25 Blue Dogs Have Said They Support a Public Option

The fact that a Blue Dog has supported a public option in the past does not mean that they will support one now -- their principles tend to be lobbyist-flexible. But Nate Silver's number crunching indicates that most of those who have done so in the past probably have majority support for a public option in their districts, so come 2010, they will have some explaining to do about why they flip-flopped. That's particularly true for those in California like Thompson and Schiff, who have significant Democratic majorities in their districts.
The list was primarily culled from the 20 Blue Dogs who signed on to the HCAN statement of principles, which endorses "a public insurance plan without a private insurer middleman that guarantees affordable coverage." It also advocated "using the public’s purchasing power to instill greater reliance on evidence-based protocols and lower drug and device prices" -- the very opposite of co-ops.
I also included those who signed the July 22 letter to Steny Hoyer stressing the importance of having a strong public option, one that is tied to "an established provider network, like Medicare" (PDF). I added those who voted for H.R. 3200 already as a member of one of the three committees that drafted it, and those who have made statements of support in the media for a public option.
The following is a list of Blue Dogs who have expressed support for a public option (with Nate Silver's estimate of district support/opposition in parenthesis, for which actual polling data by DailyKos/Research 2000 has been substituted where applicable): LinkHere

Greenspan Dumps Ayn Rand
Backs Obama's Wall Street Reform Effort

A keystone of Obama's Wall Street reform agenda is getting support from the unlikeliest of corners. Alan Greenspan, an acolyte of Ayn Rand and extreme free-marketeer, is backing one of the most far-reaching elements of the financial overhaul: the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
Greenspan told the Washington Post that pushing for the CFPA was "probably the right decision." Given the former Fed chairman's penchant for obliquity, the straight-forward endorsement takes on greater weight.
Wall Street and community bankers argue that the proposed agency will restrict financial innovation and otherwise inhibit economic growth. Those are the types of arguments that Greenspan was prone to make during his tenure as chairman, but the financial crisis has persuaded Greenspan that the "intellectual edifice" buttressing radical free-market ideology has, in his words, "collapsed."LinkHere

Leading Dem Plans To Blow Up Deal With Big Pharma

A Senate Democratic leader is hoping to blow up the deal reached between the White House, drug makers and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), by introducing an amendment on the floor to allow prescription drugs to be re-imported from Canada.
It's one of the simplest ways to reduce health care costs but was ruled out by the agreement, which limits Big Pharma's contribution to health care reform to $80 billion over ten years.
North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, a member of Democratic leadership, isn't a party to that bargain. "Senator Dorgan intends to offer an amendment to the health reform bill and his expectation is that it will be one of the first amendments considered," his spokesman Justin Kitsch told HuffPost in an e-mail. "Prescription drug importation is an immediate way to put downward pressure on health care costs. It has bipartisan support, and has been endorsed by groups such as the National Federation of Independent Businesses and AARP."
U.S. patients pay far more than the rest of the world for prescription drugs. The Canadian government keeps prices down by using its purchasing power to negotiate for lower rates. Dorgan wants American consumers in on the deal.
A bill to allow re-importation -- S. 1232 - has 30 cosponsors, several Republicans among them, including Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, John Thune (S.D.) and David Vitter (La.).
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would result in $50 billion in direct savings over the next decade, with $10.6 billion of that being savings to the federal government. LinkHere