Ezra Klein has a WaPo article with Lindsey Graham that reveals three shocking facts about Ron Wyden, a supposed liberal Democratic senator from the blue state of Oregon, and member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee.
1. Wyden just penned an op-ed in the Washington Post touting bi-partisanship as important and necessary in developing health-care reform.
2. According to Lindsey Graham, Wyden has promised Republicans Bennett from Utah and others that he will drop support for a public option in favor of bi-partisanship to gain support for "his" (Wyden-Bennett) bill.
3. According to Graham, Wyden is doing this despite getting beaten up by his constituents back home over the public option issue.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/...
I hope Ron Wyden has not sold his soul. His constituents in Oregon recently worked very hard state-wide to unseat Republican Gordon Smith with the election of Jeff Merkley, so that Oregon would be represented by two liberal Democratic senators.
If what Senator Graham says is true, Wyden has turned his back on the Oregonians who have repeatedly elected him, US citizens and members of his own party in the House and Senate - whose four committees have all included the public option.
As a long-time supporter of, and voter for, Ron Wyden, words cannot express the confusion I feel right now. He seems to be selfishly banking on the fact that his plan will be the one to "save the day" for health-care reform.
Wyden's bill as currently written meets Republican demands and allows the insurance industry to keep their monopoly and stranglehold on heath care in this country.
This bill allows citizens to select their own private insurance plans (which I like), but has no public option, mandates coverage, insurance exchanges would be set up by the states and Medicaid and SCHIP would be eliminated and folded into the exchanges.