Barney Frank took the pledge yesterday, so we’ve added him to the list.

14 down…26 to go.

Well, there’s no other way to describe this other than to say Rep. Ethridge (NC-02) appears to be in the “open to anything” category. Rep. Ethridge tells Mike “we got to have what works” and “it’s got to be fair and it’s got to be a level playing field.”

Rep. Ethridge doesn’t get around to explaining the specifics of what works, or what’s fair and a level playing field.

Mike Stark caught up with Rep. Dan Lipinski (IL-03) to ask him about his support of the public option. Representative Lipinski actually started running from Mike rather than answer some simple question about where he stands on health care.

Rep. Gary Peters (MI-09) tells Mike Stark that the “public option is very important,” and that it is a “critical component of the health care bill.”

When asked if he would vote against a bill that does not include a strong public option, Rep. Peters tells Mike he plans to wait until he “sees a final bill.”

13 down….27 to go. Whip It! Took the Pledge Only With "Robust" PP Weasel Words "Open to Anything" Emanuel Cleaver II Lloyd Doggett Donna Edwards Keith Ellison Raul Grijalva Phil Hare Rush Holt Carolyn Maloney Jerrold Nadler Chelle Pingree Lynn Woolsey Robert Wexler Maxine Waters Peter DeFazio Jane Harman John Yarmuth Neil Abercrombie Joe Baca [...]

Rep. Joe Baca (CA-43) tells Mike Stark why he can’t pledge to vote against bill that doesn’t include a public option.

Betty Sutton (OH-13) tells Mike Stark there is “no doubt” she is “all for a public option.” Though she’s not quite ready to take the FDL pledge.

Rep. Tim Bishop (NY-01) tells FDL’s Mike Stark he is a “very strong supporter of the public option.” And then makes excuses about why he can’t take the pledge.

Another great video from Stark, this time he catches up with Representative Zack Space (OH-18) who was full of excuses for why he didn’t have time to tell the public where he stands on health care. Oh, and Rep. Space would like us all to know he’s “very busy.”

We’ve added Chellie Pingree and Carolyn Maloney. We put up the statement from Pingree on Friday, want to make sure everyone saw the statement from Maloney as well: I have always been a strong supporter of the public option (including co-sponsoring single-payer) and pledged to you several weeks ago to fight like heck to make [...]