It's a miracle. Bill O'Reilly of The O'Reilly show on Fox has endorsed a public option. While this endorsement is more than welcome, I am shocked, shocked I say, to hear it come from Mr. O'Reilly, especially since he's been fighting it since day one.
Here is what he said while discussing the issue with Nina Owcharenko a Heritage Foundation scholar:
More after the bump...
NINA OWCHARENKO: Well, it has massive new federal regulation. So you don't necessarily need a public option if the federal government is going to control and regulate the type of health insurance that Americans can buy.
O'REILLY: But you know, I want that, Ms. Owcharenko. I want that. I want, not for personally for me, but for working Americans, to have a option, that if they don't like their health insurance, if it's too expensive, they can't afford it, if the government can cobble together a cheaper insurance policy that gives the same benefits, I see that as a plus for the folks.
Hallelujah
I might also point out that the Republicans as a whole and blue dog Democrats have been arguing that Government (having a Public Option) should not be controlling the way our health care system is ran.
What do you call requiring the insurance agency to cover all citizens, no matter what their pre-existing medical conditions are? What about requiring them to have no cap on coverage amounts, isn't that government controlling the private industry? What about telling these same companies how they must cover certain preventive care, isn't that government control?
These Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats are willing to CONTROL the insurance agency and the medical provider's way of business; but with the same breath, they tell us we should not be creating a government controlled health insurance policy (public option). That does not compute!