WASHINGTON (CNN) - After announcing his intention to move forward with a health care reform bill in the Senate that includes a version of the public health insurance option that would allow states to opt out, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told CNN that he has not ruled out using a budgetary procedure called reconciliation which would allow Democrats to pass the bill with a simple majority.Related Posts:Politico — 30 Senate Dems urge leadership to include public optionSnowe to Reid: ‘What’s t

States like Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire that have imposed ObamaCare-style regulations have seen premiums jump for everyone. If people can wait to get sick until they obtain insurance, fewer healthy people will carry insurance. The cost of an older, sicker insurance pool naturally rises. To prevent this spiral of “adverse selection,” ObamaCare imposes a mandate requiring all adults to buy insurance. But Senate Finance Committee Dems — sensitive to its politically unpalatable r

Ed Brayton and Jed Lewiston mock Sean Hannity’s inane criticism of polls showing support for the public option. Showing the fallacies in Sean Hannity’s logic is always a very easy way to write a blog post. Obviously Hannity’s objections aren’t worth considering. On the actual topic of polling the public option, results typically show a majority in support but the results vary widely. Part of this is because, as I’ve pointed out in recent posts, there are a variety of ideas which are lumped

Senator Joe Lieberman is an Independent. As romantically autonomous as that may sound, it also means he can count on support from neither the Democratic nor Republican Parties. It takes money to maintain a Senate seat. Why is this germane to health reform? Because a) money always is; and b) Mr. Lieberman by virtue of [...]

Better suited for The Onion. In case you weren’t born at the time of the 2000 election, the Democratic ticket was Al Gore and Joe Lieberman. One thing I don’t understand is why everyone’s so afraid of a filibuster. It would be great press for what a bunch of, um, Confederates have ganged up to block a public option for medical insurance. Knock yourselves out, guys! Stand there and read the Bible all night. Here is the link and here is a preview: Washington (CNN) — Independent Sen. Jose