• Sections
  • The Latest
  • Newsletters
  • Podcasts
  • Support TPM
  • Shop Merch
  • Site Info
  • About
Follow TPM
© 2026 TPM MEDIA LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Sections
  • Editors' Blog
  • News
  • Live Blog
  • Cafe
  • Muckraker
  • The Brief
  • Morning Memo
  • Where Things Stand
  • The Weekender
  • The Franchise
  • Features
Follow TPM
© 2026 TPM MEDIA LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Support TPM
  • Memberships
  • The TPM Journalism Fund
Follow TPM
© 2026 TPM MEDIA LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Site Info
  • FAQ
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Site Status
Follow TPM
© 2026 TPM MEDIA LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • About
  • About TPM
  • Mission
  • Masthead
  • Financials
  • Careers
  • Pitch Us
Follow TPM
© 2026 TPM MEDIA LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Talking Points Memo Logo
Send Tips
TPM 25th Anniversary Badge
Editors' Blog

The Strange Death of the Public Option

by Josh Marshall
03.15.10 | 6:22 am

They say the brave man dies only once, the coward a thousand times. Then there’s the Public Option, which seems to have lived and died probably nine or ten times over the last year. Brian Beutler looks at what’s behind its latest and probably final (in this legislative cycle) demise.

Send Tips
Josh Marshall is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TPM.
LATEST
Where Things Stand
Florida GOP Rep Up for Reelection Says Voters ‘Feel Betrayed’ By Trump’s Immigration Assault
09.17.26 | 5:01 pm
The Franchise
Whistleblower Claims Fed Agents ‘Likely’ Broke State Laws in Pursuit of Trump’s Conspiracy Theories
09.17.26 | 2:00 pm
Screenshot from a campaign video posted by Marshall Rawson, the GOP nominee for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives.
News
We Asked 28 GOP Officials If They’d Denounce the GOP Nominee Who Marched With Nazis in Charlottesville
09.17.26 | 12:58 pm
Morning Memo
Fugitive ICE Agent Arrested in Minnesota
09.17.26 | 11:52 am
Talking Points Memo
© 2026 TPM MEDIA LLC.
Masthead Contact Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Memberships
  • Careers
  • Advertise
  • Site Status
  • FAQ
  • Newsletters
  • Pitch Us
  • Terms of Use
  • CCPA Notice