50 Senators Said They Support The Public Option, So What’s Stopping Them Now?

By Yashwanth Manjunath

Here is a list of the 50 current Senators who all are on the record as supporting the Public Option. During the health care debate, many Senators who claimed to support the Public Option were unwilling to take a stand on the issue because they argued that its inclusion could jeopardize the rest of the reform package. Well, the rest of the reform effort is already in the process of implementation as we speak, so those concerns no longer apply.

So what is stopping these 50 Senators from passing the Public Option as a standalone bill in the Senate using Reconciliation, with Joe Biden casting the deciding vote if necessary? The Public Option has already passed the House once, and the president claims to support it, so why are we still waiting for this to get done, especially with the November elections, after which some of these Senators will absolutely be gone? If you are as curious as I am, you can call your Senator and ask if they were serious, or if he or she was full of garbage when they said they supported the Public Option.

With insurance companies raising rates without cause and doing everything they can to wriggle their way out of the new rules and regulations, it’s clear now more than ever that we desperately need the Public Option to hold the insurance companies truly accountable.