Harkin said that a “vast majority” — as many as 55 of the Senate’s 60 Democrats — support a robust public option like that passed earlier in the year by the HELP Committee. He said it makes little sense for the caucus majority to bow to the handful of moderates who have come out against the plan.

“It will have a public option,” Harkin said, though he couldn’t say what form that option will take.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) has been pushing for the creation of state-based health cooperatives, fearing a public plan that pegs rates to those paid by Medicare. (North Dakota, Conrad says, has among the lowest Medicare rates in the country.)

In what might have been a message for Conrad (or indication that Conrad is warming to the public option?), Harkin pointed out that the rates in the HELP bill’s public plan are not hinged on Medicare rates.

Also, Harkin said that the threshold triggering an excise tax on high-cost insurance plans will be bumped up under the compromise proposal Senate leaders are weaving out of the Finance and HELP committee bills.

“I can tell you that will be increased,” he said.

Matthew Delong covers Congress for the Washington Independent, a Center for Independent Media site.

Today, the news reports indicate that Russian military forces crossed an internationally-recognized border into the sovereign territory of Georgia. Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory. What is most critical now is to avoid further confrontation between Russian and Georgian military forces. The consequences of Euro-Atlantic stability and security are grave. The government of Georgia has called for a cease fire and for a resumption of direct talks on South Ossetia with international mediators. The United States should immediately convene an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to call on Russia to reverse course. The U.S. should immediately work with the [European Union] and the [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] to put diplomatic pressure on Russia to reverse this perilous course that it has chosen. We should immediately call a meeting of the North Atlantic Council to assess Georgia’s security and review measures [the North Atlantic Treaty Organization] can take to contribute to stabilizing this very dangerous situation. Finally, the international community needs to establish a truly independent and neutral peace-keeping force in South Ossetia.

However, the U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting last night, so McCain’s a little behind the ball. This could also put him at odds with the Russian leadership, particularly former President Vladimir Putin. But with President George W. Bush out of the country in the Olympics, and Sen. Barack Obama headed to Hawaii for vacation, McCain sought to take advantage of a moment in which he has the spotlight somewhat to himself.