Your Thoughts Re: WHITE HOUSE CONCEDES PUBLIC OPTION IS OPTIONAL

POLITICO's Carrie Budoff Brown: 'President Barack Obama and his top aides are signaling that they're prepared to drop a government insurance option from a final health-reform deal if that's what's needed to strike a compromise on Obama's top legislative priority. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday on CNN's 'State of the Union' that the public option was 'not the essential element' of the overhaul. A day earlier, Obama downplayed the public option during a Colorado town hall meeting, saying it was 'just one sliver' of the debate. He even chided Democratic supporters and Republican critics for becoming 'so fixated on this that they forget everything else' ...

'On CBS's 'Face the Nation, White House' press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked if the government option had to be included in the final bill. ... 'The president has thus far sided with the notion that that can best be done through a public option,' Gibbs said. 'Is that a hedge?' asked host Harry Smith, referring to Gibbs's use of 'thus far.' 'No, no, no,' Gibbs responded. 'What I am saying is the bottom line for the president is that we ought to have choice and competition in the insurance market.'

HEADLINES: --N.Y. Times lead story, 'Public Option' In Health Plan May Be Dropped' ... WashPost lead story: 'Key Feature of Obama Health Plan May Be Out' ... Financial Times, top of p. 1: 'Obama concedes healthcare insurance measure' ... Wall Street Journal lead story: 'Chances Dim for a Public Plan' ... WashTimes banner: 'Obama eases pressure for public health care' ... L.A. Times A1: 'White House backs off public health option' ... Chicago Tribune p. 1 tease: 'Obama backs off public option' ... USA Today 1A tease, 'Public insurance gets iffy.'

THE FALLOUT:

--HOWARD DEAN, on CBS News' 'The Early Show': 'You can't really have reform without a public option. ... If you don't want to have the public option, ... just do a little insurance reform ... and then we'll tackle health reform another time. But let's not pretend we're doing reform without a public option.'

--ABC's Chris Cuomo: 'This morning, mixed signals are coming out of the White House about the future of a public health insurance options. The question is: Will President Obama bargain away one of his key goals in order to get Democrats united?'

--ABC's Jake Tapper: 'His allies in Washington are trying to ascertain just how much the Obama administration has raised the WHITE FLAG OF SURRENDER on certain key, controversial provisions in his health-care reform bill, in order to get it through Congress.'

--NBC's Chuck Todd, to Lester Holt, on 'Nightly News' from Arizona: 'The White House has been hinting at this for weeks if not months. When Kent Conrad ... came out with that co-op idea, I can tell you, insiders at the White House said: 'Boy, this is going to gain a lot of traction.' And those conservative Democrats -- this is not about getting a bipartisan bill out of the Senate, Lester. This is about getting folks like Ben Nelson in Nebraska; Joe Lieberman in Connecticut; Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pryor of Arkansas -- getting them on board. And a full-fledged public option was making them hesitant. Co-op will be the option that probably gets 'em done. And that's why the White House is allowing themselves wiggle room.'

--Chuck, on 'Today': 'Late yesterday, deputy White House chief of staff Jim Messina tried to reassure the progressive-slash-liberal activists who are upset to hear about this ... The e-mail read, in part: 'Nothing has changed. The president has always said what is essential is that health reform must lower costs and insure that there are affordable options for all Americans.' Still, a lot of wiggle room there.'

EXCLUSIVE -- THE ROAD AHEAD: House staff is working this week to combine the three committee bills on health reform into one bill for the floor vote. They started out as one bill, and staff estimates they're still 80 to 85 percent the same. House leadership tells PULSE the floor vote will be put off for a few weeks after members return post-Labor Day. This is so everyone can process the town halls away from the chaos, and to get a better bead on where the Senate is headed. The new target is a House floor vote BY THE END OF SEPTEMBER. That's not a hard deadline, but it's going to be a pretty firm target because leadership wants to do it this year, and doesn't want it to hang out there too long. (!)

On the Senate side, look for leadership to try to enforce the Sept. 15 'deadline' President Obama and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) set for the committee to come up with a deal, although Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said told Charlie Rose: 'More important than any artificial deadline is getting this right.' But Democratic strategists want to move forward by that point, in part to preserve the reconciliation option. One POSSIBLE target for Senate action, not yet settled on, schedule a break for Columbus Day (Oct. 12), which is not yet on the books, and back the vote up against that getaway day. Then conference work starts to meld the two floor bills...

**A message from AFSCME's Highway 2 Healthcare Tour: AFSCME Rocks and Rolls for Reform during August Recess. For a tour schedule, go to www.Highway2Healthcare.com. **


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