Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) hosted a meeting of moderate Democrats this afternoon, including Sens. Mark Begich (D-AK), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Kent Conrad (D-ND), to compare notes on health care legislation. But, as is becoming a common theme around these parts, they say there’s not much to discuss until they can see the bill with a CBO score.
After the meeting adjourned, I asked Pryor whether he and fellow moderates had sympathy for the idea, articulated most frequently by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had found the correct middle ground in his caucus by including a public option in the final bill. “I know that Harry Reid has tried to find the center of the caucus. I don’t know that he has, I’m not saying he hasn’t. But once we actually see this bill and know what’s in there, we’ll talk about it as a caucus,” Pryor said.
Pryor suggested that there may be some number from CBO early next week, but was careful to note that those were merely rumors. If he’s right, though, we will know plenty more in the days ahead.
