Senate Finance Committee

Grassley Receives $150K From Health Insurance Industry

The Huffington Post | Jenna Staul | Posted 11.05.2009 | Business


Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley took in $154,350 in third-quarter campaign donations from the health insurance industry, according to the Public Campaign Act...

AARP, AFL-CIO Boost House Health Plan That Taxes Rich, Not Middle Class

Art Levine | Posted 11.05.2009 | Politics


Art Levine

The centrist lobbying powerhouse for the elderly, the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP), is scheduled to endorse the House health care bill despite its possibly flawed public option.

Food Lobby Mobilizes, As Soda Tax Bubbles Up

HuffPost Investigative Fund | Posted 11.05.2009 | Green


By Christine Spolar, Huffington Post Investigative Fund and Joseph Eaton, Staff Writer, Center for Public Integrity Washington lobbyists have been en...

The Problem Is Minority Rule

Steven Hill | Posted 11.02.2009 | Politics


Steven Hill

Senator Snowe may wield a pivotal vote on health care, but it is in a body that is unrepresentative and anti-majoritarian by design. How long are we Americans going to ignore this constitutional defect?

Jenna Staul

Intense Pharmaceutical Lobbying Prompts Inquiry

HuffingtonPost.com | Jenna Staul | Posted 11.02.2009 | Business


A lobbying war between two pharmaceutical companies vying to market a generic blood-thinner has prompted an inquiry by Sen. Chuck Grassley and Senate ...

Health Care Cooperatives Can Work

Steven Hill | Posted 10.30.2009 | Politics


Steven Hill

Private, nonprofit health care cooperatives, properly designed, actually could offer quite a lot to both the left and the right, as well as to anyone who is interested in expanding health care coverage.

The Public Option, and Why Letting It Snowe Is Foolish

Robert J. Elisberg | Posted 10.27.2009 | Politics


Robert J. Elisberg

If a health care bill is as critical as the Democrats -- and American public -- say it is, then what matters is passing it in as strong a form as possible, not gutting it for the sake of one, empty Republican vote.

The Public Option is Dead as a Doornail

Earl Ofari Hutchinson | Posted 10.22.2009 | Politics


Earl Ofari Hutchinson

The public option epitaph was written months ago during the more than two dozen secret meetings that Obama and his aides had with the insurance industry and pharmaceutical bigwigs.

The Big Picture: Sick People -- Not a Public Option

James Sanders | Posted 10.21.2009 | Politics


James Sanders

Are the Democrats missing the big picture? If they are, heaven help the sick. Until common ground is found, those millions of American citizens that are sick and without health insurance might not be able to hold on.

Frank Rich: Goldman Can Spare You A Dime

New York Times | FRANK RICH | Posted 10.17.2009 | Business


As leader of the Wall Street pack, Goldman declared surging profits, keeping it on track to dispense a record $23 billion in bonuses for 2009. But mos...

Why Are Dems and Beltway Reporters Pretending Olympia Snowe Is Important?

David Sirota | Posted 10.17.2009 | Politics


David Sirota

The idea that her vote was/is pivotal is a fantasy created by a Beltway media always trying to manufacture drama.

Olympia Snowe and the Importance of Being Pivotal

Rick Horowitz | Posted 10.16.2009 | Politics


Rick Horowitz

Olympia Snowe's vote might not have been a tie-breaker, but it was a mood-shifter. And at least she's not the kind who gloats, flaunts her influence and does a victory dance when the bargaining is done.

Baucus: All Senate Dems Will Support Health Bill

AP | ERICA WERNER | Posted 10.16.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — When it comes time to vote, every Democrat in the Senate – and perhaps more than one Republican – will support legislat...

What Olympia Snowe's Support Could Mean

Lincoln Mitchell | Posted 10.14.2009 | Politics


Lincoln Mitchell

By supporting a moderate bill in committee, Snowe has made the GOP, or at least part of it, relevant again; succeeding where Michael Steele, John Boehner, Joe Wilson, Rush Limbaugh and others have failed.

Snowe Talks Trigger: "You Could Have The Public Option Kick In Immediately"

Posted 10.14.2009 | Politics


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Public Health Before Wall Street Wealth

Robert Scheer | Posted 10.14.2009 | Politics


Robert Scheer

The health care debate has become a convenient distraction, for both political parties, from the far more pressing issues surrounding the banking meltdown.

Bill Nelson On Tavis Smiley Show: Senator: I Think You're Going To See A Lot More Bipartisanship On Health Care Bill

The Huffington Post | Posted 10.13.2009 | Politics


Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) believes more Republicans will vote for the health care reform bill in its final phase. During an interview on Tuesday,...

Left, Right & Center: Obama's Nobel, Health Care Vote, The $ is Down

Huff Radio | Posted 10.13.2009 | Politics


Huff Radio

The Nobel Peace Prize has been, stunningly and unexpectedly, given to President Barack Obama. Is it a case of unrealistic expectations? Will it help o...

GOP Claims Olympia Snowe Was Born in Kenya

Andy Borowitz | Posted 10.13.2009 | Comedy


Andy Borowitz

Orly Taitz, leader of the so-called "birther" movement, said that Sen. Snowe's vote was "textbook Kenyan" behavior. "She's putting her tribe first," Ms. Taitz said.

Health Insurers' "Rape" of America

Miles J. Zaremski | Posted 10.15.2009 | Politics


Miles J. Zaremski

Isn't it about time that every single American who is concerned about health care stand up and be counted once and for all and tell insurers, "enough is enough"?

Ryan Grim

Snowe Voting Yes On Senate Finance Health Care Reform Bill

HuffingtonPost.com | Ryan Grim | Posted 10.13.2009 | Politics


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 h...

Sam Stein

Exclusive: MoveOn Whacks Finance Bill Hours Before Committee Vote

HuffingtonPost.com | Sam Stein | Posted 10.13.2009 | Politics


Just hours before the Senate Finance Committee is set to vote (and likely pass) its version of health care reform legislation, the liberal advocacy gr...

Snowe Health Care Vote Could Cost Her Ranking Position

The Hill | Alexander Bolton | Posted 10.13.2009 | Politics


Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine) is risking a shot at becoming the top Republican on an influential Senate committee by backing Democratic healthcare legisl...

Senate Finance Committee Health Care Vote Today

AP | DAVID ESPO | Posted 10.14.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — Historic legislation to expand U.S. health care and control costs won its first Republican supporter Tuesday and cleared a key Sena...

Cadillac Tax: Congress Is Split On Reform Effort To Tax Costly Health Care Plans

New York Times | DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ROBERT PEAR | Posted 10.13.2009 | Politics


A proposed tax on high-cost, or "Cadillac," health insurance plans has touched off a fierce clash between the Senate and the House as they wrestle ove...