Talk may be cheap, but Obama has seen fit to counter Rahm's apparent cave in on the issue of the public option. This Obama quote comes from Russia and should at least be added to the mix of the discussion/panic over Rahm's WSJ article.
This could be the first statement of several that Obama makes on this subject. It suggests to me that he may want to hold the line on the public option. It will be nice to see a statement where he directly contradicts Rahm's comments.
I know this barely qualifies as a diary. But I thought it should get out there into the Dkos talkosphere as more than a comment.
The below quotation comes from Politico.
WALKING BACK RAHM? A day after his chief of staff suggested the White House could live with a public option-free health care reform bill, President Obama released a statement (from Russia!) reaffirming his support for a government-run health care plan:
"I am pleased by the progress we're making on health care reform and still believe, as I've said before, that one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices, and assure quality is a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest. I look forward to a final product that achieves these very important goals." (10:15 a.m.)