Let’s face it, there’s only one reason why it has taken this long to pass comprehensive health care reform: the Senate Finance Committee. The three related committees in the House passed their versions before the August recess, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee passed it when the chairman was still Senator Kennedy. Yet the Senate Finance Committee, under moderate Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), has yet to pass a bill. And it is highly likely that any bill that passes the Finance Committee will not contain the public option–a pivotal part of the other four bills. How is this so? (more…)