After a meeting of Senate Finance Committee Democrats in his office this afternoon, chairman Max Baucus sought to contain the fallout from Sen. Joe Lieberman’s statement today that he’d be inclined to filibuster a health care bill with a public option in it.
“A lot of this now is in Sen. Reid’s hands–I certainly would expect [for the bill to proceed to debate],” Baucus said.
I think he’s quite close, and there’s time yet. I think some senators are not definitely decided because they want to see the CBO report. They want to look at CBO’s cost estimates, coverage estimates, effect on premiums, etc., before they make up their minds. Once the CBO report comes out–at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later–it’s going to be positive. And once it’s positive, I think we’ll find a lot more senators inclined to get on the bill.
For a time line of conflicting Lieberman statements on the public option, see here. For a rundown of his previous willingness not to obstruct legislation, see here.
