There was a group of 10 or so ultra-libs that voted for the original house bill, but said they would not vote for the senate bill because it did not included a robust public option. I have not heard anything about them for a while, is it safe to assume that Pelosi/Obama has gotten them back on the plantation?
I think Obama’s mantra to leery Dems is going to be—”pass something...ANYTHING, and we’ll fix it later, through other bills.” Let’s hope that enough of them will not fall for this argument. If these “ultra-libs” are principled enough to demand the public option, let’s hope they won’t accept anything less.
“is it safe to assume that Pelosi/Obama has gotten them back on the plantation?”
Yes. Happened yesterday.
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/terrorism/obama-tells-liberals-public-option-doesnt-have-votes/
“In a private meeting at the White House this afternoon, Obama told a roomful of House Dems he doesn’t think the votes are there to pass the public option, and urged them to take the long view and to support the Senate bill as merely the beginning of reform, Dem Rep Lynn Woolsey tells me.
blah-blah
“He encouraged us to understand that this is the beginning of health care reform, not the end of it — and that we will fix it later, as we have with Social Security and Medicare,” she continued.
“He doesn’t believe the Senate has 51 votes for the public option,” Woolsey said, characterizing Obama’s remarks to the assembled.
But Woolsey says she’s now a definite Yes on the Senate bill, provided the reconciliation fix is adequate, even if it lacks a public option.”