Hence the reason I was hesitant to celebrate after word came yesterday that the White House was considering dropping the public option. Nancy Pelosi is a San Francisco liberal in pursuit of ever-expanding power. Regardless of whether the White House wants the public option in the end is irrelevant. She wants it.

“As the President stated in March, ‘The thinking on the public option has been that it gives consumers more choices and it helps keep the private sector honest, because there’s some competition out there.’

“We agree with the President that a public option will keep insurance companies honest and increase competition.

“There is strong support in the House for a public option. In the House, all three of our bills contain a public option as does the bill from the Senate HELP Committee.

“A public option is the best option to lower costs, improve the quality of health care, ensure choice and expand coverage.

“The public option brings real reform to lower costs over the 10 year period of the bill.”

The fact that it’s all a lie should be common sense by now. The public option will add significantly to the deficit, shove millions off of their private plans, bring about rationing of health care, and drive the private market out of business. Government bureaucrats will be put in charge of your family’s health care, deciding whether they receive care based on a formula of whether extending their lives is cost-effective.

Democrats have reached an extremely difficult gridlock: They can either appease the liberal base or the majority of the country — not both. Striking a compromise that leaves both sides content seems impossible at this point.

They can pass ObamaCare in all of its socialist glory and keep the nutroots and liberal base happy. But they’ll alienate those who oppose a government takeover of health care, which happens to make up the overwhelming majority of the country.

Or they can simply drop the socialized health care plan and keep the majority of Americans happy. But they’ll alienate the liberal base that knocks on doors, donates in large sums, and generally provide the grassroots/astroturf support.

Good luck with all of that, Nancy. Meanwhile, I’ll be stocking up on popcorn.