Snowe, Collins Will Not Back Public Option

[babylonsister]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/09/13/snowe_collins_will_not_back_public_option.html

Snowe, Collins Will Not Back Public Option


More proof that the "public option" is all but dead comes from the two senators Democrats hoped might side with them in supporting the measure in a health care reform bill.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) said President Obama "should take it off the table" since it would "give real momentum to building consensus," reports The Hill.

Meanwhile, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said she would not even support a "trigger" option in any legislation, meaning a provision to delay a public option and allow health insurance companies to lower costs on their own, according to the Washington Post.

Said Collins: "The problem with the trigger is it just delays the public option."

Without Snowe or Collins on board, Senate Democrats would be forced to pass any bill with a public option using budget reconciliation rules -- a path they've indicated they would prefer not to use.

[emulatorloo]

1. Out of the way then, ladies. . .DEMS GO IT ALONE! n/t

[movonne]

32. I wonder how their constituents feel about this...arn't they from basically

blue areas???

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Reconciliation takes 50 Democrats in the Senate.

Time for the Progressives to hold firm and for the Goddam Blue Dogs to show us which party they belong to.

[DFW]

14. Amen to that!

If Republicans want to solidify their rep as the Party of NO, let them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If they want to do the Democrats a favor, even if those weak-kneed Democrats among our
Congresspeople will only accept such a gift while being dragged kicking and screaming,
then let them do us the favor. I have had it up to HERE with the lack of interest in
using the reconciliation rules. The Republican right ran roughshod over us for six years
with a smaller majority than the one we now enjoy, and with legislation that was not
exactly in the country's best interest. Here we have legislation that IS in the country's
best interest, and our reps are reluctant to pass it?

And it's 1-2-3 what are they snoozing for?

Note to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid: passively letting someone kick you in the face is
NOT "civility," and it does not constitute "compromise." (Just in case that wasn't clear, or something)

[SoCalDem]

3. Who made Olympia Snowe & Susan Collins "the bosses of us"?

"Bi-partisan" should mean at least 20% support from "the other side". This crappola of getting ONE lonely soul to cross the line, is ridiculous, and just plain stupid.

Every one of those 160+ "republican amendments" we accepted, should be stripped out of the eventual bill, and just vote on the damned thing.

It's like hosting a big barbeque, and one guest is a vegan. Changing the whole menu for their approval, and then they call and cancel an hour before the gathering.

[bluethruandthru]

5. +10

Great analogy!

[mmonk]

9. They aren't the bosses, they are the excuse.

[Joe the Liberal]

10. Agreed 100%. n/t

[KittyWampus]

28. what a great analogy. It deserves it's own thread if you get a chance!

[abumbyanyothername]

45. As a vegan . . .

I will tell you that I always take responsibility for feeding myself. And I am a pretty easy going dinner guest also. Since I am not distracted by eating, I am pretty good at keeping the conversation going.

As I explained to my table mates at last night's wedding, "I just stopped eating out. It's too complicated. I can handle this myself."

FWIW -- no meat, no dairy, no spices, no grains, no mushrooms in my diet. Just fresh fruit and vegetables. And raw nuts and seed.

[JerseygirlCT]

4. I think all these opposed to a strong public option ought to be

offered a choice:

public option (with teeth) or extremely stringent regulations - starting immediately - on the insurance industry.

One way or another that tiger must be tamed.

[Vinca]

7. That's exactly right. If the public option is off the table,

big insurance gets regulated like a public utility.

[JerseygirlCT]

16. Yup. And don't let them wiggle into other, weaker

options.

The WH ought to be quite firm about this, because otherwise, any "reform" is at best tinkering around the edges. More likely, it results in a huge giveaway to the very insurance companies at the heart of this problem.

[mvd]

15. +1

:hi:

[DJ13]

6. They're both being stupid

Todays reactionary GOP hardly wants anything to do with them, and by going against the majority the Democrats wont want anything to do with them either.

I would have thought that with them being the sole survivors left in the north east from the GOP they might get a clue that typical GOP stands on policies wont do them much good.

It seems they're both to partisan to see it.

[aquart]

19. I assume Maine is proud of them for it?

Is there a list of how many Mainers don't have insurance, how many have died WITH insurance because the companies screw them over?

[grantcart]

8. What this means is that the Whitehouse has rejected a trigger

and taken a very firm support of the Public Option.

[HughMoran]

12. Explain...

?

[grantcart]

20. For Snowe to turn away from her own idea at this point can only

mean that the Whitehouse made it clear that they were not going to add a trigger for one Senator.


My guess is that they said that they would agree to the trigger if she could get 6-7 Republicans to vote for the bill?

Why because next year's congressional elections are going to be about the Democrats passing this bill and making the government 'socialist'. The reason that the President has been interested in adding Republicans is that Democrats could then respond to the stupid attacks that are coming that a number of Republicans voted for it too. But getting only one Senator for a trigger isn't worth it. It may be that the administration put in a number that was so high that they knew she couldn't deliver.


Anyway its all speculative. I also saw Baucus last week and he looked dejected and basically admitted that none of the gang of 6 were going to vote for his bill.

So I wonder if the Whitehouse showed flexibility in order to create atleast the possibility of horse trading but was in fact firm about the Public Option all along?


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8651648&mesg_id=8651648

[HughMoran]

25. Thanks

I found your O/P on my own. :) I hope that the intransigence of the Republicans and taunting by Wilson & freeper-marchers has perhaps given Obama & co a clear "us versus them" approach on this. He turned the other cheek and the Republicans proceeded to slap it. That's enough to piss anybody off.

[Parker CA]

26. Interesting analysis, Grant. I think your last sentence nails it.

It's interesting that in the last few days Obama has been making more statements about his willingness to own this bill and to be judged by the merits of what is eventually included. This doesn't sound like the talk of a man willing to sacrifice what he feels is best for the desires of one or two on the opposing side of the aisle.

I think he's prepared to take this one to the mat and pass the bill with reconciliation to guarantee that he gets what he wants. Defeat and compromise don't seem to be options at this stage.

[aquart]

21. Oh, I so want that to be true.

[HughMoran]

11. Well, so much for these Republican trolls.

We don't NEED any motherfucking insurance loving right-wing trolls anyway. Fuck 'em - let's take ALL the credit.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. They may be seeing the handwriting on the wall. n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. They don't have to support it

They just have to not filibuster it.

[Hepburn]

18. Go it alone....

...end of discussion!

:hi:

[seabeyond]

22. we keep calling them moderates. acting like a chance they will switch sides. they NEVER

do. they always vote repug, or for long enough for us to know better.

[Parker CA]

23. Good. We'll do it with reconciliation and none of those asshats will be able to claim a shred of

responsibility for helping pass HC for the first time. They're on the wrong side of the debate now, and they will be proven to have been obstructionist, on the wrong side of history when people look back.

GOP, still the party of NO.

[Davis_X_Machina]

24. Snowe will provide the 60th vote for cloture...

...and then vote against the conference report. Collins votes no on both.

The cloture vote is what matters.

[AlinPA]

30. I don't see 59 for cloture: Ben Nelson, Bayh, Landreiu, Pryor, Lincoln voting for

cloture?

[Davis_X_Machina]

39. Yep. Party line plus Snowe for cloture.

Voting against the caucus on cloture is as good as pulling a Specter/Jeffords.

The Dems in that list will vote against the bill, because that's the vote the newspapers will make the most noise about. The vote on the bill proper is all you need to look voters in the face and say "I was agin' it." The median voter thinks 'cloture' is expensive women's clothing from France.

[AlinPA]

41. Great. I do hope you are right. (I love your "cloture=expensive women's clothing from France"!)

I love this place. People are so creative.

[Donnachaidh]

27. Makes sense -- they've kept the people of Maine poor and ill-used for YEARS

And that's good policy for the wealthy elite that hire the locals to clean their toilets in their summer homes.

These two should be BOOTED out of office -- immediately!

[Aramchek]

29. we don't need them. have fun being on the losing side of History, ladies

[endless october]

31. screw them.

republicans lost. they don't have the right to sabotage health care.

move on without them.

and to hell with a "trigger." no public option, no bill.

[Nikki Stone1]

33. Oh boy....

:(

[RelativelyJones]

34. Why does Maine have such allegiance to these two stupid people.

[Davis_X_Machina]

40. Because they appear to not be...

...politicians, more specifically they're not-Joe Brennan. Collins has made herself into the-opposite-of-a-politician particularly well, considering her only jobs have been in the field.

This state hates politicians. Two of our last six governors have been independents. Perot finished second here, the only state where he did so, in 1992. The crucial thing is to cultivate the impression that you're only doing this as a chore, to help the neighbors, like serving on the library board. Margaret Chase Smith had the noblesse oblige down pat. Mitchell and Cohen worked hard to come across as bloodless public servants.

[graywarrior]

35. She got infected sitting with the rest of them at Obama's speech.

Or she got a good talkin' to.

[debbierlus]

36. The public option as outlined by Obama isn't a public option

5% enrollment with no subsidies does not a public option make...

Let's fight for real reform and push for the Weiner Amendment to HR3200 - Medicare for ALL.

[MarianJack]

37. I could've told you this a couple of weeks ago,...

...in fact, I did!

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/MarianJack/143

PEACE!

[spanone]

38. fuckem...go after the democrats, ...squeeze their nuts

[AlinPA]

42. Damn right. nt

[marmar]

43. "Moderate" Corporate Shills........

:argh:

[Cleita]

44. Yes, it seems all the back bending and somersaulting to get their votes

were for nothing, just as I said before. Demand single payer and be done with it. As long as the corporate whores have a say in this legislation, there will be no meaningful health reform. It seems that I'm not the only person saying this. Apparently the intent all along was to rearrange the furniture to make it appear like they were hard at work. None of our influential and in charge DLCers had any intention of doing anything that would ruin insurance company profits and no doubt their campaign contribution nest eggs. They knew all along Snowe and Collins wouldn't budge. It was all a distraction to keep watering down true reform.

[Frank Booth]

46. Good. Dare them to filibuster.

Reconciliation's probably not even necessary.

[mzmolly]

47. Well then, screw that trigger sh

it. Public option NOW!