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.