Snowe to Support Baucus Bill

[Winter_123]

The press and washington have created a little side drama here and then treating it as a democratic victory. It is not. The real story is that the dems dont have support in their own party and only one vote from the republicans on one undefined bill that is still at the committee level and not even out on the floor for a real vote yet. The other real story is that the bill does not include single payer and does not include a public option so far. If the goal was to technically say that a bill is bipartisan now because it includes one repub vote ..........errr....then fine, for whatever that gets you.

Philosophical question: Since there are many democratics on record as opposing the bill, will the Administration also be crowing about the fact that it has bi-partisan opposition? Okay, nevermind.

 

[HealthGuy]

Old Olympia is a windbag.

 

[TXINSURANCE]

Olympia should change parties already.

Nothing ticks me off more than senators from GI states (huge failure) laying the foundation for national change (and failure).

Don't be so sure this can not pass. Republicans are offering no viable alternative and are severely outnumbered.

 

[Winter_123]

Olympia should change parties already.

Not necessary anymore since there is no longer any connection between Republicans and Conservatives. She may be the future of the Republican Party such as it is or is not.

 

[TXINSURANCE]

Not necessary anymore since there is no longer any connection between Republicans and Conservatives. She may be the future of the Republican Party such as it is or is not.

Very true, that would be right up there with calling Bush a conservative.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

No public option. But that pesky exchange will be a real pain.

I assume 5% (maybe flat) will be our compensation?

 

[Ron Van D]

Olympia should change parties already.

Nothing ticks me off more than senators from GI states (huge failure) laying the foundation for national change (and failure).

Don't be so sure this can not pass. Republicans are offering no viable alternative and are severely outnumbered.

What about HR3400 which the Dems refuse to consider?

 

[Winter_123]

Old Olympia is a windbag.

Olympia is a true American and an example of everything that is right about this country.

She is the daughter of Greek immigrants. Orphaned by the time she was 8 or 9 and basically raised herself, working endlessly as a little waif washing dishes. Believe me, she came up the hard way.

Sure she is not a looker and didnt get where she is by being married to a President as with Hillary and this is not the first time in her life that she is proud to be American as with Michelle and all the other women that libs and society seem to be interested in. But she is a true success story nonetheless. The President of the United States of America has been calling the little waif quite a bit lately to stay on the good side of her. As it should be. It is important for the President to communicate with people who have actually worked at some point in their life and have never known a time when they did not love their country despite hardships.

My comments are biased for a number of reasons.

 

[TXINSURANCE]

What about HR3400 which the Dems refuse to consider?

This is a viable counter plan? For real?

Olympia is a true American and an example of everything that is right about this country.

She is the daughter of Greek immigrants. Orphaned by the time she was 8 or 9 and basically raised herself, working endlessly as a little waif washing dishes. Believe me, she came up the hard way.

Sure she is not a looker and didnt get where she is by being married to a President as with Hillary and this is not the first time in her life that she is proud to be American as with Michelle and all the other women that libs and society seem to be interested in. But she is a true success story nonetheless. The President of the United States of America has been calling the little waif quite a bit lately to stay on the good side of her. As it should be. It is important for the President to communicate with people who have actually worked at some point in their life and have never known a time when they did not love their country despite hardships.

My comments are biased for a number of reasons.

It's because you LOVE GI and can't wait for it on a national level - admit it! LOL. Alright enough playing around.

The proposed penalty for not carrying insurance is a JOKE starting at $250... I can't wait to cancel my plan and just buy this before my surgeries.

All Democrats on the panel voted for the bill, and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, was the only Republican to cross party lines to vote for it.

"Is this bill all that I want?" Snowe asked. "Far from it. But when history calls, history calls."

Are you joking? Sorry I respectfully understand your biased being she is your rep in ME (Winter) but to me this is not acceptable.

 

[Winter_123]

This is a viable counter plan? For real?

Are you joking? Sorry I respectfully understand your biased being she is your rep in ME (Winter) but to me this is not acceptable.

Whoa there Tiger! You have two issues mixed up. There was an assertion that Olympia is merely a windbag and I rose to defend her personal honor. She is a very high integrity American. This is entirely separate from the merits of some political view she may take. I entreat thee to refer back to my vituperous posts about her political actions in regard to supporting the spendulus bills.

However, in regard to her position on Baucus, I differ from many here in that I hold the position that GI has been a given for at least the last couple years and have not changed my view on that. GI is going to happen. Mandate..errrr...not really........bunch of carrots and sticks instead. The real action is therefore around fending off single payer and public option and the look alikes. It is a fact that Olympia voted for a bill that excluded, or at least did not include, those features and acted to moderate some movements on the committee.

Some here and elsewhere believe that you can fend off health reform, including GI, by just saying no to everything the dems propose. You can't. It only increases public support for the dems to ram something through based on the idea that republicans can't do anything other than say no. We need to keep that in mind because there is still a long way to go and the public option and single payer still need to be fended off.

I can see where the Libertarians might have a beef with Olympia for supporting GI but not the Republicans. The Republican Platform in the last election supported GI for gawd's sake. As stated for years, I believe that the dems are holding enough cards so that you have to horsetrade your way out of a complete government takeover which means you will have some horseshit on your boots if you are actually involved. Others here and elsewhere think that you can hold out, fight it, and kill it outright and put the genie back in the bottle completely. I don't.

You may recall all the lenghthy discussions a year or more ago about how GI would never happen, and health reform will never happen, and it will all blow over as with Hillarycare when everyone smartens up. Guess what. It is not going to go away and we would be lucky to end out with legislation that does not authorize single payer or public option. In other words, what Olympia voted for today. Once that legislation gets out on the floor it will grow like topsy and you will be looking back at today as the good old days.

Change you can believe in.