Last night, a number of Senate progressives, led by Sherrod Brown (D-OH), met with Majority Leader Harry Reid to make sure his eyes are still trained on the importance of a public option, and to game out a strategy for getting 60 votes to pass a health care bill with a public option on the floor.
According to sources, the meeting was meant to serve as a reminder to that progressives still feel very strongly about the importance of including a public option in the Senate’s health care bill and that they’ve compromised enough.
Today, Reid expects to receive an analysis of his bill from CBO, which he’ll circulate among members of his caucus. It should show that the cost of the bill is below $900 billion, and that it reduces the deficit in both the near and long term.