Today’s 14-9 vote by the Senate Finance Committee on the so called Baucus bill on health care reform, with every Democrat and Republican Olympia Snowe voting yes, is a welcome moment, but it is not enough.
The lack of a public option in the bill means that the Baucus bill cannot be accepted as it is. Since Olympia Snowe does not promise that she will support the ultimate health care bill that is reconciled between the House and the Senate, we can thank her for her support, making the proposal slightly bipartisan, but not allow her to dictate the final version of the bill, as the price for her vote.
Optimism is arising that the health care bill will pass by Thanksgiving, and if it does, it will be the ultimate triumph of a vision first enunciated by former President Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 presidential election when he was the candidate of the Progressive Party for President.