Sen. Bayh Says Use Anti-Trust Laws as Trigger to Public Option

In an an interview today on MSNBC Sen. Evan Bayh claimed to have "an open mind" about the public option and suggested that he might support something like a public option if triggered through anti-trust laws:

"If you have something called a 'natural monopoly,' well then the government steps in to regulate that, to make sure they don't gouge consumers. And if you have to use the anti-trust laws or other steps to make sure there's robust competition, that people get the choices and the lower costs they deserve, you use the law for that purpose."

The government, in Bayh's view, should only enter the market if reforms fail.

"I think we ought to try first aggressive market reforms to get that competition and lower prices the American people want. I think that's what the president was alluding to in his speech. If that does not work, well then there's an appropriate role for government to step in. But that should be, not the first choice, that should be only if the free market cannot be reformed sufficiently."

You can hear Sen. Bayh's own words below. (There's a brief interlude with Lawrence O'Donnell and Pat Buchanan before Sen Bayh appears.)

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