Hopefully, by the time that the Senate votes on a new health care bill, Al Franken will be seated and the Democratic caucus will have 60 members. It takes 60 members to cut off debate and force an up-or-down vote, so a united Democratic caucus would be able to pass the health care bill without resorting to the messy reconciliation process. Yet, it’s not really likely that every Democrat will support a public option within the bill even though that is Obama’s clear preference. So, it’s important that at least one or two Republicans are willing to vote for the public option.
The Republicans on the Finance Committee (which has the most influence over the crafting of the bill) sent a letter to Obama indicating that they are united in opposing a public option. This was supposed to strike fear into the administration, but there’s a problem. The letter was signed by every Republican member of the Finance Committee except Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME). The real message that was sent, therefore, is that the public option can probably survive at least one Democratic defection.
Rather than strike fear, the letter offers new found hope.