Four more senators have signed on to Sherrod Brown's call for the public option, including Al Franken and John Kerry, but at Greg Sargent points out, it's effectively a moot point:
The new signatories: Al Franken, Pat Leahy, John Kerry, and Sheldon Whitehouse.
They join yesterday’s signers: Michael Bennet, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jeff Merkley, and Sherrod Brown.
The letter asks Harry Reid to stage a full Senate vote on the public option under budget reconciliation rules. It argues that there’s a history of using the technique for passing significant health care legislation and that a majority of Americans has consistently supported a public option.
The letter — the work of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America — also bears the signatures of over a hundred House Dems.
That's the good news. Here's the reality.
Despite the growing support for a reconciliation vote on the public option, it’s all but certain not to happen. The Senate and House leadership have shown no appetite for such a move. And the White House is not on board as it gears up for its high-stakes summit next week and the politically dicey health care endgame that will follow.
But the move by these eight Senators — and perhaps more to follow — is likely to gain them plaudits from liberals and health reformers for showing leadership on a provision that still enjoys the support of the American people even as the Congressional leadership has left it for dead.
And that's a problem. The American people overwhelmingly want it. Not even with these massive margins in Congress will the GOP allow it.
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