olympia snowe

Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine), the only Republican to offer the least bit of support for the Democrats’ health reform legislation this year, said Tuesday that she will vote against the Senate bill unless it’s altered, The Associated Press is reporting.

For the past month, Senate Democrats have bent over backward to get Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) behind their health reforms — a move that seemed to pay dividends when she voted earlier this month with Democrats in favor of the Senate Finance Committee’s reform proposal.
But yesterday, in the lone decision to include an “opt-out” public [...]

Following her statement late Friday indicating she’s open to a public option compromise, we’ve officially moved Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) from the “Likely Opponents” column to the “On the Fence” category in TWI’s Senate Public Option Scoreboard.
Landrieu had previously expressed strong opposition to a public option, telling the Monroe, La., News Star that there were [...]

Not the horse.
Here’s the statement from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee’s health subpanel, reacting to reports that the White House is leaning toward a trigger in lieu of a strong public option in the Democrats’ health reform legislation:

Now things are getting interesting.
After months of wrestling over how to approach the popular but politically thorny public option, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is leaning toward including such a provision in the bill he’s weaving together from elements of the Finance and HELP Committee bills, The New York Times reported last night.

“This is not a tea party hangover,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony list. “It is every piece of the conservative base–the Club for Growth, social conservatives, right to work, pro-lifers, everyone–coming together.”

That other Maine Republican, Sen. Susan Collins, released a statement this morning commending the decision of her Maine colleague to cross the aisle yesterday in support of the Senate Finance Committee’s health reform bill.
Due, in large measure, to the efforts of Senator Olympia Snowe, who has worked tirelessly, the legislation passed by the Senate Finance [...]

Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) brings the heat on Twitter, offering one of what will be many friendly fire attacks on Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

The Democrats’ plans to overhaul the nation’s dysfunctional health care system took a giant step forward Tuesday when the Senate Finance Committee passed a $829 billion proposal designed to expand coverage to millions of uninsured Americans while reining in runaway health care costs.
The vote was 14 to 9, with Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) the only [...]

The wait is over. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) just announced that she’ll support the $829 billion health reform bill soon to be voted on by the Senate Finance Committee.
“I do it with reservations,” she said, citing some of the most controversial provisions, including a broad Medicaid expansion and penalties to be applied to those who [...]