I've been hearing a lot about how the public option, as written in the House bill and proposed for the Senate bill, is just an ineffectual half-measure and should therefore be jettisoned.
While there is no model for predicting how the public option will play out over time, we do know that people will generally like the provisions of the reform bill and the public option (which is one of the reasons why the Republicans are so scared). We know, based on the precedent of Medicare, Social Security and SCHIP, that if people like it, it will probably be expanded and improved. We also know, based upon the Medicaid opt out and the federal highways opt out, for example, states rarely opt out when the federal government is sending money.
Yes, I would like to see a fully robust public option or a Medicare for all program. But should we abandon the public option, or pass it and then campaign to make it better? The latter works for me.