Halfway Home

Jason Rosenbaum at FDL is reporting that 30 of the 60 Democrats in the Senate have signed a letter demanding Harry Reid bring a bill with a robust public option to the floor.

As it stands, the health insurance market is dominated by a handful of for-profit health insurers that are exempt from the anti-trust laws that ensure robust competition in other markets across the United States. Without a not-for-profit public insurance alternative that competes with these insurers based on premium rates and quality, insurers will have free rein to increase insurance premiums and drive up the cost of federal subsidies tied to those premiums. This is simply not fiscally sustainable.

We recognize that the two Committees with jurisdiction over health reform – the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee – have taken two very different approaches with respect to this issue. However, a strong public option has resounding support among Senate Democrats – every Democrat on HELP, three quarters of those on Finance, and what we believe is a majority of the caucus.

And while this is a wonderful sentiment and a very true picture of the situation, it's the 30 Democrats not signing this letter I worry about...including Harry Reid himself.

Don't blow this, guys.