rabbit is just a wasted effort."
Obama disparately wants the cat to stay in the bag just long enough to make nice with the lefties. Jane Hamsher, doesn't buy it. She saw the cat trying to get out of the bag long ago and she preemptively launched a very successful campaign to lock House Reps into a pledge to reject any bill without a public option, and Rahm is pissed about leftie resistance. Good for Jane and good for all the lefties willing to stand strong on the public option. Get involved with Jane at Firedoglake and help fight for the public option: Jane's Whip count tool for The Pledge http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/publicoption "An administration official said tonight that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "misspoke" when she told CNN this morning that a government run health insurance option "is not an essential part" of reform. This official asked not to be identified in exchange for providing clarity about the intentions of the President. The official said that the White House did not intend to change its messaging and that Sebelius simply meant to echo the president, who has acknowledged that the public option is a tough sell in the Senate and is, at the same time, a must-pass for House Democrats, and is not, in the president's view, the most important element of the reform package. A second official, Linda Douglass, director of health reform communications for the administration, said that President Obama believed that a public option was the best way to reduce costs and promote competition among insurance companies, that he had not backed away from that belief, and that he still wanted to see a public option in the final bill. "Nothing has changed.," she said. "The President has always said that what is essential that health insurance reform lower costs, ensure that there are affordable options for all Americans and increase choice and competition in the health insurance market. He believes that the public option is the best way to achieve these goals." A third White House official, via e-mail, said that Sebelius didn't misspeak. "The media misplayed it," the third official said." http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/08/administration_official_sebelius_misspoke.php
