Bennet tells potential donors he’s still committed to public option

U.S. Senator Michael Bennet has come under fire in the wake of House passage of health reform legislation for seeming to waffle on his commitment to the public health insurance option. It’s up to the Senate now to pass agreed-upon fixes to the bill by offering amendments. Bennet has made a splash in the last month by championing a plan to reinsert a public option into the bill and now would seem the time to do it. But Democratic lawmakers are wary of overreaching in the next week and opening up the process to complications that could foil their careful plan to reshape the bill.

How reconciliation irons out the House and Senate health bills

Democratic leaders pushing health care reform this year like to argue that a vast majority of the proposals represent uncontroversial changes backed by most Capitol Hill lawmakers. And while that might be true, it hasn’t prevented some sharp disagreements between House and Senate Democrats over a handful of high-profile reform provisions.

Mark ‘31’ Udall: Colo.’s senior Senator backs Bennet push for public option

Last night lefty blogs lit up with the news that Colorado’s Sen. Mark Udall, after weeks of silence on the issue, threw in with Colorado Democratic colleague Sen. Michael Bennet in his drive to convince Majority Leader Harry Reid…

Bennet’s public option supporters mystified by Udall’s ‘weird’ silence

A trio of groups that has been rallying support for the public option health insurance plan is puzzled over the fact the Colorado Democratic Senator Mark Udall has not come out as a supporter of the plan. Udall’s silence on…

Bennet wins Reid’s support for public option push

Greg Sargent has the scoop:

“Senator Harry Reid’s office says that if a final decision is made to pass health reform via reconciliation, the Majority Leader would support holding a reconciliation vote on the public option.”

The actual statement from…

Poll: Bennet right on the public option; Norton wrong

U.S. Senate candidate Jane Norton railed against Sen. Michael Bennet this week for a letter he wrote in favor of passing health reform legislation that includes a public insurance option. She believes Coloradans don’t want a public…

Udall sees opportunity for bipartisan ‘reset’ after speech

Colorado Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Udall said he shared in the willingness Pres. Obama expressed in his State of the Union address tonight to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans to lift health care reform legislation over the last hurdles and make sure it passes into law. Udall told the Colorado Independent that he saw positive signs in the House chamber during the speech that suggested there is willingness on the part of Democrats and Republicans to work together.

Howard Dean: Dems will pass health reform through reconciliation, without Republicans

Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean is currently conducting a health-care town hall meeting here at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh, where he predicted that health-reform legislation will pass through reconciliation in the Senate, without a single Republican vote. And…