Dissected here.

The Democrats are desperate. Without the "public option," their plan to eventually destroy the private insurance industry and replace it with a government monopoly isn't going to get off the ground.

Few people are still stupid enough to buy that "competition" line. The only "competition" the Democrats have in mind is a horse race where all the horses except theirs have had their tendons cut. The second link you posted even goes into some of the details on how they're going to murder the private insurance industry.

Oh, and have you noticed that the Obama administration isn't bothering to pretend any more that the mainstream media is anything other than a Democratic Party tool?