TightyRighty.net

It appears that the administration is backing down on the requirement for a “public option” in the Health Care legislation being debated in Congress and townhalls around the country.  It would seem that our representatives (and I use that term very loosely) are hearing the will of the American people loud and clear.

Great!  However, now is not the time to declare victory and move on to living our normal lives.

The left wing of the  Democratic party is not happy and will do whatever they can to make sure the public option is included.  This morning, former Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said that “You can’t really do health care reform without it.”.

He also discussed an insidious means by which the public option might be incorporated into law – the “reconciliation process”.  Under this process, the House and Senate would pass bills (with great fanfare undoubtedly) which do not include the public option.  However, since the House and Senate never pass identical bills, they must be “reconciled” at which point the public option would be re-inserted into the bill and then only a majority of House and Senate votes would be required for passage.

I would not put it past the Dems to stoop to this level.  They have shown they will use any means possible to achieve their goals, because they believe their goals are so noble that the ends justify the means.

Additionally, the public option was a critical component and much of the legislation played off the public option – insurance company and employer mandates, etc.  What would happen to these if the public option is scrapped?  How will these be rewritten?  Who knows?

We must be VIGILANT!