Praise for the senator from Maine, Olympia Snowe. She's not playing the injecting competition on the backs of 5% game -- she calls it what it is: a safety net.

This amendment establishes a non-profit government corporation through which a "safety net" plan would be provided in any state in which affordable coverage was not available in the Exchange to at least 95% of state residents.

Said 5% would undoubtedly draw from one or more of: older; low-income; chronic care recipients, also known as a high-risk pool.

Yes, I give Senator Snowe credit for not trying to buff a turd, the hobby horse of progressives.

Susan Collins wants you to know that she does NOT support a public option trigger:

A key swing vote on healthcare reform said Sunday she would not support a public option "trigger" -- a series of benchmarks that, if not met by a certain time, would authorize the creation of a government insurance program.

"No -- the problem with triggers is that is just delays the public option," Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told CNN's "State of the Union," adding that her major qualm with the public option was its scope and cost.

From the Baucus health insurance reform framework document: (p. 2)

Interstate Sale of Insurance. Starting in 2015, states may form “health care choice compacts” to allow for the purchase of non-group health insurance across state lines. Such compacts may exist between two or more states. Once compacts have been formed, insurers would be allowed to sell policies in any state participating in the compact. Insurers selling policies through a compact would only be subject to the laws and regulations of the state where the policy is written or issued.

To appear in this Sunday's Washington Post Outlook section:

George McGovern:

But what seems missing in the current battle is a single proposal that everyone can understand and that does not lend itself to demagoguery. If we want comprehensive health care for all our citizens, we can achieve it with a single sentence: Congress hereby extends Medicare to all Americans.

...

We recently bailed out the finance houses and banks to the tune of $700 billion. A country that can afford such an outlay while paying for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can afford to do what every other advanced democracy has done: underwrite quality health care for all its citizens.

The CBO confirms today my long-held suspicion that the vaunted "public option" is not much more than a high-risk pool and forecasts that premiums will actually be slightly higher than private offerings.

Currently, private health insurance is available via the following mechanisms:



1. Large employer group coverage

2. Small group market (small business)

3. Individual market (self-employed, unattached)
  Read more…

When he's not on MTP to save us from those dastardly insurance companies or to fiercely advocate for a public government insurance option, what does Tom Daschle do with his free time? Golfing? A beach getaway? Or perhaps,

Daschle, in his capacity as a high-paid consultant at the law firm Alston and Bird, is once again working closely with lobbyists for UnitedHealth, the largest U.S. industry player, aiding the company's effort to convince moderate Senate and House Democrats to, among other things, kill the public option and keep company profits high.

Gosh, it's like he's two different people or something!

The Death Panel issued its verdict on the fate of the public option: too expensive to keep on life support. "We've sent out as many emails with big DONATE buttons as possible, but this public option is no longer paying its way, and so it must go," stated a key member of the Death Panel, a representative from Wall Street. "Our politicians will carry out the directive," he added.

Primary physician Conrad, Nurse Sebelius and Second Opinion Barack "there's always hope, that's very important" Obama will assist progressives with end-of-life counseling for the public option.

They advise five stages:

Denial: Barack Obama strongly supports a robust public option! He said so!

come hold me tight
Kiss me my darling,
be mine tonight
Tomorrow will be too late,
it's now or never
My love won't wait.

Obama says health care this year - or never. Tells volunteers to pressure lawmakers before opportunity is lost forever.

"If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done," Obama told supporters by phone as he flew home on Air Force One from a West Coast fundraising trip.

Obama's political organization, Organizing for America, invited campaign volunteers to a midday conference call to describe a nationwide June 6 kickoff for its health care campaign.

Nothing like ginning up the sales team to push vaporware.