Correction on That Whirlwind Medicare Vote
Yesterday, I wrote a post here claiming that the nine Senate Republicans who voted against the Medicare bill last month — and then switched to support it on Wednesday — had begun Wednesday’s vote by opposing the bill (only reversing course after the surprise arrival of Sen. Ted Kennedy.) But that wasn’t the case. The nine voted only once, and voted “yes” — albeit after Kennedy’s arrival.
I regret the error, which was based on a misinterpretation of Thursday’s New York Times’ piece, which described Kennedy’s dramatic Senate return like this:
“„Democrats were overjoyed and Republicans stood, smiled and applauded as well, though some looked uneasy as it dawned on them that once again Mr. Kennedy was about to hand them a stinging defeat on health care policy.
“„[…]
“„Few Democrats were made aware of the plan until minutes before the vote, and Republicans were blindsided, giving them no time to plot a counterstrategy.
“„[…]
“„President Bush and many Republican senators have opposed the measure, in part because it would finance a small increase in Medicare payments to doctors by cutting federal payments to insurance companies that offer private Medicare Advantage plans, as an alternative to the traditional government-run program.
“„“It has to be done in a bipartisan way, in a way that keeps alternatives for seniors in the private sector,” said Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, who was one of the original holdouts against the measure. But Mr. Cornyn ended up supporting it Wednesday, along with eight others who voted to block consideration of the measure just two weeks ago.
“„Others who switched their votes at the last minute on Wednesday, just before the roll call ended, were Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Mel Martinez of Florida, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and John W. Warner of Virginia.
There’s no saying for certain what these folks would have done had Kennedy not arrived (most of their offices said they were planning to support the bill all along, though many observers think otherwise). But they’ll have another chance to prove that their support was sincere. President Bush has promised to veto the bill, perhaps as early as today. If just a few of the nine return to their original opposition, the bill dies.
