Sen. Finance Committee Rejects Public Option

Two amendments that would have added a robust government-run public insurance plan to a national health care overhaul bill were voted down by members of the Senate Finance Committee. Here's the New York Times' account.

The Times report says that during the emotionally-charged debate, John D. Rockefeller IV, a West Virginia Democrat and author of one of the doomed amendments, "railed against the practices of private insurers, who he suggested were largely preying on a defenseless American public," and said: "They’re getting away with terrible things.”

That sentiment is being echoed by MoveOn.org Political Action, which has been circulating this anti-insurance-executive, faux public service announcement starring Will Ferrell.