It's time for Democrats to stop playing nice and go ahead on their own, without Republican support. This has been true for some time, but there is now no longer any excuse.
From The Hill:
Key senators said Sunday the "public option" favored by House Democrats for healthcare is all but dead, but a pivotal Republican said it's not dead enough.
President Barack Obama "should take it off the table," said Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) on CBS's "Face the Nation." "It would give real momentum to building consensus."
That's what passes for a Republican moderate, these days. As is this:
And Republicans indicated that even the trigger compromise probably won't get much GOP support beyond Snowe. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) called it "phony-baloney." And Snowe's fellow moderate Maine Republican Senator, Susan Collins, rejected a trigger on CNN's "State of the Nation" because "it just delays the public option."
Get it? Play with Republicans, and the public option is dead. Dead. Dead.
Yes, there are odious "Democrats" playing their game, and yes the Senate will be tough; but the prospect of a conference committee forcing the point remains alive. Speaker Pelosi has said that a bill without a public option won't pass the House. The Progressive Caucus is our strongest hope; and despite the Republicans' obstructionism, President Obama continues to promote the public option. He has played nice. It's his way. But the Republicans will not play nice. They seem to have drawn their line in the sand. With the public option still enormously popular with the public, and with the public once again rallying behind the president, after last week's speech, it's time for the Democrats to draw their own line.