Judd Gregg: Senate Dems Can Do What They Want on Health Care

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell would cooperate to have an honest debate on health care plans, Reid might get the sixty votes he needs for a floor vote on "Washington Unplugged" Tuesday.

Gregg told moderator Bob Schieffer, just who will support Reid remains unseen but he is "absolutely sure" health care reform will be passed this year. "The president has put his entire presidency on the line on this issue and the Democratic Party which has a supermajority in both houses has the ability to do what it wants. "

Gregg argued that the so called public option, included in Reid's health care plan announced yesterday , "fundamentally undermines the quality of health care" Americans would receive and "chills innovation" -- using the example of "rationed" health insurance in England.

"People will inevitably lose their private insurance…it is very hard to compete with the government," he said.

The Republican senator praised his colleague Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) who proposed an alternative ammendment which allows individuals to opt out of their company's insurance plans and pick their own private insurer.

As a co-signer of the Wyden bill, Gregg said, "there are ways to do this in a bi-partisan manner but the public plan is not one of the ways to do it. That would be destructive."

Later in the program, Wyden argued that his "Healthy Americans Act" provides choice for consumers. "It is not going to be political security for members of the United States Senate to tether people to force them to stay with stuff they don't like."

Watch the full program above which also includes interviews with Bill Cosby and Jerry Seinfeld.

"Washington Unplugged" appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.