Responding to the Rahm trigger flap of today, Rep. Grijalva, writing as a member and leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, sent a letter to President Obama to make very clear that the very large bloc of votes in the CPC will not accept a public option trigger [pdf]:
I read with alarm and dismay the article in the July 7th edition of the Wall Street Journal, "White House Open to Deal on Public Health Plan". In particular, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel stated in the article that one of several ways to meet your healthcare reform goals is a mechanism under which a public plan is introduced only if the marketplace fails to provide sufficient competition on its own.
I want to be crystal clear that any such trigger for a strong public plan option is a non-starter with a majority of the Members of the Progressive Caucus (CPC). As the CPC has repeatedly stated, its Members cannot support final passage of any healthcare reform bill that does not include a robust public plan option, akin to Medicare, operating alongside the private plans.
Public opinion polls show that 76° of Americans want a robust public plan option and I will stand in solidarity with them. Moreover, I consider it unacceptable for any of the cost savings that you are negotiating with hospitals and other sectors of the healthcare industry to be made contingent upon a robust public plan option not being included in the final legislation.
The letter was sent in advance of a Democratic caucus meeting tonight with Emanuel. A source from inside that meeting says that this message was reiterated to him, in person, in no uncertain terms.
Meanwhile, Sen. Sanders sent a similar message today in an interview withs Sam Stein:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) went so far as to insist that some Senate Democrats would vote against any proposal that didn't include a strong government-run option. Even the bill being crafted by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, Sanders noted, might not get the caucus' full support because it could stray too far away from an effective overhaul of the health care system.
"I think that it is fair to say that there are a number of us who would not be voting for anything resembling a Baucus-type plan as we understand it right now," the senator told the Huffington Post, referring to Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus' effort at constructing a reform bill....
"Emanuel is dead wrong," Sanders said. "The triggers are meaningless. The American people have shown in poll after poll their contempt for private health insurance companies. They don't trust them and for good reason.
"Now, where we are right now politically is the HELP Committee, of which I'm a member, is going to bring forth a public plan," Sanders added. "The House of Representatives is supporting a public plan. And President Obama ran for office talking about a strong public plan. Why, with that political reality of the American people wanting it, the House going forward, the Senate HELP Committee going forward, would Rahm Emanuel suggest that we would compromise on this issue?"
That's a very good question. And it's a message that appears to be getting through even to Harry Reid.