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Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, intends to lead the fight for a public option in health-care reform and said Thursday he's confident Democrats will have the votes to send it to the president.

He rejected suggestions that a handful of moderate Democrats will block passage of sweeping reform including a public option that would offer a government-run insurance plan competing with private insurers. "There's a lot of jockeying that goes on around here," Harkin said. "People are always going to try to get what they want. They use their position to get something else that isn't even in this bill. Leverage, leverage, leverage." He said he's pleased that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid included the public option, which was part of the plan drafted by the Health Committee Harkin chairs, in the bill that will be debated on the floor.

Although Harkin prefers a straight up public option instead of Reid's opt-out option which would allow state legislatures to vote not to participate in the national health insurance plan, he said he could support that version. "In the end, would I vote against bill because it has opt-out provision? No, probably not," Harkin said. It might not matter because Harkin doubted any state legislature would vote to opt out. "If you look at all the polls, people want that," the Iowa Democrat said. If a state opted out, "the people in State A would look at the people in State B and say 'Why do they get that benefit?'"

Among those who have indicated they may oppose the public option is Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent. Harkin chalked that up to the usual jockeying senators do to get something they want, perhaps, something unrelated to health care. "I do not believe Joe Lieberman would want to be the one person, who caucuses with the Democrats, to bring this bill down," Harkin said. "I don't think he wants to go down in history like that. He so wants to be a part of the Democratic Party, he wants to caucus with us, and, of course, he enjoys his chairmanship of his committee because of the indulgence of the Democratic caucus. I'm sure all those things will cross his mind before he casts his vote."

Source:  Sioux City Journal

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