Sherrod Brown "will push for public option in separate bill if not included in existing package."

[Clio the Leo]

Dem will push for public option in separate bill if not included in existing package

By Jordan Fabian - 03/03/10 11:19 AM ET
If a public health insurance option is not added to existing healthcare reform legislation, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Wednesday that he would push for one using a separate bill.

Brown, a liberal Democrat, told reporters that he hopes that Democratic leaders include a public plan in the current package but said that he would "absolutely" try to cobble together a different proposal if it is not.

"If we don't get it on this. I still hope we get it on this. If we don't get it on this, we can give it a try," he said. Asked if that meant passing separate legislation, he answered "Absolutely, absolutely, oh yeah."
President Barack Obama did not include a public plan in his first set of fixes to the House and Senate healthcare bills released last week. Obama is set to introduce another proposal of corrections Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) dropped the government-run plan from his bill in December after he could not attract enough centrist support to the bill with it included.

But Reid has come under pressure from 34 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus who want him to pass the public option using the budget reconciliation process. Reid has hinted that he would consider the idea but other Democratic leaders have been loathe to say that they will reintroduce the plan that divided their party last year.

The president and Democratic leaders have said that the legislation won't be perfect, but that a framework is needed to make changes down the line.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/84715-dem-will-push-for-public-option-in-separate-bill-if-not-included-in-existing-package

[Arkana]

1. Ohio had better send him back to the Senate again and again.

[Deep13]

2. You're goddamn right about that.

When he ran for Senate in 2006, I donated the federal maximum to his campaign. Best $2200 I ever spent. I know him casually from when he was my Congressman from local fund raisers and stuff like that. He really hates Republicans.

[Soylent Brice]

8. believe me, we will. n/t

[roguevalley]

14. I love him. He's genuinely good.

[Beetwasher]

3. This Is A Good Man, And A Good Dem!

n/t

[Enthusiast]

4. Proud to have Sharrod Brown as my Senator!

If we just had 99 more like him.

[tallahasseedem]

6. You're so lucky...

I'm here in Florida where the Neo-Cons roam free.

[Enthusiast]

11. In my local paper I read about a recent poll

that showed Ohioans preferred the Tea Party to both Democrats and Republicans. It could have been a false poll, of course. But things are not so rosy in Ohio, either. As a nation, we are in deep doo doo.

[tallahasseedem]

5. I really hope...

that the Dems will truly rally around this. If they do, they can guarantee that us Dems and Progressives will turn out in droves this November.

[frazzled]

7. I believe it will be legislated, probably separately, if not this year then next

Or the next. The important thing is that the basic armature of a system that would support it will have been put into place. There will be a place to hang it. It will come.

(Whether it can come in the reconciliation or not is still not clear to me. I guess it all depends on the Parliamentarian's decision, and on whether there are enough Senate votes at this time).

[Soylent Brice]

9. that's my Senator!!

:applause:

just left a message at his office about this. got a MoveOn email about it.

[librechik]

10. Please make it Medicare for All instead of that weak public option the House voted for

That is all!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. I wish we could clone him!

[Nite Owl]

13. Yeah, him and

Bernie Sanders!

[freddie mertz]

15. I hope he really does it. He is a good guy.

We need 50 more like him.

And one more, in the WH.

[old mark]

16. This is how we will get it - after the first bill passes, pieces will be added on and it

will add up to a good thing...

Sherrod Brown is a great Senator.

mark

[Berry Cool]

17. Sherrod Brown completely rocks

and so does his Pulitzer-Prize-winning wife.

[European Socialist]

18. Good--If nothing else we need to know who has got to go!