Blumenauer Signs Letter With Public Option Ultimatum

UPDATED August 25, 2009 -- Rep. Peter DeFazio joined Rep. Earl Blumenauer in signing a letter along with 62 other progressive Democrats in the House saying any legislation that moves forward must contain a government-run health insurance option. 

{EDITOR'S NOTE: The original version of this article posted on August 19 reported that Blumenauer was the only Oregon Democrat to sign the letter with 59 others. An updated report includes DeFazio in a list of 64 who signed.}

DeFazio and Blemenauer represent the only Oregon Democrats who belong to the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Rep. David Wu voted for a bill in the House Committee on Education and Labor before the August recess that included a public option. But at recent town hall meetings, Wu has said he would still vote for a bill without it.

Leading healthcare reformers, including former DNC chair Howard Dean, have said the public option is a key to controlling costs, providing choice and ensuring access.

A recent Rassmussen poll shows public enthusiasm for healthcare reform collapses without a government-run insurance option.

Over the weekend, President Barack Obama called the public option a "sliver" of overall healthcare reform "whether we have it or we don't," a noticeable departure from past statements not long ago and during the campaign that it must be included in any reform.

Interesting note: During the campaign most debate between then-Sen. Obama and then-Sen. Hillary Clinton was over an individual mandate, which Obama opposed. Now he supports it, representing the most noticeable "flip-flop" that's garnered virtually no press.

On the Senate side, Sen. Jeff Merkley strongly supports a public option and voted for a bill with that provision in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee led by Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Sen. Ron Wyden has said he's "open to a public option" but it's not his first choice. Instead, Wyden favors state-based public options with certain triggers that include less than two non-profit health plans.

A recent interview with Sen. Lindsey Graham suggests Wyden traded his support for a public option early on to gain Republican sponsors to his own bill.

Wyden, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, has yet to state his position on health plan cooperatives as a substitute for a public option. Such a proposal will likely come to a vote in that committee in September.

Read the full letter here. The 60 Congressmen include the 57 who signed a previous letter in addition to Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) Robert Wexler (D-FL), and Gregorio Sablan, a non-voting delegate from representing the northern Mariana Islands, according to TalkingPointsMemo.com.

Along with their sharply worded letter, the three House members sent an attachment listing the “60 Members of Congress who are firm in their position that any legislation that moves forward through both chambers, and into a final proposal for the president's signature, MUST contain a public option.”

Read more at Politico.com