Obama Admin Trial Balloon on Public Option Off the Table Crashes & Burns with the LEFT … Now They State “Sebelius Misspoke”

Obama … caught between a Barack and a hard place.

Well that was quick. Obama no sooner released the trial balloon and the LEFT obviously responded in outrage causing The One to say that his high ranking Health and Human Services Secretary misspoke.

The Hindenberg-like trial balloon that was floated by Team Obama with regards to taking the public option off the table with regards to Obamacare has crashed and burned with the LEFT. On Sunday Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stated that the public government plan option “is not an essential part” of reform.

Now she is being thrown under the Obama bus as the Administration is saying that “she misspoke”. REALLY? The Health and Human Services Secretary misspoke? How is that possible? Is Kathleen Sebelius not in the loop when it comes to health care reform? Isn’t that her job? How does some one misspeak on a topic that is the most dominant topic of the day and when one specifically goes on TV to put forth Obama’s message.

An administration official said tonight that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius “misspoke” when she told CNN this morning that a government run health insurance option “is not an essential part” of reform. This official asked not to be identified in exchange for providing clarity about the intentions of the President. The official said that the White House did not intend to change its messaging and that Sebelius simply meant to echo the president, who has acknowledged that the public option is a tough sell in the Senate and is, at the same time, a must-pass for House Democrats, and is not, in the president’s view, the most important element of the reform package.

A second official, Linda Douglass, director of health reform communications for the administration, said that President Obama believed that a public option was the best way to reduce costs and promote competition among insurance companies, that he had not backed away from that belief, and that he still wanted to see a public option in the final bill.

Interestingly enough, there is a confused message coming from the Obama White House. SHOCKER!!! Even the President distanced himself from the public plan in Town Hall meetings. However, the hue & cry from the LEFT has caused the WH to rethink the obvious.

A third White House official, via e-mail, said that Sebelius didn’t misspeak. “The media misplayed it,” the third official said.

…

“The public option, whether we have it or we don’t have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it. One aspect of it,” Obama said.

This has been a refrain the White House has used for weeks, but not until Saturday did Mr. Obama voice it so explicitly.

Michelle Malkin had it correct, this was not a white flag, it was more game playing and a trial balloon from the White House.