Posted on 09/26/2009 8:06:26 AM PDT by presidio9
Quiz time: Which of the following provisions has been tucked into the most closely watched health-care bill on Capitol Hill thanks to Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine? Is it a) an annual checkup for every Medicare beneficiary, b) a special health-insurance marketplace in every state that would cater to the needs of small businesses or c) new tax credits to help modest-size firms buy coverage for their workers?
The answer is all of the above. As the only Republican on the Finance Committee still in talks with Democrats on a final bill, Snowe now finds herself with extraordinary leverage as crunch time hits for health reform. Snowe could provide the 60th vote that may be needed for Democrats to overcome a GOP filibuster on the Senate floor. All of which means that pretty much anything Snowe wants, she is going to get and any bill that emerges from this excruciating process will bear her stamp. (See the top 10 players in health-care reform.)
So what does she want to see achieved under health-care reform? In a word: affordability. With her tailored suits and her refined manner, Snowe gives off a sort of wellborn Northeast Establishment vibe. But her background is solidly working class. She was orphaned at 9 when her father, a Greek immigrant and cook, died of a heart attack a year after her mother succumbed to cancer. What drives her as much as anything else is the perspective that comes from representing a small, relatively poor state where the principal effect of well-intentioned, piecemeal efforts at health reform has been to ignite an explosion in medical costs. Maine, whose insurance market is dominated by one large firm, pays some of the highest premiums in the country, and they are rising nearly four times as fast as wages
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Just shuddering at the title.
That headline put a bad image in my brain...pardon me while I take it out for a scrubbing.
Olympia Snowe = useful idiot
Harry Reid is a braver man than I.
Obama called Snowe in to the Whitey House for a private meeting months ago. I swear she has the “hots” for Obama. Obama did the same thing with Collins, but apparently, Collins came out from underneath the ether.
Most barf-tastic headline ever.
She who must be seduced will be short of her caboose.
Why would the vote of just one Republican signify ‘bi-partisanship’ accord.
Seems to me it would highlight the opposite view
She is a traitor and a constant recipient in their pay to play thuggery. I despise her. Vote her ugly as* out! Words cannot express how much I detest this woman.
The article’s title has set my mind’s eye to raging. Now I have to go outside and find a stick and poke it out.
Seriously, I call BS on all of this. When (hopefully never) the Senate and House negotiators meet to hammer out the differences between the two bills, all this “feel good” stuff will be ripped out and trashed. And a bunch of really, really bad stuff will be added.
How can you find out how much money a legislator or candidate gets from the RNC? I’m not about to contribute as long as someone like Olympia Snowe might get a single penny of mine.
Sex among those who read this title, down 75%.
That in itself is heath reform.
The Rats can pass this without Yellow Snowe. What stopping them? ... they don’t have the votes.
RINO ain't just a river in Egypt.
When the going gets tough, the Rats can count on the GOP to administer the final stab in the back to the People.
Just a little throw-up in my mouth. I’ll be ok in a minute.
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