Lincoln: Can't Support Health Care Gov't Option

RUSSELLVILLE -  U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln told a sometimes jeering crowd on Wednesday that she won't support a government-funded insurance option as part of an overhaul of the nation's health care system.

Lincoln faced occasional shouting as she spoke before more than 800 people packed into an Arkansas Tech University arena Wednesday. At one point, an audience member referred to advisers to President Barack Obama as "communists."

The gathering launched three days of town halls that Lincoln has scheduled around the state to address health care and other issues. Lincoln, a Democrat seeking a third term, faces criticism from Republicans who contend she's avoided public forums on Obama's health care push.

Lincoln said she won't support a government-funded insurance option. She said she may support a compromise proposal that would create nonprofit, member-owned health co-ops instead, along the lines of agricultural or electrical co-ops.

"I just don't think that the government can afford to have a fully funded government option," Lincoln said.

Lincoln tried to knock down claims by questioners that proposed health care reforms would cover illegal immigrants and abortions, and was jeered by several in the crowd when she defended her support of the federal stimulus package.

Lincoln opened her forum by trying to distance herself from Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress, with whom she says opponents are trying to tie her.

"I am not the president of the United States, I am not Speaker Pelosi and I am not Harry Reid," Lincoln said.

That did not sway some audience members, including a woman who asked Lincoln about the number of "czars" working for the Obama administration. Czar is a term frequently used by the media to describe an executive branch official given authority over a particular area, either by the president or by law.

"Why hasn't there been any challenge to these czars?" the woman asked.

Lincoln explained that the term is not an official title, but a description given to the job.

"They're communists," one audience member shouted.

Other lawmakers have faced unruly crowds during the recess as they face protesters criticizing Obama's health care push. Two of Lincoln's fellow Democrats in Arkansas, Reps. Mike Ross and Vic Snyder, were heckled repeatedly at a town hall in Little Rock by a crowd opposed to the health care package.

The senator was criticized by Republicans for saying last month that efforts to disrupt town hall meetings were "un-American." She later retracted the comment, saying she shouldn't have used that term.

Lincoln drew some cheers during her two-hour forum, and the senator said she didn't view the crowd as unruly.

"I don't think people were rough," Lincoln said. "I think they were passionate and I think that they were interested."

Lincoln has similar forums scheduled Thursda y in Pine Bluff and Friday in Jonesboro.

She has more than $3.2 million cash on hand for her re-election bid next year, but state Republicans say she's vulnerable, pointing to weak approval numbers in Arkansas. They also note that Obama lost the state by 20 points in the November election.

Six Republicans have announced bids for Lincoln's seat next year, and state Senate President Bob Johnson says he's considering challenging her in the Democratic primary.