Pelosi kills trigger on public option

(By Ed Morrissey, Hot Air) - Blue Dog Democrats in the House and moderate red-state Senators thought they had won some moderation in the ObamaCare bill over the last few weeks, especially after Democrats got a very loud earful from their constituents during the August recess. Today, however, Nancy Pelosi tossed the moderates aside in her press conference. She insisted that the House would produce a bill that includes a public option without a trigger, and with a wealth surtax to pay for it:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday shot down a healthcare compromise that has been viewed as the best chance for getting a bipartisan bill through the Senate.

Pelosi (D-Calif.) rejected the idea of a “trigger” for a public option. That means that the government-run health care plan would be a fallback option, enacted only if other reforms didn’t make healthcare more accessible. …

“I don’t even want to talk about a trigger,” Pelosi said at her weekly press conference. She said the “attitude” of her fellow Democrats is that “a trigger is an excuse for not doing anything.”