Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told The Associated Press that the bill approved Tuesday by the Finance Committee needs substantial improvements to make coverage more affordable, contain costs, and protect Medicare. Nevertheless, she joined her Maine GOP colleague Sen. Olympia Snowe in endorsing the goal of far-reaching changes
Slowly we're actually gaining some bi-partisan support. Although I don't think it's needed, I do think that this will help propel the HC debate.
*Update: Obviously this is not necessarily a good thing, considering the compromises both Snowe and Collins will want. But I do think it advances our talking points to the Independents and gives us more leverage over the Blue Dogs.
**Update 2 via TomP:
The only thing remotely supportive of the proposal from Collins’ statement is that she shares the "goal of passing responsible health care reform" and hopes that after "many improvements" the bill will "achieve bipartisan support." Anyone paying even cursory attention knows how likely that is to happen.
Meawhile, her statement runs through a whole litany of standard GOP objections to the reform proposal: It could be a small-business job killer, it threatens Medicare, and it lacks "medical liability reforms to reduce frivolous lawsuits."
Check out the statement yourself, but it still seems clear that Snowe is the only Republican who’s going to support the reform proposal anytime soon. Happy to be wrong.