Nelson, Landrieu Giving CPR to Triggers

The crappy idea that just won't die is back, now courtesy Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieu.

"There's a possibility that [triggers could make a comeback]," said Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE). "Right now, we don't know what the actual version of the plan is, because it hasn't come back from CBO...so I think when we get that back, we'll take a look and see what the scoring is, and maybe figure out what chance that plan has to get enough votes. My expectation is that it probably doesn't have enough to get 60 votes to get off the floor if it gets on the floor."

....

"[I]n the event that there's not--that the reforms that we've put in place [don't create competition and drive down costs], then there could potentially be a trigger or a fallback position," Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) said this morning. "So that is kind of where [Olympia Snowe and I] are believing that we should reform the private market first, if the private market fails to reform, or refuses to reform, then there would be a fallback position."

Except, of course, a trigger isn't a fallback position. It's designed to never trigger, meaning that insurers will never have to worry about controlling costs because there will never be competition for them. The inclusion of a trigger would be enough to kill healthcare reform's chances in this Congress, with the Progressive Block refusing to support them. We know that in the Senate Burris, Rockefeller, Sanders, and Feingold have all expressed strong reservations about triggers, and among 30 Senators who signed Brown's letter to Reid demanding a public option in the bill, there's likely to be another seven who will oppose triggers, making it's passage on the floor questionable.

Real Democrats realize this, even Nebraskan Democrats:

According to a new Research 2000 poll, 46 percent of Democrats in the decidedly red state would be less likely to support Nelson in a primary should he choose to filibuster the public option. Conversely only seven percent would be more likely to cast a vote for the Democratic Senator.

Even worse news for the former Nebraska Governor is that by a 53 to 31 majority, all Nebraska voters think that Nelson's judgment could be influenced by the $2 million in campaign contributions he received from health care and insurance companies.

In addition to these findings, the new poll showed an uptick in support in the state for the public option with 46 percent supporting, and 44 percent against it. When Research 2000 polled the question for Daily Kos back in August, the numbers were 39 supporting, 47 opposed. Ben Nelson isn't just on the wrong side of history on this one, he's now on the wrong side of his constituents.