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Sen. Tester (D, MT) ‘meh’ on public option.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  August 27th, 2009 at 11:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

It apparently doesn’t excite his interest either way:

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester said that a so-called “public option” in the health care bill is optional for him – and said he is not yet committed to backing the plan being put together by U.S. Sen. Max Baucus.

Tester said Wednesday he could envision voting for a health care reform bill with or without the option that would let the uninsured buy into a Medicare type government program.

“I don’t need it either way,” Tester told The Associated Press between meetings with constituents. “I could either support it or not support it. It’s all in the design.”

Via @seanhackbarth. This is actually worse news for health care rationing proponents than if Tester was adamantly opposed to public/government option; it demonstrates that not only is he indifferent to what many progressive Democrats consider to be a make-or-break part of the bill… but Tester thinks that he can get away with saying so in public. Which he probably can, at that.

Honestly, the sooner that the other side simply admits that government option is off the table, the better; it’s keeping us from discussing the minimum level of tort reform and cross-state insurance availability needed in the final bill before Republicans will seriously consider voting for it…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

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COMMENTS

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  • Swamp_Yankee

    nt

  • njre

    100 Socilaist Dems will not vote for obamacare if there is no public option. So convince the 40 more conservative and vulnerable Blue-dog Dems to insist on NO PUBLIC OPTION and NO COMPROMISE, and Obamacare will be defeated!
    No much time left! Write daily to the Blue-dogs!
    Here’s to get you started:
    tessa.gould@mail.house.gov, john.zody@mail.house.gov, dean.mitchell@mail.house.gov, pia.carusone@mail.house.gov, kate.haas@mail.house.gov, trish.reilly@mail.house.gov, meg.joseph@mail.house.gov, scott.fairchild@mail.house.gov, peter.chandler@mail.house.gov, donna.pignatelli@mail.house.gov, susan.mcavoy@mail.house.gov, ron.carleton@mail.house.gov, denis.fleming@mail.house.gov, melanie.morris@mail.house.gov, stacey.alexander@mail.house.gov, brad.morris@mail.house.gov, april.metwali@mail.house.gov, lisa.quigley@mail.house.gov, ashley.jones@mail.house.gov, phyllis.hallmon@mail.house.gov, beecher.frasier@mail.house.gov, chad.causey@mail.house.gov, jason.buckner@mail.house.gov, matt.walker@mail.house.gov, drew.goesl@mail.house.gov, hayden.rogers@mail.house.gov, angela.kouters@mail.house.gov, sharon.wheeler@mail.house.gov, joe.bonfiglio@mail.house.gov, mark.brownell@mail.house.gov, tim.mccann@mail.house.gov, sam.marchio@mail.house.gov, linda.macias@mail.house.gov, vickie.walling@mail.house.gov, howard.bauleke@mail.house.gov, stuart.chapman@mail.house.gov,
    rebecca.coleman@mail.house.gov, nichole.reynold@mail.house.gov, nichole.reynolds@mail.house.gov, scott.schloegel@mail.house.gov, sarah.benzing@mail.house.gov, drew.goesl@mail.house.gov

  • montanan

    if he did it would be the most retarded reason to pass a bill in the history of ever. Even IF all Montanans wanted this bill (and we don’t) it would be like saying we should pass a billl requiring all people to wear tinfoil hats because .003% of the population thinks it’s a good idea. Seriously, there are less than a million residents in Montana, somewhere around .003% of the entire US population; why would that make a difference? If kos said that, then it really points out how desperate the other side is to get this thing passed. Yeesh…

  • proudgop

    If you guys attend town hall meeting with a US Senator you must ask them if they support this reconciliation act?

    If the Democrats decide to use budget reconciliation rules to try to pass the health care overhaul ? a strategy that would allow them to push through the most contentious changes with a simple majority, rather than 60 votes

    Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who was the Democratic co-chair of the Gang of 14, said at a Nebraska town hall meeting this month that he won?t support a reconciliation strategy.

    Other Democrat Senators need to be asked too

  • janis

    think of Montana as red-blooded, individual, freedom loving, gun-toting Americans. And if YOU guys are all in for the health care disaster, then, really, who are the rest of us to quibble with it?

    Never mind that someone like Kos would tell you to your face that what I described above is everything that his kind think is wrong with this country.

  • montanan

    well, there are a few koolaid drinkers here, despite our efforts to scare them away. The good thing is the bears have a taste for the nature lovers among them….

  • Spartan4Life

    Translation-

    “It really doesn’t matter what is in the bill or the extent to which it will harm America and it’s citizens. What is important is that we pass something. Anything. Then our sycophants in the press will say how successfully we are leading and Chris Matthews will tingle and maybe some people will be fooled and Obama will be successful and everything will be good again!”

  • http://insureblog.blogspot.com/ hgstern

    While the idea *sounds* good in theory, there are htree reasons why it’s a non-starter:

    1) likelihood that pretty much every claim will be out-of-network (much great OOP)

    2) Since some states have much higher premiums due to guaranteed issue, community rating, etc, healthy folks in those states will start jumping ship. Result: “death spiral” for those left behind.

    3) Once carriers in the lower-priced states start seeing droves of new insureds from the higher-priced ones, wanna guess what will happen top *their* rates?

    Sorry to be a wet noodle!

  • Swamp_Yankee

    He ran a ridiculous push poll that everyone ran with.

    http://www.redstate.com/swamp_yankee/2009/08/24/conservatives-dont-treat-montanans-like-suckers/

  • montanan

    I can’t believe…wait, yes I can. What a tool kos is. Anyways, here’s the problem in Montana: Baucus is the chairman of the Senate finance committee. This means that Baucus brings home lots and lots of bacon for his state. I mean, if the entire state of texas were doing nothing but raising pigs and sending them to Montana, it still wouldn’t equal the ammount of pork Baucus brings home. That, and the local Republican party hasn’t managed to come up with a legitimate threat to Baucus since….well…ever. Now add the (political) problem of thousands of rich californian wine snobs migrating to the Kalispell/Whitefish area, already one of the most populous areas of this state, and you have a triple whammy that ensures Baucus will keep his seat indefinately. Short of a stick of dinamyte or a murder charge, the man won’t lose his seat. We can see through his crap, and quite frankly, he doesn’t care. He doesn’t need a screen to hide behind, he has all the political support he needs to keep him fat and happy for the rest of his days. Cap n’ Trade might sink him if he supports it, but only if it’s close to his re-election.