I’ll be in route this morning and here and there so just a quick post. If the health care bill comes out without a pubic option, will progressive members of Congress vote "no"? Interesting question:

In the House, liberal lawmakers have adopted a strategy of countering almost every statement against a public option with a threat to vote en masse against any final bill that excludes it.

When one moderate Democrat suggested in a closed-door meeting that the public plan could function merely as a fallback option, Rep. Jerrold Nadler warned that if that were the case, a large bloc of House liberals would vote no.

"We are making clear to the leadership that we insist on a robust public option and our votes won’t be there if there isn’t a public option," said Mr. Nadler (D., N.Y.), a senior member of the House Progressive Caucus.

Whether they would actually vote no is unclear. Some working to pass the measure find the threat unpersuasive. The Progressive Caucus has 82 members, enough to defeat a health bill, since virtually all 178 House Republicans are likely to vote no.

   Let’s see if the spine is there.