The New York Times has reported, on 8/12/09, in "Obama Is Taking an Active Role in Talks on Health Care Plan" at http://www.nytimes.com/... that President Obama made a secret deal with hospital lobbyists, way back in June of 2009, to ensure that there would be no public option.
Lobbyists for both the drug and hospital industries say that, as early as June, White House officials directed them to work out cost-saving deals with Mr. Baucus’s committee.
This article states explicitly that:
Several hospital lobbyists involved in the White House deals said it was understood as a condition of their support that the final legislation would not include a government-run health plan paying Medicare rates — generally 80 percent of private sector rates — or controlled by the secretary of health and human services."
"industry lobbyists say they are not worried. "We trust the White House," Mr. Kahn said. "We are confident that the Senate Finance Committee will produce a bill we fully can endorse.
The article's assertion is very disturbing, if true, but it would explain the mystery around Obama's "agnostic" support of the public option.
This would also explain Robert Gibbs' recent statements that the public option is not in the president's plan only because the votes aren't there for it - although apparently 59 votes were there for it until Lieberman demanded its removal at the last moment. Lieberman told reporters that Rahm Emmanuel was there and didn't object, that he, Lieberman, was not pressured. Although most voters want it and object strongly to a mandate without a public option. This insider deal appears to be a political suicide pact, at least for those legislators up for election this November.
I've heard, on Thom Hartmann's radio program, that the NY Times has reported this twice in the last six months, but have been unable so far to find the other article.
If accurate, the hospital lobbyists and the White House must be finding our phone calling campaign for the public option, and the 35 Bennett letter signers, very inconvenient. What makes us think this is any of our business? How dare we?