Personally, I think, that there will be no real health care reform without a public option. If the government is going to subsidize a mandated insurance, then the government will become the 'miliking cow' for the private health insurance companies instead of people, whom they already had 'milked' everything out of with their predatory policy. Also, I think, a public option must be good for small businesses who cannot afford to give health benefits to their workers. A 2-5% surtax for eg a family earning $500,000 per year or $250,000 for a single person is not too much either. Why Americans are so obsessed with taxes, I never understood. I think it is more than reasonable that rights as health care and education is for the common good for everybody and for America's future. Congress should get their act together and the Democrats should for once listen to President, special in this matter.