Monday, September 7, 2009

My guess is that Obama...

...will come out in favor of the "trigger" approach to the public option in his speech on health care reform Wednesday night.

Under the so-called "trigger" plan, the government would set certain market goals for health insurance companies to meet; if they didn't, a public health insurance option would kick in.

This combines the best of both worlds. Obama gets to be true to himself, as he's always been in favor of a public option, while attempting to mollify the liberal wing of his party. At the same time, it could bring along Blue Dog Democrats like Ben Nelson (who made noises yesterday that he would accept a "trigger") and Republican Olympia Snowe, who's been for it all along. This is probably the best way to get to a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority (with a fig leaf of bipartisanship) in the Senate. As for the House and its many members who have vowed not to vote for a bill without a public option, Obama will just have to make the case to them not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Meanwhile, he can leave the arm-twisting and head-banging to people like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. That way the president could get a good bill signed by Thanksgiving.

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