Reich: "Political operatives in the White House have quietly reassured the industries that [the public option] won't be included in the final bill"

Robert Reich:

Big Pharma and big insurance hate the public insurance option even more than they hate big Medicare discounts. And although the President has sounded as if he would welcome it, political operatives in the White House have quietly reassured the industries that it won't be included in the final bill. At most, the bill would allow the formation of non-profit "cooperatives" that wouldn't have the scale or authority to squeeze the profits of private industry, or a "trigger" that would allow states to form public insurance options eventually if certain goals for cost savings and coverage weren't met.

I'm not posting this to be gratuitously mean to the White House. I'm posting it because Robert Reich is someone I trust. And I think it's important that all of us have a full picture of what's going on behind the scenes.