Weiner on Obama's health care plan: "This is a 51 Vote Senate Plan, Not 60 – That’s Great News”

Representative Anthony Weiner on Monday released a statement on the President's health care plan. In his statement, Weiner criticized certain elements of the plan, contending, among other things, that there was no public option in the plan. Nevertheless, despite these reservations, Weiner conceded that Obama, the self-proclaimed bipartisan President, had indeed crafted a plan that was undeniably "a 51 Vote Senate Plan and not a 60 vote plan." In other words, Obama's proposed bill is, in essence, a reconciliation bill:

"I am glad the President has put his finger on the scale at long last," Weiner said. "For months I have been saying that the American people need to hear directly from the President what he believes and wants from health care reform... To be clear, this bill is a 51 vote plan and not a 60 vote plan – that is great news. Democrats wasted a year bowing to the altar of Olympia Snowe, Joe Lieberman... and it got us nowhere.”