Story here at The Hill. (H/T Ace of Spades via ECM)
Excerpt:
Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) both said a Medicare “buy-in” option for those aged 55-64 was a deal breaker.
“I’m concerned that it’s the forerunner of single payer, the ultimate single-payer plan, maybe even more directly than the public option,” Nelson said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Lieberman said Democrats should stop looking for a public option “compromise” and simply scrap the idea altogether.
“You’ve got to take out the Medicare buy-in. You’ve got to forget about the public option,” he said.
If Democrats stick to relying primarily on the bill’s subsidies, the legislation would pass easily and with bipartisan support, Lieberman argued.
Ace also notes that Clair McCaskill will vote against anything that fails to bring down the deficit.