I'm deeply concerned that the 'public option' is too weak in the House bill and even more tainted in the Senate with their 'opt-out provision. I posted some analysis here which highlighted my objections (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discu... ) and the non-response to my thread was typical of a community which (in the majority) isn't in any mood to lose on this one.

Given the nature of the opposition in Congress (which is basically nothing but industry whores looking to derail the legislation by hook or crook), there really isn't going to be much of a Democratic base of support there for holding this thing up just to provide what (I think) reasonable critics want to see in the bill. The lines in Congress are now drawn between republicans (and a few idiot Dems) who are working to see the bill fail or severely weakened and Democrats who have struggled (and compromised) valiantly to move health insurance reform forward.

It's hard for me to see how anyone who cares at all about reforming health insurance and providing access to coverage for the millions without it can stand anywhere near most of those in Congress who are working to undermine and defeat this legislation. Take some time to watch the Senate debate and I think folks will see that there really isn't going to be much of a middle ground there to tweak the legislation and make it comport to every progressive wish and whim, no matter how I personally wish there were. The battle lines have been drawn and its time (at least for our Democratic senators) to choose where they stand; with the republican opposition or with Democratic reformers.

As I said, I've got plenty of problems with how the legislation has been drafted and problems with what passed out of the House. I still think there's room to lobby for the changes we want, although I'm less convinced there's anything significant that the Senate can do to accommodate those changes as they move the bill forward to passage. Most of the fight there is going to center on blocking killer republican (and DINO) initiatives and amendments and that effort needs and deserves our full support. The senators who are working to move this bill forward need and deserve our full support against that opposition. That's not the fight I would arrange if I had a magic wand, but it's the nature of the politics right now in that body.

I will lobby hard against the republican effort to derail this legislation, while, at the same time, lobbying legislators to strengthen the provisions I have problems with. I would hope that some of these objections I have can be hammered out in conference when they reconcile the two bills, but that can't happen if the opposition somehow succeeds in blocking the Senate legislation. This should be the fight of a lifetime and I relish the opportunity to stand with our Democratic legislators as they advance this historic bill.