Snowe Voting Yes On Senate Finance Health Care Reform Bill

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) said Tuesday that she intends to vote for the Senate Finance Committee's health care reform package. She cautioned that her vote should be seen as a sign of her faith in the process going forward, not as support for the final package that will arrive on the Senate floor.

"Is this bill all that I would want? Far from it," said Snowe. "Is it all that it can be? No. But when history calls, history calls, and I happen to think that the consequences of inaction dictate the urgency of Congress to take every opportunity to demonstrate its capacity to solve the monumental issues of our time."

Snowe's statement came several hours before a scheduled committee vote.

"My vote today is my vote today. It doesn't forecast what my vote will be tomorrow," she said. It does keep her at the negotiating table and at the center of the debate; Snowe risked marginalizing herself if she voted no.

Snowe is well aware of the math. Her vote, she said, comes with knowledge that Democrats don't need Republicans to pass the landmark legislation.

"The majority has the votes. It has the votes in the House. It has the votes in the Senate. So it shouldn't be about the mathematics of vote-counting, but rather the mechanics of getting the best policy," she said.

Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) was thrilled at the news, complimenting Snowe for her "very thoughtful statement. It'll be well remembered and I thank you for it."

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), also a finance committee member, said that Snowe's vote bodes well for final passage. "It sets the stage," he said on MSNBC. "Susan Collins will likely come with her fellow Maine senator when this bill hits the floor."

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Snowe said she would continue to insist that no "arbitrary deadlines" be set for final passage.

Democrats hold a 13-10 advantage on the committee. Once the bill officially moves through the panel, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will huddle with Senate leaders to merge the proposal with a more generous version that the health committee passed earlier this year.

Reid hopes to maintain Snowe's support, which she threatened to withhold if she disagreed too strongly with Reid's merged bill. Reid will need 60 votes for a motion to proceed to consider that final version. Democrats have a caucus of 60 members, but Sen. Bob Byrd's (D-W.Va.) health makes him less than a guaranteed vote.

"It's nice to see this kind of courage in light of an increasing partisan environment where the Republican leadership is dead set against doing anything," said Jim Manley, senior communications adviser to Reid.

If the 60-vote threshold turns out to be too high, Democrats can use a parliamentary maneuver known as budget reconciliation to move the package through with a simple majority.

Even if Reid goes the reconciliation route, the package is stuffed full of GOP ideas -- a point Snowe conceded Tuesday in declaring her support. "The legislation before us also produces some landmark bipartisan reforms," she said.

Jeff Muskus and Sam Stein contributed reporting.

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Comments

[janeycat]

Wonder who dresses this chick .............. her and Hillery Clinton must shop at the same place ... HA

[kcobra21]

not for nothing but is snowe a man or woman

[Lionsden]

Still, readers here are unable to prove that Obama and the Democrats have the power and authority vis a vis the Constitution to seize control over health-care.

The General Welfare clause is a limited grant of power. It is not a means to an end. It IS the end. The means to congress are the enumerated powers outlined in Article One Section Eight. That is why James Madison said that if general welfare could mean anything any generation felt they should mean, then there was NO reason to LIST the enumerated powers. And all "necessary and proper" actions must refer back to the enumerated powers as well.

If we believe that general welfare can be anything, then the power of the federal government is unlimited. THAT IS WRONG!

To avoid that grave danger the founders inserted the 9th and 10th Amendments to GUARANTEE that the federal powers were STRICTLY limited. They straight-jacketed the federal powers. What federal powers were granted were of the greatest import up to and including capital punishment, defense of invasion, and warfare.

I recommend this pdf file (the main text is not so long, much is just footnotes).
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/original-meaning-of-an-omission.pdf

And this audio:
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/03/01/thomas-jefferson-and-the-principles-of-98/

[bigsioux]

The fixation by the president and his administration with Snowe is bizarre. How many compromises will be made just to say one republican voted for reform? Too many already from my point of view.

[Littlewords]

They needed to get this out of committee so it can be fully engaged by all of Congress...now the WH has what it needed at this step. Going forward, every Rep and Senator vote matters on the bills as they the two congressional bodies put this together into a final bill.

[Daw8it]

Democrat with a backbone ... http://www.graysonforcongress.org/

maybe others will follow suit.

[Philclock]

Dems getting Snowe job, read what she said...

[ThankGodhesgone]

Congratulations Sen Snowe. Even though your vote held a lot of conditions, you voted for the people of America, despite the threats of your own party.

Please condsider joining the Democratic party, or at least becoming an Independent.

The republican party is now held hostage by the Just say no crowd, the birther crowd, the tea baggers who complain about anything and everything, but have no coherent message, the tin foil hat set of Glenn Beck, the immoral C street hoes and the always morally outraged contingent of Sean Hannity, who have had nothing positive to say about Barack Obama since his land slide victory.

There is no room for you in the party that is going to lose even more seats in 2010. They have no ideas and embarass themselves on a daily basis. You seem better than that.

[Lionsden]

Cowards.

[sneakurs]

"Mr. Willis from Ohio"

[textynn]

I think this was planned. This bill is a giant BJ to the health care industry. Now the REpubs can tongue in cheek blame it on Snowe when the health care industry wrote the bill themselves. This is theater and we did not get what we wanted or need. They tricked their constituency while blowing the medical insurance industry which actually came out more profitable than before. I bet the champagne is flowing tonight and Snowe will work in the industry the rest of her life.

[Lionsden]

Please. Someone point to somewhere in the Constitution that gives the government the power to force me into this program or pay for the health care of others (outside the military).

And NO it is not the general welfare clause.

[morefromLA]

I assume you're conducting the same search on behalf of Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance?

[Lionsden]

morefrom:

Lucky guess. You assume correctly.

Where does the Constitution say the federal government has those powers as well. Also, federal funds to education and thousands of other programs.

[CountryBeforeParty]

Ummm yeah, it is the general welfare clause. You don't get to throw the answer out and then ask what the answer is.

And where in the Constitution does it say that we should pay for the health care of the military?

[Lionsden]

Country:

I most certainly do get to tell the truth.

[Lionsden]

Country: The federal government has the authority to fund the military and it could be argued that those injured as a result of that power are the responsibility of the federal government vis a vis that enumerated power.

If you have an argument that they shouldn't receive help AFTER the government maimed them, make it.

[red33]

If you have an election of more than four hours, seek health care reform as soon as possible.

[norman60]

I commend this great woman, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) for giving the health reform effort a bi- partisan status.

[DeWayne]

If the DEM-Congress does (not) pass a "Single Payer Health Care Bill", then the DEM-Party has sold out America. Obama standing before a Labor Group while a candidate for Presidency advised the dire need of "Single Payer Health Care". When Obama became President, he sold out the American citizens to Big Business.

It is past time voting (out) both DEM and GOP for 'dedicated' Third Party candidates, Constitutional Party comes to mind, Nader and Kucinich are the only men that have consistently and constantly stood up for American citizen's, in deference to Organize Crime otherwise known as Big Business lobbyists and bribery.

[Janney]

Finally, a republican with a conscious! I applaud you Ms. Snowe.

[ebbasta]

Glad to have you back, Ryan. I appreciate how you commented on Snowe placing herself at risk of being marginalized had she voted no. No one else gets down under the muck like that and extracts the motives of these politicians.

As for the general commentary, Snowe is still a Republican, making sure that a bunch of outdated obstructionist GOP ideas make it into the bill. As much as I would like to thank her for the vote of confidence, I'd rather have her thrown out of office and have another Democrat in that seat.

[wethepeople3884]

When was the last time a republican controlled senate went out of its way to the point of drastically changing the legislation to gain the support of a single democrat congressman??

[Eric Strickland]

The GOP never had that problem because they could always count on votes from most if not all of the DLC and Blue Dog "Democrats".

[wethepeople3884]

Blue dogs slogan should be - we care about fiscal responsibility when it comes to America but we are willing to spend whatever it takes to go to war abroad. ITS such a joke - not supporting the public option is not being deficit conscious. It is being brain-dead.