PUBLIC REJECTING PUBLIC OPTION - AT 8:32 A.M. ET:  The public increasingly is turning against the "public option," which would create a government-run health plan to compete with private plans:  From The Hill:

Political momentum appeared to swing sharply against the public health insurance option prized by liberals Tuesday, on the eve of President Barack Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate on Tuesday signaled they are increasingly willing to pass healthcare reform without a public insurance option, even while Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) again insisted it must be included in a House healthcare bill.

One public option the public could accept is the removal of Nancy Pelosi.  Totally out of touch with anything outside the liberal salons of San Francisco.

...a Democratic leadership aide who sat in on an administration briefing Tuesday said that while Obama will offer support Wednesday for a public option, the president will not insist on it.

“He’s going to say it’s the best tool for reducing costs,” the aide said. “I think he’s going to be a bit noncommittal.”

And...

Centrist Democrats, who were skeptical about the public option in July, have hardened into outright opponents after hearing a deluge of constituent complaints...

...House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday reiterated his comments from earlier this summer that he would prefer to pass healthcare reform rather than insist on a public option.

COMMENT:  Too many Democrats simply don't understand why the public is skeptical about a public option.  It isn't that the public doesn't think the government knows how to pay a bill.  Medicare pays bills.  Social Security sends out checks.  It's that the public fears a government takeover of health-care decisions, creating a situation where a patient has no alternative.  Americans have read some of the horror stories coming out of Britain, and that's what they want to avoid.

The problem is, the left wing of the Democratic Party, centered in the California delegation to the House, is increasingly socialist, and has no problem with government control of health care, and a lot more, for that matter.  And the party has not confronted this crowd with lessons on practical politics.

September 9, 2009