White House Stands by Public Option

When President Obama first announced that he would give a speech on health care this week, many expected that he would throw the public option under the bus. But, if that’s the case, David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs aren’t hinting: Both men reiterated White House support for the public option on Sunday. Axelrod insisted that Obama “is not walking away” from a public plan—that he “believes it should be in the plan, and he expects to be in the plan, and that's our position.” Gibbs was slightly less committal. While he said the public option would be a “valuable tool,” he said “"We're not going to prejudge what the process will be when we sign a bill.”