Deficit hawks against public option are “hypocrites”, “phonies”

Progressive caucus co-chair Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) on Saturday issued an ultimatum to opponents of a public option who invoke deficit concerns: get behind this program, or you’re hypocrites.

In an exclusive interview with Raw Story at Netroots Nation, a large conference for progressive activists and media, Grijalva lamented how “one of the most important mechanisms [to cut the deficit] was left out of the [health reform] bill.”

But he and more than 120 other members of Congress revived the idea in legislation introduced Thursday, which is projected to save billions of dollars. And they’re using that to challenge the GOP and conservative Democrats, who have claimed it’ll be too costly, to get behind it.

“You’re the deficit hawks,” Grijalva said, referring specifically to Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats, “and we’re giving you a tool to be able to deal with the deficit.”

The measure would offer consumers the choice of a public plan alongside private plans in the insurance exchanges set up by the sweeping health reform law enacted in March. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that it would reduce insurance costs and lower the federal deficit by $68 billion through 2020.

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