PO 2.0

by digby

I haven’t known what to think about HCR prospects for some time, thinking that whatever’s going to happen has probably been decided and that we are simply awaiting the kabuki pageant on the 25th. But this is interesting. It appears that in addition to the Progressive Congress Action Fund’s FixItandPassIt initiative to restore the public option through reconciliation, the Senate has found 10 Senators (and counting) who are also requesting that the PO be part of any agreed upon reconciliation deal.

It would be pretty to think this is really happening. But after what we observed over the past year, I can’t help but suspect that we are seeing it put back in so that it can be dealt away again in another phony compromise with the Senate Princes. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing. These things are often more fluid than we think and circumstances can change even he best laid plans. It’s possible that actions like this can make a difference as well, so I don’t mean to be too cynical.

But I’m inclined to be cautious about getting too excited over anything to do with the Public Option. It’s been used as a political football throughout the entire process and at this moment of heightened fear of the dirty hippies doesn’t exactly make me want to be Charlie Brown again. I just don’t see the Democrats wanting to pass HCR without publicly screwing the liberals once again — we are the sin-eaters, and I think they need to prove now more than ever that they are not in thrall to our radical desire to enact a cost control measure in the health care reform.

But never say never. Dynamics change, possibilities open up, sometimes sanity even wins out. Perhaps the Dems can reboot and finally use the fiscal argument to their advantage. We’ll see.

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