Per Politico:
http://www.politico.com/...
Right on cue, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a vocal backer of the public option, offered this statement in support of government-sponsored health coverage (her remarks can be loosely translated to mean: The White House can say whatever it likes, but there will be a public option in the House bill).
Given all of the headlines, a consensus is forming: It seems clear that the House will pass a bill with the Public Option intact. The Senate appears to be on course towards passing a bill with no Public Option included (and no, "co-ops" don't count).
Let's face it: the sausage-making aspect of this can be both boring and infuriating. But like it or not, this fight will come down to the Congressional Conference Committee and its members. Until then, there is little that can be done, outside of what the movement is already doing (and should continue to do): calling and writing your congressmen/ Senators/White House, fighting the lies in public and online, and simply educating as many people as possible (everyone should be linking to articles and videos on a daily basis through any social networking page you have access to).
But once the time comes for the Congressional Conference Committee that will sort out the final bill, I think it will be wise to double our efforts and shift the focus to those selected members. We'll need as many Progressives on that Committee as we can get. Perhaps we should start coalescing on which names we want to see fighting on behalf of health care reform within that Committee. And once the Committee has been selected, we could then focus the pressure on those members throughout the duration of the Committee. As Gov. Dean indicated this morning, the lobbyists will be doing the same for the HMOs, and with good reason: that is where the real bill will be finalized.
Now I confess that Congressional Conference Committees are not my forte. What can we, as citizens, do to influence the make-up of this Committee? I have no idea how their members are selected, who selects them, how many are required, and what the party representation needs to be. If we started an online-campaign of names we would want featured, would that have any impact? I'm guessing that some subcommittees from each chamber need to be represented. Quite frankly, there is a lot that I just don't know.
But for the first time in a long time, I think it's imperative to know as much as we can about the Committee process, because it will make or break real health care reform. That is where the battle will eventually be won or lost. And a little civics lesson in the meantime won't hurt. Thankfully with the Committee likely months away, we'll have plenty of time to educate ourselves and take advantage of whatever we can use to our advantage.