Landrieu would “tend not to” support public option

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) made it extra clear this morning that Democrats should not count on her vote for any health care reform proposal that includes a public option.

Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Landrieu explained she would prefer a health bill that lowered costs of care with the help of the private sphere.

“I think we can do it without a public option, and so I supported… the only bipartisan proposal … seven Democrats, seven Republicans, that focuses on bending that cost curve and providing insurance through the free marketplace with the right regulations and safeguards,” she said.

But the plan Landrieu described — a bipartisan initiative first pitched by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Robert Bennett (R-Utah) — has hardly garnered significant support in the Senate.

Landrieu also took the opportunity on Sunday to discuss the status of her state’s rebuilding efforts at the four-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. On Friday, the Louisiana senator wrote in an open letter to the president that was published in the Times-Picayune, “I ask for your leadership in helping to complete the unfinished business of our recovery.”

Landrieu dismissed King’s suggestion that her words demonstrated the president had been “remiss in helping,” noting that Obama planned to visit before the year’s end. But she did emphasize that the recovery effort was far from over.

“The biggest need is to make sure that this flood never — never happens again,” Landrieu said. “We must build, not just levees, but restore wetlands, dedicated stream of revenue, or south Louisiana and many of our coastal places around this country will not have any kind of economic future. That’s our biggest need.”