Baucus Or Bust

Yesterday, Max Baucus, chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee, released the fruits of his labor, and the results were not good. Baucus had given away the Democratic majority in the Senate to negotiate a bipartisan bill.
The bill includes an individual mandate, which legislatures on both sides of the isle are for, but no public option. That is precisely the problem. If every American is required to buy health insurance, but the government is not going to offer a public option to hold down costs, then the bill is simply a giveaway to the insurance companies. It would force millions of Americans into the insurance market, but would not require any concessions from those companies. And really, should we expect any less. Baucus has taken millions of dollars from the insurance companies. And after he negotiated away the Democratic majority, the public option, and any chance for meaningful reform, he still failed the get any votes from Republicans.
Thankfully, according to Congressmen Anthony Wiener (D-NY) the bill is "DOA". Now is the time to forgo bipartisanship, to get the best bill possible for the American people. Bipartisanship is merely a means to an end, not an end itself. Republicans have had months to bring their suggestions to the table, and all they have done is cry about socialism and death panels. The Democrats need to pull together to break a filibuster and pass a bill with a public option. Members, such as Baucus and Ben Nelson, who are afraid for their political future do not need to vote for the bill, but must vote to end a filibuster. A public option was part of the Democratic platform in '08, and the American people are for it. Health care was the primary (domestic) reason that Democrats won a landslide, and it is about time that they pay attention to their working class base and not their corporate overlords.