A Democratic congressman who resisted “Clintoncare” back in the 90’s but supports “Obamacare,” Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper feels he has seen this movie before: streams of lobbyists hitting the halls of Congress to try to influence democratic plans for health care reform.

Cooper puts it this way: "It is sort of a Super Bowl of lobbying for health care reform. The lobbyists are winning so far. But the game's not over yet."

The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that the health care sector has spent more than a quarter billion dollars on lobbying this one issue… so far this year.

Many of the lobbyists are former members of Congress or former staffers. They’re the Terrell Owens and Tom Brady of lobbying. And they’ve hit the field big time.

Lawmakers are hard at work trying to keep the ball rolling on health care reform. The next big hurdle is the so-called public option – a government-run insurer to compete with private plans.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/15/weiner.anthony.2.art.jpg caption="Rep. Weiner told New York magazine that the Baucus Bill is "effectively dead.""]

There are five proposals on the table right now in both houses of Congress. The one passed on Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee is the only plan that does not include a public option.

New York Rep. Anthony Weiner is pushing hard for the public option. He spoke to John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Thursday. Below is an edited transcript of that interview.

John Roberts: There are big protests from liberal Democrats and unions over the bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee the other day – the so-called Baucus Bill. Why is it unacceptable to you?

Anthony Weiner: Well, because it fails on a fundamental level, and that is to provide competition and choice for consumers who are looking for health insurance. Look, it's a relatively easy thing to do to provide people subsidies to go buy insurance, but if the insurance companies do what they traditionally have done and what they promise to do in the future, which is keep raising rates, you need to have the public option not only to save money in the bill but to provide true competition.

Roberts: In an interview with New York magazine earlier this week, you said the Baucus Bill is “effectively dead.” What is the basis for that claim?

Weiner: It simply doesn't have the votes to pass in the House of Representatives. I'm not even sure it has the votes to pass in the Senate. I estimate that they might lose as many as 100 votes if they leave out a public option. I recently launched a Web site – countdowntohealthcare.com where I asked people to sign up to put pressure on some of my more moderate colleagues. 30,000 people, many of them from red states, have said that they want a public option. I think it's where the sentiment is going, but it's also where the votes are in the House and I think in the Senate.

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Health care reform has cleared a major hurdle in the Senate. Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee approved a broad ten-year $829 billion bill to remake the nation's health care system.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/14/snow.olympia.art.jpg caption="Sen. Olympia Snowe says the nation is facing a health care crisis if Congress does not act."]

The only Republican to vote in favor of the measure, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Wednesday. Below is an edited transcript of that interview.

Kiran Chetry: You’ve certainly become a household name during this entire health care debate. They're calling you the "it" senator on the Hill right now. Tell us what it's been like for you with so many people courting your vote and watching how you voted on this measure.

Olympia Snowe: You know, I didn't consciously set out to be the only Republican, interestingly enough. It all developed as part of the bipartisan group that Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Senator Baucus convened four months ago to build bipartisan support for a bill, and it turned out I was the one remaining along with the Democrats, but that doesn't mean to say that Republicans don't have some good ideas that should be incorporated in this legislation.

So I believe in solving problems, in trying to work through the legislative process to get it done. It's a monumental issue. It's very complex. It takes time. It should take time. That's what the American people expect. We've just got to give it the time and patience that it deserves to work through the legislative process to get this to be in the best place for the best policy possible on such an issue that affects every American.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - The health care reform debate reached a new milestone Tuesday as a key congressional committee passed an $829 billion plan projected to extend coverage to an additional 29 million Americans.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/10/13/senate.health.care/art.obama.cnn.jpg caption=""Now's not the time to pat ourselves on the back," President Obama says at the White House on Tuesday."]

he Senate Finance Committee's bill would subsidize insurance for poorer Americans, establish nonprofit health care cooperatives, and create health insurance exchanges to make it easier for small groups and individuals to purchase coverage.

Among other things, it would cap annual out-of-pocket expenses and prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

The plan is financed by a combination of reductions in spending for Medicare and other government programs, as well as higher taxes on expensive insurance policies and new fees on the health industry.

The committee passed its long-awaited plan Tuesday with a 14-9 vote. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, was the lone committee member to cross party lines, breaking with other Republicans to vote for the measure. All the committee's Democrats supported the bill.

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The Senate Finance Committee's health care reform bill got high marks from the Congressional Budget Office for keeping the deficit down, but now insurance companies say it will actually cost you and your family thousands of dollars more than you’re paying now.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/13/potter.wendell.art.jpg caption="Wendell Potter says the insurance industry has been disingenuous from the beginning of the health care reform debate."]

Wendell Potter worked for two different insurance companies in the past, and now he's working against them to help get reform passed. He says the claims from this new report from an insurance industry trade group are just not true.

Potter spoke to John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Tuesday. Below is an edited transcript of that interview.

John Roberts: On March 5th, at a White house conference on health care reform, Karen Ignani, who is the president and CEO of AHIP – American's Health Insurance Plans – stands up and addresses the president. She says, “We want to work with you. We want to work with the members of Congress on a bipartisan basis here. You have our commitment.”

So just six months ago, Wendell, there was American's Health Insurance Plans standing up, saying we want to work with you on health care reform. Just yesterday they came out with this study, this PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which is a scathing criticism of the so-called Baucus Bill in the Senate Finance Committee. What changed between then and now?

Wendell Potter: You know, what happened on that March day – that summit at the White House – was what made me decide to become a critic of the industry, because that was the beginning of their charm offensive, the part of the PR campaign that they want us to see, they want us to hear. And what we saw – what we're seeing now is the other side of that; their efforts behind the scenes and now more publicly to defeat reform. And it's all an effort to try to shape reform, if they can, or kill it if they can, but shape it for their benefit and at the benefit of Wall Street shareholders, more than Americans.

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