The President's unreasoned obsession with "bipartisanship" continues, at least according to Sam Stein and Ryan Grim at HuffPo:
President Barack Obama is actively discouraging Senate Democrats in their effort to include a public insurance option with a state opt-out clause as part of health care reform. In its place, say multiple Democratic sources, Obama has indicated a preference for an alternative policy, favored by the insurance industry, which would see a public plan "triggered" into effect in the future by a failure of the industry to meet certain benchmarks.President Barack Obama is actively discouraging Senate Democrats in their effort to include a public insurance option with a state opt-out clause as part of health care reform. In its place, say multiple Democratic sources, Obama has indicated a preference for an alternative policy, favored by the insurance industry, which would see a public plan "triggered" into effect in the future by a failure of the industry to meet certain benchmarks.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
[Copyright excerpt condensed for infringement - MB]
The administration retreat runs counter to the letter and the spirit of Obama's presidential campaign. The man who ran on the "Audacity of Hope" has now taken a more conservative stand than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), leaving progressives with a mix of confusion and outrage. Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill have battled conservatives in their own party in an effort to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Now tantalizingly close, they are calling for Obama to step up.
"The leadership understands that pushing for a public option is a somewhat risky strategy, but we may be within striking distance. A signal from the president could be enough to put us over the top," said one Senate Democratic leadership aide. Such pleading is exceedingly rare on Capitol Hill and comes only after Senate leaders exhausted every effort to encourage Obama to engage.
"Everybody knows we're close enough that these guys could be rolled. They just don't want to do it because it makes the politics harder," said a senior Democratic source, saying that Obama is worried about the political fate of Blue Dogs and conservative Senate Democrats if the bill isn't seen as bipartisan. "These last couple folks, they could get them if Obama leaned on them."
What in the hell is WRONG with this guy??? After months of crystal-clear Republican clarity on health care reform, i.e., "We're gonna kill it," Obama remains fixated on something that hasn't existed in Washington for decades!
Senate Democrats, with zero help from the Leader of the Party, have managed to come within a couple of votes. A strong statement of support from Obama would push the opt-out version of the public option over the goal line, and we all know it!
Personally, I don't blame Russ Feingold one iota: There's no "threat" coming from the Wisconsin Senator. It is, instead, a statement of principle, one that the President ignores at his EXTREME electoral peril! For, if what Stein and Grim report is correct, Obama will face a serious primary challenge twenty-seven months from now! Bank on it!