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Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has never been a fan of the public option. We now know that she is actively working to kill the public option with help of Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and, of course, the trigger.
“What we have to move forward thinking about is, as the president has said, people keeping what they have if they like it, having more choices, reforming the private market,” Landrieu said. “And if we can achieve that through private-sector reform, that’s wonderful. And if not, then there should be a mechanism that basically, I guess, guarantees it, which would be a well-crafted trigger.”
Given Snowe’s and Landrieu’s extreme opposition to the idea of a real public option, we know a “well-crafted trigger” must mean one that is designed to never be pulled. Snowe’s original trigger amendment was crafted in a way to insure that it was never pulled. This should not be surprising. Snowe has repeatedly stated that she is so strongly against a real public option that she would filibuster the bill she helped write if it included one. She claims her inspiration for the public option trigger is the public plan trigger in Medicare Part D, which, guess what, has never been pulled.
The trigger is not a compromise. It is not the threat of a public option. It is not the possibility of a public option. It is not an eventual public option. It is nothing more than a ruse to pretend that they did not completely kill the public option.
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the much skewed but still true AHIP report clearly shows the intention of the health care cabal to increase premiums not lower them once health care, even watered down to the point of ineffectiveness, is passed. landrieu and snowe and nelson need to admit, the trigger is already here.
last nights results clearly show, democrats are not unhappy because congress is doing too much; but rather doing too little and not fulfilling the pledge they took to get them elected.
Some news hound needs to ask Snowe publicly exactly what has she observed or heard from insurers that indicates private ins corps will bring costs down and thus avoid trigger?
ya know? question the premise.
A trigger would be ineffective, clearly. As Jon wrote, the trigger in Medicare, Part D didn’t incite any change in the behavior of drug companies and insurance providers. There’s nothing to make anyone believe that a public option trigger would be any different.
Have the politicians arguing against the public option spent much time dealing with medical bills, visiting hospitals, worrying about coverage?
It’ll be a trigger with a trigger-lock…without a key.
Yeah like there are not enough uninsured in Landrieu’s state for her to do the right thing. During the Senate hearing where Snowe voted “yea” and the Baucus bill moved out of committee Snowe had said that there had been “decades of inaction” Guess she wants to give the insurance companies another decade or two to do the right thing that they could have done ‘decades” ago. Fuck the insurance companies pull the trigger now
Was Landrieu watching those elections yesterday? Does she come up next year for re-election?