Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee voted down two public option bills, with multiple Democrats defecting. Sen. Baucus used the votes as evidence that a public option couldn't get the votes to pass in the Senate. This infuriates me because it is both cowardly and short-sighted, if not a massive misread of the political tea leaves.

The public option is popular, which in-and-of-itself should give reluctant Senators cover to vote for the best plan on the table. But, more importantly, the people who oppose the public option do so largely out of ill-informed fears. The public option will not do any of the things that most objectors think it will do. It won't create a single-payer system. It won't give the government control over individuals' health choices. It won't create "death panels." It won't replace anything someone likes better. It will only give them a choice.

Because the opposition is based almost entirely on fear and misinformation, passing the public option is a huge win for Democrats. Once people experience the actuality of the public option, their fear and misinformation will be swept aside by reality. People who have had poor employee-based health care who get a better choice because of the public option will reward the Democrats at the ballot box. People who have good coverage they keep won't punish them.

If the Democrats continue with their cowardly ways, however, they will be punished. Americans aren't going to be happy with mandatory insurance policies when their only options are the same over-priced ones we have today. The proposed health care bill does little to control costs. It may increase costs because it disallows insurers to cherry-pick who they insure. Insuring actual sick people costs more than insuring potentially sick people. Somebody has to pay for that increase. Without a public option to keep them honest, that increase will be born by consumers, not insurance company profits.

A healthcare bill without a strong public option is poor public policy and even poorer politics.