Health Policy Is Carved Out at Table for 6

[MannyGoldstein]

From the NY Times re: Senators Baucus, Snowe, Enzi, Grassley, Conrad, and Bingaman -

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/us/politics/28baucus.html?hp">Health Policy Is Carved Out at Table for 6

The fate of the health system overhaul largely rests on the shoulders of the six senators who since June 17 have gathered — often twice a day, and for many hours at a stretch — in a conference room with burnt sienna walls, in the offices of the Senate Finance Committee chairman, Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana.

President Obama and Congressional leaders agree that if a bipartisan deal can be forged on health care, it will emerge from this conference room, with a huge map of Montana on one wall and photos of Mike Mansfield, the Montanan who was the longest-serving Senate majority leader, on the other.

The battle over health care is all but paralyzed as everyone awaits the outcome of their talks.

But if the three Democrats and three Republicans can pull off a grand bargain, it will have to be more conservative than the measures proposed by the House or the left-leaning Senate health committee. And that could force Mr. Obama to choose between backing the bipartisan deal or rank-and-file Democrats who want a bill that more closely reflects their liberal ideals.

[OHdem10]

1. This should be called anything but a Grande Bargain.

The Sham of the Century better describes it.