"It’s a common problem. Roughly 47 percent of small businesses in California say they cannot provide coverage for their workers, according to a poll last year by the Small Business Majority, a Sausalito business group pushing for health care reform. Among the businesses that do provide insurance, 70 percent say they are currently struggling to make the payments. Among self-employed entrepreneurs, 28 percent nationwide cannot afford insurance, the group found.

“Small companies like ours have to decide whether to lay people off to keep up with our insurance coverage or to have more people out there without insurance, which we taxpayers end up paying for,” said Liz Parker, co-owner of Tulsa Rib Co., a barbecue restaurant in Orange. “The arrogance of raising premiums like this is just unconscionable.”

In the past several years, Parker’s insurance payouts covering 42 employees and dependents have jumped from $55,000 a year to $98,000, rising at a clip of between 15 and 66 percent per year. Her agent just warned her that her insurer, HealthNet, plans to boost rates by another 40 percent to 60 percent this year.

“And that’s for really horrible coverage,” she said, noting that even with full coverage, one of her employees had to pay $300 out-of-pocket for an appendectomy. “The market’s allowing insurers to charge whatever they want.”

From here.

In the meantime, "In a sober call to arms, Pelosi said lawmakers sometimes must enact policies that, even if unpopular at the moment, will help the public. "We’re not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress," she said. "We’re here to do the job for the American people."

Which leads me to believe she will try to round up the votes to pass the Senate’s house of horrors without anything more than assurances from ObamaRahma and Reid that the Senate will take up something the House thinks will make the Senate bill more amenable.

And while ObamaRahma is calling for a ‘simple up or down vote", it is noticeable that the ObamaRahma Admin is saying nothing about reconciliation bringing anything to the ‘table’ except the Senate bill.

"It’s unclear whether Pelosi’s remarks will embolden or chill dozens of moderate House Democrats who face withering criticisms of the health care proposal in visits with constituents and in national polls." which would lead one to think that the ‘progressives’ have already signaled to her their willingness to roll over and beg for a bone.

Which,IMO, is what the blue dogs should be subjected to, rolling over and begging for a bone.

There is but ONE rationale for why a robust public option is NOT being considered or put forth and that is the backroom deals the ObaamRahma Admin has made.

There is NO ECONOMIC OR MEDICAL reasons why -at the very MINIMUM- a robust public option is ‘not on the table’.

So AFAIC, those who are still supporting Obama’s ‘plan’ are doing nothing but perpetuating the corruption that is undermining this nation, despite Pelosi’s ""We’re not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress," she said. "We’re here to do the job for the American people.".

Uh, Speaker Pelosi, what do you need to hear from the ‘American people’ besides they think the Senate bill is a piece of shit and that a robust public option is what the American people want?

And BTW, I’m a single payer advocate.