In her speech, she said she still shared many of her Republican colleagues’ reservations about the legislation, and she pointedly warned Democrats that they could easily lose her support at any of the many legislative steps that still lie ahead.
“My vote today is my vote today,” she said. “It doesn’t forecast what my vote will be tomorrow.”
Still with the threats. With her constituency, voting against the thing is the only thing that would have risked her seat, and as the only Republican with a hint of moderation, the Republicans need her far more than Democrats do.
The bill would still be out of the committee if the vote were 13-10. That's what MAJORITY means. And any Democrat that doesn't support cloture gets a primary challenge who says, "You would have guaranteed health care if it wasn't for Sen. Fillintheblank."
Senate Panel Clears Health Bill With One G.O.P. Vote
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ROBERT PEAR
WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee voted on Tuesday to approve legislation that would reshape the American health care system and provide subsidies to help millions of people buy insurance, as Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, joined all 13 Democrats on the panel in support of the landmark bill.
The vote was 14 to 9, with all of the other Republicans opposed.
Democrats, including President Obama, had courted Ms. Snowe’s vote, hoping that she would break with the Republican Party leadership and provide at least a veneer of bipartisanship to the bill, which Mr. Obama has declared his top domestic priority. Ms. Snowe was a main author of the bill but she had never committed to voting for it.
But shortly after 1 p.m., she announced that she was on board, in a speech that silenced the packed committee room and riveted colleagues on both sides of the dais.
“Is this bill all that I would want?” Ms. Snowe asked. “Far from it. Is it all that it can be? No. But when history calls, history calls. And I happen to think that the consequences of inaction dictate the urgency of Congress to take every opportunity to demonstrate its capacity to solve the monumental issues of our time.”
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and ICAM.
The Dems are proving many
The Dems are proving many conservatives right when they say that libs are weak, from Obama on down. For decades people on the left have told the voting public, in more ways than one, just give us 60 in the Senate and we can get it all done, including healthcare. The American people have done just that yet we see this shit. Obama is in danger of his administration becoming defined by compromise rather than change. If these Snow types are not on board then they need to forget about them. This bill will do nothing to bring about real change yet all we get is Snow. This should show Obama, and other Dems in the Senate, that no matter what they pass the right will not go for it. I've said this before and I'll say it again, Obama needs to grow up, be a REAL leader, force what he wants, and stop pussyfooting. "We the paople" gave you a 60 seat Senate. Act like it!!!!!
This particular post is done
This particular post is done with my tongue slightly in cheek but I couldn't resist:
"Liberalism is extremely harmful in a revolutionary collective. It is a corrosive which eats away unity, undermines cohesion, causes apathy and creates dissension. It robs the revolutionary ranks of compact organization and strict discipline, prevents policies from being carried through and alienates the Party organizations from the masses which the Party leads. It is an extremely bad tendency."
Mao Zedong