Thus said Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine as the health care reform bill passed the Senate. Sen. Snowe thinks the bill was rushed through, is too costly, and could have benefited from a bipartisan process. She makes no mention of human facts: that her Maine constituents are among the nation's poorest, that Maine's population is the oldest, that Mainers pay very high health insurance premiums, that many Mainers forego insurance entirely and wait helplessly until Medicare is available. Nor does she mention that the state-run (as in "public option") program Dirigo Health, which subsidizes health-care costs for low-income people, has significantly lowered the percentage of the uninsured, now below 10% (compared to the US at around 16%).
Sen. Snowe, I am extremely disappointed in you (and of course in Susan Collins, Maine's other Senator, as well). There was some hope that you would be a part of the process, be a statesman and not a politician. Was the bill rushed through? Yes, because the Republicans' disinformation machine would have killed it given time. Will it be costly? Yes, but only in the short-term and actually quite cheap compared to the death panels of the Pentagon. Was the process bipartisan? No, for the Republicans have not shown themselves to be worthy of debate.
Maine's state motto is Dirigo - I lead. It doesn't apply to Senator Snowe.
About Me
- Jim Krosschell
- Retired publishing executive ecstatic with the idea of spending most of his time on the coast of Maine
1 comment:
I agree that Snowe and the rest of the Rs are disappointing. But, I am surprised that you think this bill was rushed and that it didn't have bipartisan input. This bill was mulled over (and over and over) for a long time. Due to Snowe's committee membership, she was part of this process from the get-go and thus had PLENTY of time to FULLY participate in a bipartisan manner. She appears to confuse getting her way 100% with giving input that was fully considered but found inadequate.
In short, she had plenty of time to show all of us how much she sucks.
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