We are getting to the point if people aren’t going to respond to the patience and openness of Senator Baucus, we should begin to make a different plan," said Andrew Stern, president of the 2 million-member SEIU. ad_icon Stern said his organization issued a release chastising Feinstein last week, because she should “put her foot on the gas, not the brake” on health reform. “The gas pedal to go where?” Feinstein replied, explaining she has questions about how a broad expansion of health coverage will be paid for. “I do not think this is helpful. It doesn’t move me one whit,” she said. “They are spending a lot of money on something that is not productive.” Much of the sparring centers around whether to create a government-managed health insurance program that would compete with private insurers. Obama supports the concept, dubbed the “public option,” but he has been vague on details. Left-of-center activists want a powerful entity with the ability to set prices for doctors and hospitals.