The Finance committee looks to be officially in chaos as Snowe,Lincoln, Rockefeller and Wyden hold off their yea votes trying to bargain for their proposals. Of note is Wyden and Rockefeller. NYT reports these senators really are torn. I say Rocky and Wyden should hold firm and vote if they do not get real accommodation in the final bill.
Wyden is one to watch as we have seen. For a senator to be so dissed by the cmte chair pulling his amendment without notice is bad. But unless Reid and WH include some of Wyden free choice proposal then I think Wyden will dog them all the way.
Wyden is showing what many of us long noted: the PUBLIC OPTION PROPOSED IN CONGRESS IS WALLED OFF TO A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE. THIS MEANS IT MAY BE A DUMPING GROUND FOR THE CHRONICALLY ILL AND OTHERS. He vows to fight on educating voters of something I think Baucus and WH fears: The public option is a real joke unless it can BE INCLUSIVE FOR ALL. He is getting the word out- everyone wants a public option- but does most know that it wont be available to them? Bet not. So please support Sen Wyden in the days ahead. He is telling the truth about this bill and we must back him here.
NYT snippets below and a account of what happened to the Wyden Amendment. Also note Rocky’s opposition rests in his fears of the Carper States Plan. He wants a natl . public plan not some state by state deal. So he is leveraging to have a national public option. Wyden is pushing for the govt plan to open to all and real choice- an argument by the that is very hard to knock down guys. Oh and Snowe is iffy. Lincoln too. Oy. This is NO WAY TO PRODUCE A BILL OF SUCH MAGNITIUDE.
UPDATE: CALL SEN. WYDEN'S OFFICE IN DC AND TELL HIM YOU SUPPORT HIS CHOICE TO OPEN UP THE PUBLIC OPTION TO ALL AMERICANS:
Phone: (202) 224-5244
Fax: (202) 228-2717
http://wyden.senate.gov/...
ALSO: CALL SEN. ROCKEFELLER AND TELL HIM WE HAVE HIS BACK IN THE DAYS AHEAD IN THE FIGHT FOR A REAL PUB OPT:
phone: (202) 224-6472
Kossaks have created an ACTBLUE DONATION PAGE TO SEN WYDEN TO SHOW OUR SUPPORT FOR HIM IN THIS FIGHT FOR A INCLUSIVE PO: NOTE- I AGREE THAT SHOULD HE NOT GET WHAT HE WANTS FROM REID AND VOTES NO THIS TOOL SHOULD BE USED MORE
http://www.actblue.com/...
October 7, 2009
4 Senators’ Concerns Reflect Health Care Challenge
By ROBERT PEAR and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
WASHINGTON — Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia is upset that a health care bill poised for approval by the Finance Committee would turn nearly a half-trillion dollars over to insurance companies, whose profits he says are "out of sight."
Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine worries that the bill would require people to buy insurance they cannot afford. ...And Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon warns that the bill would lock many workers into health plans selected by their employers, without allowing them to shop for better, cheaper plans, an alternative that could help drive down costs for everyone.
Those senators — three Democrats and one Republican, Ms. Snowe — have not indicated how they will vote on the Finance Committee legislation and said Tuesday that they were agonizing over the decision.
While the four senators do seem genuinely undecided, by declining to commit in advance they also maximize their leverage: their ability to win changes in the legislation later on.
"I’m pondering," Mr. Rockefeller said. "It’s an imperfect bill, with a lot of pluses and minuses." ... Under the bill, he said, insurance companies would receive more than $460 billion over 10 years to help pay for the coverage of low- and middle-income people. Congress, he said, must create a new government-run health plan, to compete directly with private insurers.
Centrist Democrats like Senator Thomas R. Carper of Delaware have similar ideas. Rather than setting up a single national government health plan, they would prefer to let states decide what to do. ...But reflecting divisions that could lie ahead on the Senate floor, Mr. Rockefeller said this approach was unacceptable to him. State health plans would not be strong enough to compete effectively with big private insurance companies, he said.
Mr. Wyden noted that the committee’s bill would not offer additional options to the overwhelming majority of Americans who already have insurance. His concern is shared by some Democrats and also by many Republicans, who say the bill does not do enough to let the marketplace spur competition, and he said he would continue fighting on the Senate floor to make changes to the measure.
"Democrats from the president on talk about how the American people ought to have choices like a member of Congress," Mr. Wyden said. "Now under consideration is an idea that millions and millions won’t get any choice at all, let alone what a member of Congress gets."....
http://www.nytimes.com/...
So how did Wyden get screwed out of a vote for his prized Free Choice Amendment? Because Baucus ruled it out of order after promising for weeks it would have a vote. Baucus did not notify Wyden of his decision to rule the free choice amend. Out of order and at the last moment nixed it leaving Wyden furious. This is the way Baucus has handled the whole thing. When you exclude senior senators from th e most important legislation in decades this is what you get. Now Reid, WH must work to get Wyden on board and even if not Wyden. surely will take his amendments to the floor for votes, where they may pass. See FDL:
http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/...