I'm with Chuck

By Michael J.W. Stickings

From The Hill:

The healthcare reform bill that emerges from Congress this year will include a government-run public health insurance option, regardless of the bipartisan negotiations seeking a compromise in the Senate, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday.

"Make no mistake about it, the president is for this strongly. There will be a public option in the final bill," Schumer said on CBS News's "Face the Nation."

I hope he's right.

For Democrats, there's simply no excuse. Any reform bill without a "public" option, without an option that would guarantee coverage for all Americans, would be not just a disappointment but a failure to do what is right, what must be done, when given the opportunity.

No, it's not all with the Democrats. The Republicans who will vote en masse, and perhaps unamimously, against a bill with a public option, deserve perhaps even more of the blame. They are against universal health care, after all, and do not seem to care about the millions of uninsured Americans.

But the Democrats are in a position to do something about it. And this is no time for excuses.