Now, as if on cue, some of the Blue Dog Democrats are picking up on Steny Hoyer’s message about the public option "having to go" for the passage of the bill in the House of Representatives. Rep. Jason Altmire, who’s one of the leading Blue Dog Democrats in the House, just said:

The House’s healthcare reform bill will have to be changed before it can even win a majority among Democrats, one centrist, Blue Dog Democrat insisted Friday.

Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), who opposed the health bill on the Ways and Means committee, signaled that Democrats may not even have the votes to force through a preliminary health bill without any Republican support.

"And in order to get a majority even among the Democratic Party, we’re going to have to change the way that House bill is formatted right now," Altmire said during an appearance on Fox News.

Those words come after liberal Democrats strongly signaled to President Obama earlier this week that a publicly available health plan would be essential to winning their votes. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that she wouldn’t be able to pass a bill without a public option.

For Rep. Altmire, that means getting rid of the public option, or else the rest of his Blue Dog Caucus will threaten to block the passage of health care reform in the House. When Members of Congress come back from recess, the Blue Dog Caucus will likely throw a ruckus, threaten to block the passage of legislation unless the public option is stripped out, and then it’s up to the Democratic leadership and the White House on whether to accommodate the Blue Dog Democrats.

I think his threat isn’t real, but it depends on whether our progressives in the House will stand together as a voting bloc to refuse to support the passage of health care reform without a public option in the final bill. So, please keep up with the donations and the phone calls to our Progressive members of Congress to stand firm on the public option!