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I shall post videos, graphs, news stories, and other material there. We shall use some of this material in class, and you may review the rest at your convenience. You will all receive invitations to post to the blog. (Please let me know if you do not get such an invitation.) I encourage you to use the blog in these ways:
To post questions or comments about the readings before we discuss them in class;
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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Is the public option back from the dead?

Senator Bennet, who was appointed to fill Colorado's senate seat and is facing a primary challenge from former Colorado Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff, is leading an effort to pass the public option through reconciliation. He sent the following letter to Harry Reid:

We respectfully ask that you bring for a vote before the full Senate a public health insurance option under budget reconciliation rules.


There are four fundamental reasons why we support this approach - its potential for billions of dollars in cost savings; the growing need to increase competition and lower costs for the consumer; the history of using reconciliation for significant pieces of health care legislation; and the continued public support for a public option.

So far, at least 17 senators have signed onto the letter including Charles Schumer and Diane Feinstein. Bennet is also gathering signatures at savethepublicoption.com and has started a facebook group.

While he was iffy on his stance on the public option over the summer, Bennet took a strong stance in November when he said he'd lose his seat to support health care reform:



The Denver Post has already criticized Bennet's push for reconciliation, despite strong support for the public option in Colorado. Earlier this month, Representative Jared Polis from Boulder, CO sent a similar letter to Harry Reid along with 120 members of the House.

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