Senator Snowe: She May Be on the Other Team, But She Called All the Plays

[Better Believe It]

-I think this pretty much sums up what actually happened. BBI-


She May Be on the Other Team, But She Called All the Plays
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
October 14, 2009

Sen. Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine, is fast becoming the Brett Favre of the political world: She has trouble making up her mind, but she sure knows how to play ball.

Congress's answer to Favre is Snowe, the wiry New Englander who, for the past several months, has been unable -- or unwilling -- to take a position on health-care legislation. The longer she held out, the more concessions Democrats made to win her over, to the point where she became, arguably, the single most influential member of Congress drafting the legislation, even though she is a member of the minority party.

Democrats negotiated with her for months; President Obama wooed her personally. Olympia wants amendments? She gets amendments. Olympia needs more time? The Senate Finance Committee delays its vote. Olympia opposes government-run insurance? Voilà -- the public option is gone.

The coy routine was working so well for Snowe that, as she walked into the Hart Building on Tuesday morning for the committee vote on the legislation, she claimed she still hadn't made a decision.

Finally, three hours later, the wavering lawmaker was ready to announce her position. Sort of. "Is this bill all that I would want? Is it all that it can be? No," said Snowe. "But when history calls, history calls." After this halfhearted announcement that she was, with "reservations," becoming the only Republican to vote with the Democrats, she added a warning: "My vote today is my vote today. It doesn't forecast what my vote will be tomorrow."

Give that woman a Lombardi Trophy.

Please read the complete article at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/13/AR2009101301771.html?hpid=topnews

[ProSense]

1. Yup, she came through: she was the 14th vote in a 14 to 9 vote on a bill

produced almost entirely without her support. She's a star.

[babylonsister]

2. BUT! Americans wanted to see some bipartisanship from what I've

read, and they got it.

I don't discount what she did.

[Better Believe It]

3. Please provide some links. Thank you.

What percentage of people preferred Democrats and President Obama working with and making concessions to Republicans on health care legislation rather than fight for a universal health care plan with a strong public option?

Thanks for your help.

[babylonsister]

9. Google is your friend, but try this from October 8...

http://realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com/2009/10/08/quinnipiac-voters-want-bipartisan-hc-reform/

Quinnipiac: Voters Want Bipartisan Reform

[Better Believe It]

11. You should actually read the links you post!

It's no wonder why you sometimes seem confused!

Do you really believe that Democrats won control of Congress and the White House because voters didn't want the Democratic Party to be a partisan political party and wanted Democrats to share power with Republicans?

Anywho ... guess you just missed these points in the article you linked.

"More than half of American voters (57%) say Congress should not pass health care reform without some Republican support, and nearly half (47%) disapprove of President Obama's overhaul plan. However, by a 61%-34% margin, voters approve of including a public insurance option to compete with private insurance companies --something Republicans have said they will not vote for.

The public also supports requiring businesses to help pay for employee health insurance (73%-23%) and the requirement that people have health insurance (50%-45%).

Republicans in Congress are taking some heat now, as 64% disapprove of the way they're handling their job, including 42% of Republican voters. Just 29% say Republicans are acting in good faith (46% say the same of Democrats), rather than for political reasons, while voters trust Obama over Republicans on the issue of health care by a 47%-31% margin.

Obama currently has a 50% job approval rating, with 41% disapproving. He has a 51.9% RCP Average approval rating.

"They trust Obama more than congressional Republicans on health care," said Brown. "Yet there is no groundswell of support of his health care plan itself."

[timeforpeace]

10. Well done, turnabout and all that. LOL!

[ProSense]

4. Oh, I don't discount what she did, but as she said, history called.

Snowe knew what shew was doing. Milbank is trying to twist it.

[Better Believe It]

5. Poster # 1 and # 4 are on ignore.

So I assume they had nothing to contribute regarding the article. Probably just the usual trash talk.

[jefferson_dem]

7. You assume wrong.

You should remove the blinders.

Then again, I'm probably on ignore too so you're not reading this either.

[kid a]

8. ignore? ha!

[Thrill]

6. Obama just wanted a bill out of this damn committee.

They've been holding everything up since July

[Vinca]

12. I don't see how she could have voted any differently considering

big insurance is suing the State of Maine because they aren't being allowed to jack up their rates more than 18%.

[robo50]

13. Both Snowe and Collins need to play both sides toward the middle

in Maine. There's a lot of uninsured, and people in jeopardy of losing their insurance these days.

They are playing to their electorate, and really just giving Obama a tip of the hat, they really are both more of a problem for Dems in Congress than a solution. They offer nothing but problems of compromise and watering down health reform.