On the same day House Speaker Nancy Pelosi admitted she lacked the votes to pass the Senate’s health care bill, California Democrats decided it would be a good idea to revive a moribund measure that would merge the Golden State’s public and private health insurance systems into one state-run California Healthcare Agency, thereby creating their very own public option.

The bill – introduced by state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and almost identical to one that Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed last year -sets up a single-payer health insurance plan for which all Californians would be eligible. Those who couldn’t afford the premiums would be subsidized, including millions of illegal immigrants.