I am not the smartest nor most politically savvy person in the room, but it seems to me there is a great compromise that will meet the President's goals, be satisfactory for the Netroots and destroy the right-wing propaganda masters' talking points - the state-run insurance option.
President Obama has said we need a strong public option to keep the health insurance companies honest. Opponents have said this is little more than a veiled attempt at Federal governmnet takeover of heatlh care which will lead to socilaized medicine. Some have pushed the "co-ops" as a good model, yet they have their own detractors.
So how about this - a plan that allows for state-run government agencies to fashion their own "public options?" States could eitehr get together or individually create government-sponsored entities (GSE's) to compete with private insurers. I could see a scenrio where people could choose from whatver government or state plan they desired
Wait, wouldn't that be unmanageable with 50 government options PLUS private companies? With the proposed Health Care exchange, the one-stop shop for health care, it would be workable. I would propose the student loan agencies as a model. States were encouraged to create government-subsidized guaranty agencies. They do now, and private industry competes and the system works very well with students having a large choice of lenders that all provide the same basic service.
You could still promote co-ops and even have a Federal option "trigger." That could make it bi-partisan, without being watered down.
For those screaming "SOCIALISM" now, the answer would be "states rights" and "more choice" and "less Federal Government." Just imagine the look on their faces when it's the liberals who are pushing for those three things.
And for you single-payer people out there, if you read my other blogs you'll know that the state student loan agencies will be extinct in favor of one federal one if Obama gets his way. Personally, if you throw in a billion dollars to the student loan proposal to transition employees of affected state student loan agencies to transition to state health care agencies, you'd have a much smaller opposition from the student loan group.