Consilience Productions

« Do Americans really want health care reform? | Main | Health Care Reform and You »

Max Baucus from Montana on health care reform: sellout or savvy centrist?
August 2, 2009 6:40 PM

Just so you know, Max Baucus - senator from Montana - is the head of the Finance Committee in the Senate and has been put in charge of forging bi-partisan consensus to on Health Care Reform. But how will his centrism play out during this month of recess, when all of our representatives will hear from us - for and against health care reform?

Let's go to DailyKos for the update:

Matthew Frank's profile of Max Baucus in the Missoula Independent goes a long way to explaining how this unlikeliest of small state Senators finds himself at the center of the most important public policy debate of a generation. The profile shows both how Baucus got to the point of perhaps securing his political legacy, but how he might also be the very person who dooms it to failure:
He's a savvy centrist. His political independence and the relationships he's fostered with senators on both sides of the aisle make him uniquely suited to broker intensely complicated negotiations among the most powerful people and special interests in Washington, D.C. Colleagues claim no one works harder than Baucus. He's spent more than a year --beginning well before President Obama took office and made health care reform his top domestic priority -- holding hearings and educating committee members on the nuances of the issue.

What's striking, though, is this DKos summary:

Frank recounts how he got into politics in the first place, querying a group of editors at the Missoulian on whether he'd have a better shot at winning elected office as a Democrat or Republican. So, since 1972, Baucus has called himself a Democrat, and has been elected as one, but as Frank says "straddled the fence" when it comes to political--and policy--decision making.

And now we have Baucus "negotiating" points in secret with two other conservative Dems and three centrist Republicans...all with the idea that 2 or 3 Republicans might vote for this bill. Mike Enzi, when characterized by the press to be negotiating for all Republican Senators, said this:

Enzi, a soft-spoken conservative, was furious about headlines Wednesday morning that suggested he was close to reaching a deal with the Democrats.

"I felt my reputation was in danger," he said.

He issued a statement batting down the stories and insisted any deal he might ultimately sign onto would have to be preserved by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and Reid when it is merged with other more liberal legislation in the Senate and House.

"I'm not interested in lending credibility to disaster," Enzi said.

So there you have it! Baucus is negotiating in secret some sort of grand compromise that almost every single Republican will never vote for. What's the point?


Join the discussion: Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Email Link to a Friend
Permalink to post: http://www.cslproductions.org/democracy/talk/archives/000831.shtml
Receive an email whenever this DEMOCRACY blog is updated:   Subscribe Here!
Tags: , , ,

Share | | Subscribe


Add your comment

Name (required)
Email
Website
Remember personal info? Yes   No
Comments

home | music | democracy | earth | money | projects | about | contact

Site design by Matthew Fries | © 2003-23 Consilience Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Consilience Productions, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
All contributions are fully tax deductible.

Support the "dialogue BEYOND music!"

Because broad and informed public participation is the bedrock of a free, democratic, and civil society, your generous donation will help increase participation in the process of social change. 100% tax deductible.
Thank you!


SEARCH OUR SITE:

Co-op America Seal of Approval  Global Voices - The world is talking, are you listening?