Healthy Votes in the Senate

That sound you heard from Capitol Hill yesterday was the grinding of the legislative gears in the Senate Finance Committee which is working on the health care bill.

The chairman of the Finance Committee is Max Baucus (D-MT) who is the principal sponsor of this version of health care reform. His committee has 13 Democrats and 10 Republicans. So, if the Ds stay together they can pass any amendment and vote any bill to the floor.

There were two amendments which would have had the effect of adding a "public option." The first was offered by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa) and was defeated by a vote of 15-8. That means five Democrats voted against a public option (Baucus, Kent Conrad (N.D.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Tom Carper (Del.).

The second try was a version offered by everyone's favorite, Chuck Schumer (D-NY). That amendment came closer but still lost 12-10; Baucus, Conrad and Lincoln voted with the 10 Republicans on the committee to defeat it.

According to the Washington Post's William Branigin, the senior Republican on the committee, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said a public option "will ultimately force private insurers out of business" resulting in "single-payer health care" in which the federal government runs health insurance and the health-care system. "The government is not a fair competitor," he said. "It's a predator."

You can see where this is going. Two Democrats - Carper (Del) and Nelson (Fla) are already covered by having voted against the public option and then voting for it. They will have a minimum of two more shots at it when a bill comes to the Senate floor and the amendments are presented again. Although there are many, many rules which govern the Senate - a few of which are actually in writing - none of them required a Senator vote the same way on the floor that he or she voted in committee.

So, it is possible, nay likely, that many Democrats will continue to look for ways to vote on both sides of a public option to keep their re-election option open.

Where is Barack Obama, the President of All the World, in all this? According to Dan Balz, the best political analyst in Washington, Obama has been in the bullpen waiting for the House and Senate to do the heavy lifting, but "the time of hanging back is quickly coming to an end if he hopes to find the 60 votes needed to pass a bill in the Senate."

Balz goes on to warn Democrats who may be thinking about going out on a limb in favor of a public option despite the home town folks' opposition,

"Obama supported the public option, but has strongly signaled his willingness to allow it to die if that is the price of winning broader support for overhauling the health care system."

Which is to say the P of A the W is perfectly willing to saw that limb right off with a bunch of Democrats sitting on it if it means being able to claim a personal win.

After the Senate Finance Committee is done with the bill, the snappily named Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions which is chaired by Grassley's colleague, Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) will take a crack at it. Harkin is almost certain to report out a bill with some version of a public option.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) will have to try and figure out a way to craft one bill that can get 60 healthy votes.

Off the set at CNN yesterday afternoon, I was asked why I was against the public option. I said I was opposed to anything which would mess with Medicare.

"Why?"

"Because I'm nearly 63," I said. I'm like a pilot on final approach: running out of airspeed, altitude and ideas when it comes to health insurance. I don't have time to make major changes in where I'm planning to land."

On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: Links to the Dan Balz piece and the Washington Post round-up. Also a Mullfoto showing a lightly populated Nationals Park last night and a Catchy Caption of the Day.