Snowe Job, or
When History Calls, Olympia Goes Rogue
Maine senator Olympia Snowe made big headlines by being the lone Republican to vote with the Democrats this week for the health reform bill constructed by chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus. "When history calls, history calls," she said trying to underscore her momentous move. Well, if history is any judge, a Republican politician's support for any important piece of social legislation - be it Medicare, Social Security or civil rights - could quickly evaporate. Indeed, within hours of the vote, Ms. Snowe turned around and issued a caveat by saying that her thumbs-up on the Baucus bill does not necessarily mean she will also say aye as the legislation makes its way through the mandatory committees and on to a final congressional vote.
It is a senator's job to reflect the opinion of her constituents and perhaps take her conscience into account before making a decision. Though some Democratic leaders, including President Obama, were busy praising the lady from Maine for her courage, one can't help but feel that if history was truly calling Senator Snowe she wouldn't be toying with the American public on an issue that clearly means life or death to millions of people.
The senator's move may make her seem like an independent thinker, a resident on the short list of GOP mavericks. She is known, however, to stand firmly with her party colleagues against the public option - the government-run plan proposed by the Democrats intended to provide a form of non-profit competition to private health insurance. As recent polls indicate, the public option is being increasingly viewed by the public as the only true solution to the problem of establishing a health care system that covers everyone, is affordable and holds down costs. As envisioned by most Democrats, the public option is clearly not Madam Snowe's cup of tea.
It may be that the senator's vote seems bold only in contrast to the blanket rejection by her Republican colleagues of any and all Democratic plans for substantive reform. Yet, looking through the layers of Snowe, one can perhaps detect the groundwork being laid by the senator to propose her idea for a "trigger" for the public option as a deadlock-breaking compromise. As introduced by Senator Snowe several weeks ago, the trigger proposal would exclude the public option from the current legislation, permitting it to be launched only in states where insurance company reform and market forces did not succeed in reaching the goals of expanded coverage and affordable care.
Some observers charge that Senator Snowe's strategy is to maneuver in such a way that she can wield enough influence to alter the structure of a public option so that it will not be such a threat to the private insurance industry. By these estimates, after Senator Snowe and colleagues are through watering down the bill, all that will be left of the public option will be a pile of slush.
When History Calls, Olympia Goes Rogue
Maine senator Olympia Snowe made big headlines by being the lone Republican to vote with the Democrats this week for the health reform bill constructed by chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus. "When history calls, history calls," she said trying to underscore her momentous move. Well, if history is any judge, a Republican politician's support for any important piece of social legislation - be it Medicare, Social Security or civil rights - could quickly evaporate. Indeed, within hours of the vote, Ms. Snowe turned around and issued a caveat by saying that her thumbs-up on the Baucus bill does not necessarily mean she will also say aye as the legislation makes its way through the mandatory committees and on to a final congressional vote.
It is a senator's job to reflect the opinion of her constituents and perhaps take her conscience into account before making a decision. Though some Democratic leaders, including President Obama, were busy praising the lady from Maine for her courage, one can't help but feel that if history was truly calling Senator Snowe she wouldn't be toying with the American public on an issue that clearly means life or death to millions of people.
The senator's move may make her seem like an independent thinker, a resident on the short list of GOP mavericks. She is known, however, to stand firmly with her party colleagues against the public option - the government-run plan proposed by the Democrats intended to provide a form of non-profit competition to private health insurance. As recent polls indicate, the public option is being increasingly viewed by the public as the only true solution to the problem of establishing a health care system that covers everyone, is affordable and holds down costs. As envisioned by most Democrats, the public option is clearly not Madam Snowe's cup of tea.
It may be that the senator's vote seems bold only in contrast to the blanket rejection by her Republican colleagues of any and all Democratic plans for substantive reform. Yet, looking through the layers of Snowe, one can perhaps detect the groundwork being laid by the senator to propose her idea for a "trigger" for the public option as a deadlock-breaking compromise. As introduced by Senator Snowe several weeks ago, the trigger proposal would exclude the public option from the current legislation, permitting it to be launched only in states where insurance company reform and market forces did not succeed in reaching the goals of expanded coverage and affordable care.
Some observers charge that Senator Snowe's strategy is to maneuver in such a way that she can wield enough influence to alter the structure of a public option so that it will not be such a threat to the private insurance industry. By these estimates, after Senator Snowe and colleagues are through watering down the bill, all that will be left of the public option will be a pile of slush.
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