The Option

So maybe, just maybe, the public option is back through reconciliation. 11 senators (Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Michael Bennet (D-Col.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Pat Leahy (D-VT), John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and now Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) just signed on) are on board.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) became the 11th Senator to sign on to a new effort by Democrats to press Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to pass a public option for insurance coverage using reconciliation, her office confirmed to the Huffington Post on Wednesday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/17/dianne-feinstein-signs-on_n_466435.html

What I'll be watching is to see if Leahy and Kerry can bring more of the old dem votes in. Health care reform has been up and down like a kangaroo in the mating season, but at least it isn't dead yet.

I actually doubt that this will work, but I support trying it. I'm rather cynical, at this point. If nothing else, it's a major bargaining chip leading into the "bipartisan" summit next week.