So Much for Bipartisan Health Care Reform

Fed up with Republicans' tactics to defeat President Obama's reform plan, Democrats are now thinking about pushing through legislation without GOP support.

“The Republican leadership has made a strategic decision that defeating President Obama's health care proposal is more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that Americans face every day,” White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told the New York Times.

CNN quoted a top White House adviser as saying: "If we have to push it through this way, no one is going to remember how messy it was … "At the end of the day, they'll remember we got health care reform. A win is a win."

The shift in strategy comes a day after the No. 2 Senate Republican John Kyl of Arizona said his party won't support insurance cooperatives - an alternative to the controversial government-run health plan President Obama supports. The public option is at the center of debate this week after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that the White House would drop the public option to get reform passed in Congress. The White House waffled on the statement over the past two days but confirmed that Obama is willing to negotiate to get his reform passed.

The insurance industry dislikes both ideas but is adamantly opposed to a government-run health program to compete with private insurers. Sebelius' comments on Sunday sent insurance stocks up Monday.

Obama is trying to placate both the right and left in his own party. His dilemma is that he can't do both. Liberal Democrats in the House are saying they won't pass health care reform without a public option. Some moderate and conservative Democrats have misgivings about the plan.