SALON

Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 11:15 PM UTC

Reid says final reform bill will include public option

The majority leader makes a bold promise; to keep it, he'll have to overcome opposition from within his party

By

Topics: Harry Reid, Healthcare Reform, U.S. Senate, War Room,

Earlier this week, the Senate Finance Committee voted down amendments that would have added a public insurance option to the healthcare reform bill it’s considering. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apparently doesn’t think that’s a big obstacle. On Thursday, he promised that a public option will be included in the final version of the legislation considered by the full Congress.

“We are going to have a public option before this bill goes to the president’s desk,” Reid said in a conference call with constitutents, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. “I believe the public option is so vitally important to create a level playing field and prevent the insurance companies from taking advantage of us.”

Despite the central role that the Finance Committee has played in the debate over reform thus far, there are plenty of other ways that a public option could be added to the bill, as Reid promised. But given the near-certainty that the Republicans will filibuster and given the hesitation about the public option — if not outright opposition — that some members of Reid’s own caucus have expressed, this is one promise the majority leader won’t have an easy time fulfilling.

But Reid isn’t the only senior Democrat who’s expressed confidence that the Senate will eventually vote in favor of the public option. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said earlier this week that he believes proponents of the idea have the votes to pass it. His scenario relied on the idea that all 60 members of the Senate’s Democratic caucus will at least come together to defeat a filibuster, even if not all of them vote for the bill itself. (There’s also the possibility, of course, that they’ll lose a Democrat or two in the filibuster vote and pick up a Republican vote to make up for it.) That may be what Reid is counting on too.

Update: Asked by Salon to elaborate on his boss’ comments and explain how the majority leader intends to pass a bill that includes a public option, Reid spokesman Jim Manley declined to comment. Manley would say only that he wanted to reiterate that Reid has been “a strong supporter” of the idea.

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon. More Alex Koppelman.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • A missing poster hangs on a tree outside the Cleveland home of Amanda Berry Wednesday. Berry and two other women, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus, made a daring escape this week after being held captive for more than a decade.
    Credit: AP/Tony Dejak

  • Elvis Rafael Rodriguez and Emir Yasser Yeje offer their best impression of  Eric B. & Rakim. On Thursday, New York prosecutors identified the pair as members of an international gang that robbed $45 million in a matter of hours by hacking into a database of prepaid debit cards and draining ATM machines around the world.
    Credit: AP

  • New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie walks to a podium during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Technology Enhanced Accelerated Learning Center at Essex County Newark Tech in Newark, N.J., Tuesday. Christie made less flattering headlines this week after undergoing a secret stomach surgery to curb his weight.
    Credit: AP/Julio Cortez

  • Workers stand outside the Tung Hai Sweater Ltd. factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday after a fire broke out in its 11-story building. Eight people were killed in the blaze.
    Credit: AP/Ismail Ferdous

  • Workers rescue a woman trapped for 17 days in the rubble of a garment factory building in Saver, Bangladesh, Friday. The building's collapse was the worst industrial disaster in the country's history, killing more than 1,000 people.
    Credit: AP

  • Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford gives his victory speech Tuesday in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., after winning back his old congressional seat in the state's first district.
    Credit: AP/Rainier Ehrhardt

  • Jodi Arias reacts in Maricopa Country Superior Court Wednesday after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the gruesome killing of her one-time boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Arias has subsequently said she wants the death penalty, claiming she'd "prefer to die sooner than later."
    Credit: AP/The Arizona Republic/Rob Schumacher

  • Ariel Castro stands for his mug shot Thursday at the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center, where he is being held on $8 million bail. The former bus driver is accused of imprisoning three young women and beating them repeatedly over a period of 10 years.
    Credit: AP/Cuyahoga County

  • Charles Ramsey addresses the media Monday after helping rescue three women held captive in Cleveland for more than a decade. Ramsey's hero portraiture has been complicated by revelations of his own domestic violence record.
    Credit: AP/The Plain Dealer/Scott Shaw

  • Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force, testifies during a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday. The military branch was rocked this week after its chief sexual assault prevention officer was charged with sexual battery.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 29 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations