Olympia Snowe
Brown Votes With Dems On Jobs Bill
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scored a potentially groundbreaking victory on Monday afternoon as several key Republicans joined with Democrats to support the $15 billion jobs bill put together by Reid after a larger bipartisan bill failed due to too many expensive items that were not jobs-related inflated its cost. One of those GOP […]
Senate Health Puzzle Falling Into Place Amidst Presidential Push
There was palpable progress on Tuesday for the White House and Senate Democrats in the drawn out bid to cobble together the 60 votes needed to pass health care legislation without Republican obstruction. The shift took place in the aftermath of a dramatic closed-door meeting between President Obama and all 60 members of the Democratic, […]
Senate Reform Bill Faces Tweaks Amid Presidential Push
A rapidly dwindling pre-holiday calendar and increasingly direct pressure from the White House has the Senate working feverishly towards a health care compromise that can secure 60 votes and score Democrats and President Obama a major victory before the new year.
The president made a Sunday visit to Capitol Hill for closed-door meetings with Senate Democrats […]
Moderates Give, Take In Dems’ New Quest For 60
Senate Democrats, fresh off of their Saturday win in pushing forward debate on their version of health care legislation, are beginning a new lobbying push for a new round of support from key moderates.
With Saturday’s successful vote to continue debate on Harry Reid’s reform bill Democrats face a new test to secure the coveted 60 […]
Melting Snowe?
The decision by Harry Reid and the White House to go with an opt-out public option in health care reform legislation might have been the final straw for moderate Republican Olympia Snowe. After being catered to in nearly every step of reform negotiations between the Senate and the White House, Snowe reacted with uncommon anger […]
Future Of Reform On The Table As Senate Finance Committee Votes
Final discussions and deliberations before a full vote on the health care reform bill put forward by chairman Max Baucus are under way in the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday morning as the next step is taken in enacting President Obama’s number one legislative goal of his first year in office.
Baucus convened his committee on Tuesday […]
GOP Pushes For Transparency! Wait A Minute…
One item of note in the ongoing and painfully laborious process of “marking up” the Baucus reform bill for a committee vote is the defeat of a Republican sponsored provision that the final reform legislation be posted online with full legislative language and cost analysis at least 72 hours before a final vote.
Democrats, including Finance […]
All Eyes On Snowe
Maine Republican Olympia Snowe has become the bipartisan focus of health care reform in the Senate in the wake of the Baucus reform proposal and the almost unanimous rejection of that “compromise” by Senate Republicans. Snowe was initially on that same path, prepared to walk from the bill and potentially pave the way for a […]
The Big Day For Baucus Reform Bill
Max Baucus will officially unveil his strongly hyped $880 billion health care reform bill on Wednesday as part of a last-ditch effort to forge a bipartisan deal on legislation in advance of a looming committee vote later this month. But despite the lengthy negotiations with Baucus and the rest of the “Gang of Six,” it […]
Baucus Says “Gang Of Six” Deal Is Close
Max Baucus, Senate Finance Committee Chairman and headmaster of the bipartisan “Gang of Six” in the Senate, said on Friday that negotiations for a health care reform deal are “starting to reach closure” and specific legislation could be ready for unveiling next week. Fellow committee and “gang” member Kent Conrad agreed with this timeframe,asserting that […]
