Obama to Use Pension Funds of Ordinary Americans to Pay for Bank Mortgage “Settlement”

[PA Democrat]

63. I'm not sure what you are saying.

It was because of media coverage that we lost the public option?

There are numerous reports now from people on the inside of the process who stated the the public option was negotiated away very early on in the process in return for the support of hospitals and the insurance industry.

According to Tom Dascle:

It was taken off the table as a result of the understanding that people had with the hospital association, with the insurance (AHIP), and others. I mean I think that part of the whole effort was based on a premise. That premise was, you had to have the stakeholders in the room and at the table. Lessons learned in past efforts is that without the stakeholders’ active support rather than active opposition, it’s almost impossible to get this job done. They wanted to keep those stakeholders in the room and this was the price some thought they had to pay.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2010/10/05/171689/daschle-interview/

And Richard Kirsch:

The book is Fighting For Our Health, by Richard Kirsch, who directed the advocacy group Health Care for America Now during the push for reform. HCAN is a well financed umbrella group backed by scores of liberal groups, unions, and other reformers — making Kirsch a close witness to the entire saga. He confirms that the White House treated the public option like a bargaining chip with powerful industry players, and believes that when his group became most critical of the bill mid-way through the fight, that top White House aides sought to have him canned.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/key-reform-ally-dishes-on-weak-kneed-white-house-health-care-pushes-on-weak-kneed-reform.php