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Senate Finance Committee To Vote On Landmark Health Care Legislation Today

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Later this morning, after tense months of negotiating and arguing, the Senate Finance Committee will vote on its health care reform bill. The package, which is expected to pass on a party-line or nearly party-line vote, will be a precursor to a Senate bill, which will be compiled in the coming days, and reach the floor later this month.

Of the five Congressional committees with jurisdiction over the nation's sprawling health care system, Finance is the last to act, though it began preliminary hearings on the issue about one year ago.

The members to watch today are Democrats Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and, more crucially, Republican Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Wyden and Rockefeller are among the panel's most knowledgeable health care experts, but were largely shut out of the process of designing the bill, and do not approve of many of its more conservative and industry-friendly measures.

Snowe, by contrast, is perhaps the only Republican in the entire Senate who is considering supporting a Democratic health care overhaul, and her vote today (yes? no? abstain?) could signal how she plans to involve herself in future negotiations when the bill advances. We'll bring you the final tally in real time.

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8 comments

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October 13, 2009 9:00 AM   

The package, which is expected to pass on a party-line or nearly party-line vote, will be a precursor to a Senate bill,
What a travesty. There is no bill, there is nothing to read, there is nothing but verbal agreements, meaningless going forward. And you people are on pins and needles about this? What a joke. Keep up the good work.

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October 13, 2009 9:06 AM    in reply to shooter242

Sour grapes.

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October 13, 2009 9:50 AM    in reply to shooter242

There is no bill, there is nothing to read, there is nothing but verbal agreements, meaningless going forward.

No bill? Then what's this?

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October 13, 2009 1:33 PM    in reply to hunter

It's a suggestion. If it gets to conference, a literal backroom dealmaking session will ensue and this bill will be grafted together with another bill from the House. Like Frankenstein.

No one can say what the final product will look like. They are merely voting on endorsement of the the back room session, with the inclusion of their suggestions. The negotiated version is the real deal, all the rest are just suggestions.

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October 13, 2009 4:02 PM    in reply to shooter242

So, your complaint is not with the Baucus bill, but rather with the legislative process itself. The same legislative process we've been using for a very long time.

Feel free to let us know your brilliant alternative to Congress. Actually...don't.

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October 13, 2009 9:24 AM   

Take a guess:
Baucus or Snowe: Which one uses Botox?

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October 13, 2009 10:15 AM   

Olympia Snowe is a pathetic excuse for a senator. Even now, after all these months and getting most of what she claims she wants, she still isn't willing to say how she's going to vote? And what principles is she actually holding out for, other than the ego trip of being able to write the bill all by herself?

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October 13, 2009 10:41 AM   

Healthcare reform needs a “Parody Option.” Check out “Healthcare Fighting (King Fu Mix)” at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nc1VwJOb9Y

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