Where does Giffords stand on the public option?

by David Safier
This is probably our one shot during Obama's administration to pass health care legislation. We have to do it now, and we have to do it right. I'm a single payer guy myself, but I'm realistic enough to know that's not going to happen. So I want a strong, solid public option — one that's good enough it'll make the AMA and the insurance companies scream.

I've gone through Giffords' email updates, and I've looked on her congressional website. Unless I've missed something, she hasn't made any strong, detailed statements on a health care plan, and I can find no mention of her stance on a public option.

I've been more understanding of Giffords' political calculus than lots of my friends, accepting some of her cautious, or even wrong headed, stands because I'm sympathetic to her delicate position in a swing district. But a good health care bill will be one of the most important pieces of social legislation since the New Deal. If we do it right, we will be a healthier country for it, in body and in spirit. If we do it wrong, or not at all, we will have to live with the shame of missing an opportunity that may not come along for another decade, if then.

This is no time for political calculations, no time to stick a finger in the wind to see which way the wind is blowing. This is a time for a principled legislator to show courage. I hope Giffords will rise to the moment, stating her support of a strong public option loud, and clear, and soon.

Today's NY Times/CBS News poll should make it easier for Giffords and others to take a strong health care stand. An astounding 72% polled favored a public option, including 50% of Republicans. Only 39% of Republicans opposed, and 11% had no opinion. That's a huge, almost unheard of margin of support. It means the opposition by the AMA, the insurance companies and Republicans, no matter how much play it gets, is a minority opinion.

Supporters should repeat how out of touch these groups are with the American people. Doctors should proclaim they disagree with the AMA, which represents a small sliver of the medical community. And moderate Democrats like Giffords should say proudly, "I stand with the American people in support of a strong health care bill, including a public option."