From Kimberly Strassel’s WSJ interview of Senator Joe Lieberman , on how a public option became the centerpiece of liberal Democrats’ health care reform goals:

Mr. Lieberman . . . believes the public option is intended as a way for the government to take over health care.

“So where did this public option come from? . . . I started to ask some of my colleagues in the Democratic caucus, privately, and two of them said ‘some in our caucus, and some outside in interest groups, after the president won such a great victory and there were more Democrats in the Senate and the House, said this is the moment to go for single payer.’”

Mr. Lieberman notes that the public option serves no other purpose:

“It doesn’t help one poor person get insurance who doesn’t have it now. It doesn’t compel one insurance company to provide insurance to somebody who has an illness. And . . . it doesn’t do anything to reduce the cost of insurance.”