Basically, there are reports that the White House is trying to water down the Public Option to keep Senator Snowe on board. These reports are mistaken, in that, it makes it sound like the White House is trying to destroy the Public Option. They ain't.
To them, the safest path to passage is to make sure that at least one GOPer is on board, because God forbid on the day of the vote, Robert Byrd is sick (as he has been for the last couple of months. I mean, crickey...the man is 96!) and makes it impossible to break a filibuster.
It's a real concern, but it's not worth passing shit legislation because of it.
Meanwhile, Harry Reid thinks he has an angle on getting an "Opt-Out" Public Option through the Senate...with 60 votes...all of them Democratic. Snowe says she's out if its a Opt-Out...which basically means she's only interested in a trigger that never fires. That makes her a worthless snake in the grass, whom I hope the voters of Maine take care of in 2010 (and if she helps scuttle reform, she won't be back).
Erza summarizes:
On Thursday night, Reid went over to the White House for a talk with the president. The conversation centered on Reid's desire to put Schumer's national opt-out plan into the base bill. White House officials were not necessarily pleased, and they made that known. Everyone agrees that they didn't embrace Reid's new strategy. Everyone agrees that the White House wants Snowe on the bill, feels the trigger offers a safer endgame, and isn't convinced by Reid's math. But whether officials expressed a clear preference for the trigger, or were just worried about the potential for 60 votes, is less clear. One staffer briefed on the conversation says "the White House basically told us, 'We hope you guys know what you're doing.'"
