House liberals tell Obama public option is 'essential'

CNN Politics ^ | September 4, 2009 | Dana Bash

[La Lydia]

WASHINGTON – As Obama prepares to go before Congress and lay out more details about his stance on health reform, he held a conference call Friday with some of the most liberal members of the House, who say they won't vote for a bill without a government-run insurance option. Two congresswomen on the call...tell CNN that the president probed them about how entrenched they are, even asking them to define what they mean when they call for a "robust" public option.

"I think he would like to convince us that there is something sort of that could lead to a public option that would satisfy us, and guess what? It doesn't," Rep. Lynne Woolsey, D-California, told CNN in a telephone interview after the conference call.

Woolsey...insisted that the president did not explicitly warn them that he may have to give up a so-called public option in order to pass a bill through the more moderate Senate, but it seemed he was laying the groundwork....

But both Woolsey and Rep Barbara Lee, D-California, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told CNN that they told the president point blank that they do not believe a health care proposal without a government-run option is real reform...Woolsey and Lee said the president invited them to the White House to continue the discussion on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, before his speech to Congress.

[La Lydia]

Get the popcorn.

[austinaero]

And he told them “Obee-Kaybee”,, according to a report over at Politico (showering afterwards is recommended)

[La Lydia]

Oh lord don’t make me go over there.

[La Lydia]

OK, I held my nose and went over there, and it was worth it, because they are leading with the Van Jones story.

[Don Corleone]

Olympia Snowe will take up any slack that develops in Bambi’s game plan!

[ryan71]

They will just never get it. People are on them and are not going to stand by and let it happen.

[HIDEK6]

Rotten commies.