Finally Taking A Stand

BooMan notes the White House has finally come out with rumor control on the public option.

A rumor is making the rounds that the White House and Senator Reid are pursuing different strategies on the public option. Those rumors are absolutely false.

In his September 9th address to Congress, President Obama made clear that he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition. That continues to be the President's position.

At any point the White House could have said this, but, you know, the Snowe Queen and everything. Go figure. As BooMan says:

It probably was like pulling teeth to get the White House to release that memo. They've been avoiding getting boxed in with religious devotion. But their media outreach guys knew they were taking a beating. Some liberal senators were getting grumpy. And Pelosi needs a little push as she finalizes her whip count for the strongest possible public option. This last bit is probably what tipped the White House in favor of publicly backing Reid. As long as the Senate looks wobbly, it's hard for Pelosi to push her caucus over the top for a robust public option.

Perhaps something will get done now that everyone believes we're on the same page. Important to note however that one news story to the contrary is still able to derail the Dems for days, and it's getting silly.

At some point we have to trust the Dems to do this and that it will work. The Zen of Kroog:

Still, if the Massachusetts experience is any guide, health care reform will have broad public support once it’s in place and the scare stories are proved false. The new health care system will be criticized; people will demand changes and improvements; but only a small minority will want reform reversed.

This thing is going to work.

And we're close...very close.