ObamaCare: Dem civil war breaking out over public plan

As Congress attempts to overhaul health care, the public plan debate has been among the most volatile, noisy and expensive.

Early last week, progressives thought their top priority looked dim. President Barack Obama told Time magazine that a co-op could meet his definition of a public plan. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said his main responsibility was getting legislation that could pick up 60 votes and thwart a filibuster, which the public plan is unlikely to do. And liberal House Democrats revolted over a deal with conservative Democrats to weaken the new government insurance plan.

By Friday, though, public plan advocates were suddenly feeling pretty good. They didn’t get exactly what they wanted in the Energy and Commerce Committee bill — their first preference was a government-run plan tied to Medicare rates rather than negotiated rates — but they had strengthened their hand against the Finance Committee…

The Finance Committee leans moderate to conservative. There are only a handful of Democrats who might go to the mat for the public option, including Rockefeller, Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

It’s too early to tell whether the liberal committee members would vote against a bill with a co-op option. They will look at the whole package for affordability measures and make a judgment, aides said. But since Baucus is negotiating with three Republicans, he could lose a few Democrats and still push a bill through his committee.