Weiner: If Obama Doesn’t Call for a Public Option, We’ll Have to Settle for Less

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Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) is turning up the heat on the White House, saying the fate of health care reform is in President Obama’s hands. But he’s also leaving open the possibility that Obama could disappoint his supporters and not endorse a public option in his big health care speech Wednesday.

“If he stands up Wednesday and says, ‘To the country and to my colleagues in Congress, we are going to have a public option in this plan because we need and here`s why,’ it`s going to get done,” Weiner said. “If he doesn`t, we`re going to have to settle for less and that will be a tragedy.”

Yesterday, Weiner said it’s possible that a “triggered” public option could pass in Congress. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted that a health care bill without a “strong public option” (which typically implies no trigger mechanism) can not pass the House.

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