Disclaimer: frankly, I am in favor of single payer and maybe, just maybe, I'll eventually see it in my lifetime.
Right now: I am in favor of a strong public option. In fact, if that does pass I'll lobby my employer (a university) to include it as one of the options that our human resources center would pay for...and to support the public option I would switch to it.
But today we see the following story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
and read:
Bowing to Republican pressure, President Barack Obama's administration signaled on Sunday it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run insurance as part of a new health care system.
So, is it over? More below the fold.
I maintain: NO, it is not over, far from it.
Think about it this way: "bowing to Republican pressure". Now, what pressure is that? We don't need a single one of their votes.
I see this as a massive "head fake".
Think of it this way:
President Obama: "Ok, Republicans, I am offering to drop the public option. Will you say "yes"?"
What do you think that they will say?
Of course, they will say NO!!!
Then President Obama goes to the American people: "see, we did as much as we possibly could and the "party of No still said "no"".
"This is why we went ahead and wrote our bill and passed it ourselves; we gave them their chance and they choked on it".
In this event, the bluedogs have more cover to vote for it (in the House) or at least vote for cloture (in the Senate).
I still say that the public option is very much alive.