Black Caucus warns Obama on next Wednesday's speech

The Congressional Black Caucus -- alarmed by reports that President Obama may plan to ditch the public option and reduce the scale of health care reform -- is pre-emptively warning the president to express his "unwavering support" for the progressive provisions in his speech next week.

In a letter to Obama, CBC Chairwoman Rep. Barbara Lee writes:

"[W]e are deeply concerned about the current discussions surrounding health care reform and the possibility that current components of the bill – such as a robust public option and myriad health disparity elimination provisions – may be stricken in order to lower its cost to about $500 billion."

Lee & Co. suggest that the 42-member member caucus won't back the plan if Obama goes squishy on the public option, a commitment to fund universal coverage, a commitment to equalize racial and income disparities in care delivery, coverage for U.S. territories and preventive care.