Thursday, October 15, 2009

All Hail President Snowe


NY Times: (via Ezra Klein)
Mr. Reid will gather the group in his office on the second floor of the Capitol on Wednesday for its first official meeting. The group includes Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and the Finance Committee chairman; Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, who was acting chairman of the HELP committee when it passed its health care bill; and representatives of the White House.
Great! That's everyone, both committee chairs and the white house.

Actually scratch that last part. Let's invite a completely irrelevant Republican who doesn't believe in real health care reform for no fucking reason whatsoever!

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Mr. Reid, said that Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, the lone Republican on the Finance Committee to vote in favor of the bill, would be invited to future sessions. And Mr. Manley said the Democratic leader was prepared to go to substantial lengths to keep Ms. Snowe’s support.

“He is prepared to do what he can to keep her on board while putting together a bill that can get the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Republican filibuster,” Mr. Manley said.

A Bill that can get 60 votes to overcome a Republican filibuster? Gee, for that to happen you’d need to ELECT 60 DEMOCRATS TO THE SENATE.

Rather than bringing her in as a completely meaningless 61st vote, maybe she’s there to support what the vast majority of Maine’s residents want:
Earlier in the day, Snowe tackled the most divisive issue still on the table: creation of a government insurance plan that would compete with private ones.

While emphasizing that she still opposes the so-called public option, Snowe said on CBS TV that she could foresee a government-run plan that would "kick in" if private insurers failed to live up to expectations that they keep premiums in check.

"I think the government would have a disproportionate advantage" in the event of a government-run option, Snowe acknowledged. At the same time, she added, "I want to make sure the insurance industry performs, and that's why we eliminate many egregious practices.”

So she's there to support triggers that designed to kill the public option. Fantastic.

It's good to know that both she and Rahm Emanuel will use these meetings to promote an idea that FUCKING NOBODY WANTS.

There absolutely NO REASON we should be catering to the whims of Olympia Snowe on any piece of legislation. If she supports the bill, that's great. If she opposes a good bill and proceeds to lose in 2012, that's even better.

We don't need her vote, we don't need her to give cover for the White House's crappy ideas and we sure as hell don't need to give her cover on a vote that helps her stay in the senate.

If we get a good bill, people will say Obama passed good health care reform and he will benefit politically. If we get a crappy bill that forces people to buy shitty insurance, people will blame Obama and he will take the hit politically. One of those options will occur no matter what Olympia Snowe does or how much David Broader bows at your feet.

Passing health care reform is hard enough as it is, and you don't get bonus points by gaining the approval of irrelevant Republican senators. If for no other reason than for the sake of my own sanity, can we please make this bullshit stop?

1 comment:

  1. i think people were just praising her for being not only republican and a woman but also being slightly open minded. it is a rarity to find two let alone all three of these qualities in the republican party... together...and in one person no less.

    maybe obama should give her his nobel.

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