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Snowe, Collins Vote Against Consideration Of Healthcare

By Matthew Gagnon
November 22, 2009

Last night, the United States Senate held a key procedural vote to begin consideration of Harry Reid’s healthcare reform bill, and both of Maine’s Senators voted against consideration of the bill.

The final tally was directly along the party line, with 60 Democrats voting to consider and 39 Republicans voting against (Republican Senator Voinovich did not vote).

Heading into the vote last night, the biggest question marks were Democratic Senators Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and Republican Olympia Snowe. Most sources indicated Susan Collins was a solid “no” without question.

This is not the only opportunity the United State Senate has to kill healthcare reform.  The filibuster remains a weapon that will likely be danced around multiple times as this debate takes shape. Essentially any time an amendment is offered to the bill, there is an opportunity to filibuster, and when it comes time for a final reading and bringing the bill to the floor – that is when the real filibuster test will come.

So, in other words this is the first minor test, but this is hardly the last fight.

The real question now is if Snowe’s vote against consideration means that she will eventually vote no on the final bill.

Many moderate Democrats such as Landrieu and Lincoln, as well as Senator Bennet of Colorado, Mark Warner of Virginia and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut have all signaled real problems with a final bill that would include a public option.  Lieberman has promised he will without a doubt filibuster a public option.

All of this means that moderate Democrats are likely to steer this bill more toward the center, and the idea of a public option “trigger” – something originally assigned to Snowe – will likely get a second look.

In other words, this bill which Snowe essentially just voted no on is about as far left as the bill will get, and the more centrist the bill gets, the closer Snowe will get to voting yes.

Collins, on the other hand, seems increasingly entrenched in the “no to reform” side of the isle, and has not signaled any interest in this bill, or a more moderate version of it.

Which is to say, that going forward Snowe will again be the big question mark.

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4 Responses to “Snowe, Collins Vote Against Consideration Of Healthcare”

  1. Bruce

    22. Nov, 2009

    Snowe and Collins, two Republican Senators from a Democratic state. We have a two term Democratic Governor, our last Governor was an Independent. Our Congressmen have been Democrats as far back as I can remember. We vote Democratically for President. People in this state are overwhelmingly in favor of healthcare reform.

    Still, we continue to vote for these two who supported the Bush Administration more than 80% of the time and time and time again, vote against the will of the Maine people.

    In my opinion as a Mainer…we deserve exactly what we get.

  2. Matthew Gagnon

    23. Nov, 2009

    Bruce,

    Overwhelmingly in favor of healthcare reform?

    If you can convince me that even 5% of Mainers even UNDERSTAND healthcare reform, I’ll give you a cookie.

    This is especially absurd given that there is no “healthcare reform” yet. There is a House bill which passed, and there is a Senate bill which is under consideration, but that’s it. There is no unified reform bill or even concept.

    And sure, I have little doubt the voters of Maine are supportive of reform in the abstract – who isnt? But guess what, I have a few ideas for reform too, and they have nothing to do with public options and government administrated exchanges. Does that mean the people of Maine support my version of reform?

    The reason Collins and Snowe have so much leeway here is that the Maine voter has no idea what reform even means, other than the very obscure, general, and misleading talking points from both political parties. I bet you most ACTIVISTS who are pushing (on both sides) don’t even know what is really in these bills.

    This isn’t a vote on going to war, or cutting taxes – things that people understand easily – at least to some degree. Right now, the Maine voter at large doesn’t have the slightest idea what is happening, they simply want “something” to happen.

  3. Lauren

    20. Dec, 2009

    Well said Mr. Gagnon :)

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Senator Snowe Will Not Support Healthcare Bill | Pine Tree Politics - 20. Dec, 2009

    [...] increasingly distance herself from the compromise legislation being crafted by Democrats.  Indeed, she voted against consideration of the bill at the end of November, and as negotiations proceeded, Snowe has been sending a number [...]

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