This was your pledge in July. On videotape. And YouTube:
[A]ny plan I sign must include an insurance exchange: a one-stop shopping marketplace where you can compare the benefits, cost and track records of a variety of plans - including a public option to increase competition and keep insurance companies honest - and choose what's best for your family.
Mr. President, you know as well as anyone that Senator Conrad is lying about votes for the public option. Healthcare reform with or without the public option is an iffy proposition in the Senate unless reconciliation (51 votes needed) is enabled. And the Republicans are already beginning to demonize the co-op plan as "government-run." Besides, do you honestly believe that Senate Democrats will vote against healthcare reform and risk electoral disaster in 2010? The ghosts of 1994 can be used as an advantage, too.
So why not exercise your considerable power to push the strong House public plan with the ferocity it deserves as being the centerpiece to any successful healthcare reform bill. The time to jettison bipartisanship is right damn now -- and perhaps jettison seven of the most obstructionist Senate blue dogs as well, once the Finance Committee is done playing grabass. 51 votes and the public option. The alternative is unthinkable.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Adding... For the record, here's what I wrote about the president and the public option six weeks ago.