{"id":6357,"date":"2009-09-17T16:26:49","date_gmt":"2009-09-17T22:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=6357"},"modified":"2009-09-18T08:30:26","modified_gmt":"2009-09-18T14:30:26","slug":"key-senate-dem-continues-to-oppose-public-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/09\/key-senate-dem-continues-to-oppose-public-option\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Senate Dem continues to oppose public option"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Landrieu,

Landrieu, speaking today at the Domenici Public Policy Conference at NMSU. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Landrieu in Las Cruces: \u2018… I believe that we should do nothing that would undermine the private insurance market.\u2019<\/h4>\n

In an interview in Las Cruces earlier today, a key U.S. senator in the health-care reform debate reaffirmed her opposition to including a public option in a reform bill.<\/p>\n

But Democrat Mary Landrieu<\/a> of Louisiana said she thinks the Senate can get 60 votes in support of a bill that will accomplish the president\u2019s goals without a public option.<\/p>\n

Landrieu said there would be \u201cvery limited opportunity, if any, for me to support a public option.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason is because I believe that we should do nothing that would undermine the private insurance market,\u201d Landrieu said.<\/p>\n

The senator made the remarks during an interview following a speech she gave about energy policy at the Domenici Public Policy Conference<\/a> at New Mexico State University.<\/p>\n

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus<\/a>, D-Mont., introduced a bill Wednesday that does not include a public option in its reform proposals. Sen. Jeff Bingaman<\/a>, D-N.M., called the Baucus bill \u201ca big step forward<\/a>\u201d but said he will try to get a public option added to it.<\/p>\n

Bingaman, as a member of the bipartisan \u201cGang of Six\u201d trying to negotiate a compromise on health care reform, is a key proponent of public option. He has said if a compromise doesn\u2019t emerge he will help push a reform bill through the so-called budget reconciliation process, a procedural move that would require a simple majority vote instead of the usual 60.<\/p>\n

For the time being, however, the Baucus proposal has Senate Democrats trying to figure out how to get 60 votes<\/a> to pass a reform bill through the usual process.<\/p>\n

Landrieu has been named by the Washington Independent<\/a> as one of 14 senators \u201con the fence\u201d in the debate over health care reform. In the past, she has said she prefers a \u201cprivate, market-based approach\u201d to reform and says she \u201cwould like to cover everyone — that would be the moral thing to do — but it would be immoral to bankrupt the country while doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landrieu said today that she believes people who currently have insurance generally like what they have and don\u2019t want their insurance overrun by a public system. But she said that\u2019s exactly what will happen if policymakers aren\u2019t careful in the reform they approve.<\/p>\n

Reconciliation won\u2019t be necessary<\/h3>\n

As one of the key senators whose support is being sought by those who want 60 votes, Landrieu said she doesn\u2019t think reconciliation will be necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we can build a 60-plus vote,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Although Landrieu\u2019s opposition to public option puts her at odds with many of her Democratic colleagues, including Bingaman, Landrieu said she won\u2019t change her position, but added that she is \u201cnot trying to stop health care reform.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current system is not sustainable,\u201d she said in acknowledging the need for reform.<\/p>\n

But Landrieu said she believes the system can be reformed to meet the president\u2019s goals — a ban on refusing coverage of pre-existing positions, reform of the private insurance system and cutting costs from public insurance programs — without a public option.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an interview in Las Cruces, a key U.S. senator in the health-care reform debate reaffirmed her opposition to including a public option in a reform bill. But Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said she thinks the Senate can get 60 votes in support of a bill that will accomplish the president\u2019s goals without a public option.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[117,133,116],"class_list":["post-6357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-health-care","tag-nmsu","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}