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Feingold On New Senate Deal: "I Don't Know Yet"
Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI)
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Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI) says he's waiting on the CBO numbers to come in before he takes a stand on the new health care reform deal in the Senate.
"I don't know yet," he told reporters today when asked if the new deal has what it takes to unite the Democratic caucus. "I have some concerns myself."
He said he wants to see if the new plan saves as much money as the public option it replaces. Feingold said the CBO reported the Senate public option plan from the bill would save $25 billion.
Feingold said that even if the deal doesn't have what it takes to get to 60 votes, the negotiations have given Senators "psychological momentum" to push ahead to a final bill.
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JeremieC
December 9, 2009 2:16 PM
D-WI...
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clonecone
December 9, 2009 2:25 PM
Feingold is barely a Democrat at this point. His voting record this session is pathetically conservative. He ranks near Progressive Punch's rankings, voting with Republicans 45% of the time on key issues.
http://www.progressivepunch.org/members.jsp?chamber=Senate&sort=crucial-current&order=down&party=All
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Dorn76
December 9, 2009 2:39 PM in reply to clonecone
Yeah, I saw your little chart on another thread. What does it have to do with his opinion on this compromise?
What is your real problem with the guy?
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clonecone
December 9, 2009 2:45 PM in reply to Dorn76
My problem with him is that he's a conservative Dem who plays progressive and progressives are stupid enough to believe it.
Feingold doesn't have an actual opinion on this. It's just his typical contrarian bullshit.
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tosh
December 9, 2009 3:49 PM in reply to clonecone
That 55/45 is just this year in "key" votes. He's 88/12 lifetime on key votes. He's also +8 over his state's tilt, which gets him a 5* rating from Progressive Punch.
There are some things this year where he's gone away from the progressive vote. I don't see an easy way to pull up all of his votes from just this session to figure out what's causing the change - looks like you have to look at each issue.
John
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troydog
December 9, 2009 6:59 PM
As a Wisconsinite and Feingold supporter I have to say the thing we find most attractive about him is his courage to do the right thing. You may not always agree with him but you believe in his conviction. Independents and Republicans here trust him. Democrats do too. Like Tosh says above, his history as a Progressive is pretty strong. You don't see him grandstanding like Lieberman. But he could if he wanted to. He's a straight shooter.
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