WP: You made headlines the other day for dismissing the need for a public plan. Want to talk a bit more on that?TD: I don't know where that came from. We've been pushing back on that all day. I didn't say that. I have said emphatically I support a public plan. A Medicare-for-all public plan. Any federal plan. For all the reasons that have been made for years. It's important for cost, for choice, for competition, for popularity. I strongly support it.
What I did say is that I'm willing to compromise on most things to bring the package across the line. The plan we agreed to yesterday was that states could offer public plans with a federal fall back. That's not my first, second, or third choice. But given the concessions my colleagues made on universal coverage and an employer mandate and everything else, that's the essence of compromise.
I think the problem here is that the negotiating and compromising are being made before the plan is presented, so it looks like those we counted on (the Senate, Tom Daschle, maybe Obama) are giving away the key element without a fight.
Ralph
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