Weiner: Congress won't take Baucus bill seriously

Despite the positive CBO review of the Senate Finance Committee healthcare bill, a liberal congressman said on Thursday that lawmakers will not take the bill "seriously" because it does not have a public option.

"There's no public option, since there's no real cost containment in the Baucus bill," Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) told MSNBC. "So frankly that big problem goes un-addressed which is why the bill probably won't be taken very seriously from here on out."

Weiner is a strong proponent of a public health insurance option, arguing that it will bring down the costs for individuals who already have healthcare. The congressman has also promoted single-payer universal health insurance.

The CBO score, issued yesterday, stated that the plan would insure 29 million Americans and cost $829 billion while reducing the federal budget deficit by $81 billion over 10 years.

The score boosted the chances that the Baucus plan will pass the Finance panel and later be brought to the Senate floor for debate.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) praised the bill as progress yesterday while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) chose not to address the score directly, saying that the real bill would be written by Democrats behind closed doors.

Due to Republican opposition, Weiner predicted that Democrats "are going to have to pass this bill without a single Republican vote."