Public Option: Mostly Dead?

So, the most robust verison of the health care reform public option is mostly dead:

After debating all morning and well into the afternoon, the Senate Finance Committee voted against an amendment, written by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) that would have added a public option to the panel's health care reform bill.

The final vote was 8-15 with 5 Democrats--Sens. Kent Conrad (D-ND), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT)--voting with all Republicans to kill the proposal.

But, as Miracle Max points out in The Princess Bride, "It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive."

Next up, Chuck Schumer's more modest public option proposal.

Stay tuned.