Tester's been taking a back-seat during health-care reform. He's being noncommittal. You get the feeling he's taking Baucus' lead on the issue. From the Chron:
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester said Friday in Bozeman he could support a controversial public option insurance plan as part of health care reform.
"If it's designed right," the Montana Democrat said. "The devil's in the details."
Any reform bill, Tester said, would have to control costs, improve access and affordability, improve people's health, focus on wellness and prevention, and preserve choice.
Tester said he'd like to cover the 46 million Americans with no health insurance, but, "we need to do it without running up the national debt."
There you go. Tester's promising us everything and nothing at the same time.
I know a lot of folks want Max and Jon to spearhead real (single-payer?) health care reform, but state politics and Baucus-ian electoral strategy dictates something else entirely. I expect professional strategists are urging them to tack "moderately" with an eye to Montana's political middle.
Whether that strategy is good or not is a moot point. What's not moot is that there are a few other Democratic Senators in the same situation. (Conrad, Nelson, etc.) The question for those politicians isn't, "do you support a public option," but "would you support a filibuster of a Democratic bill that included a public option?" |
