NYTimes:
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee told colleagues on Friday that he would soon present them with a detailed proposal for overhauling the nation's health care system in an effort to force either an agreement or an acknowledgment that further bipartisan negotiations would be futile.
The chairman, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, signaled his intentions in a telephone conference call with five other committee members who have been struggling for months to forge a bipartisan bill and break a partisan stalemate in Congress, an official familiar with the call said.
The official said Mr. Baucus had told the group that he would circulate a detailed proposal as early as Saturday. In doing so, he would be taking a big step toward forcing a final decision by the group as to whether it sees any realistic prospect of a deal.
It'll be interesting to see what's in the proposal, and whether Republicans will go for it. In an interesting twist, progressive pressure for a public option and the threat of taking the bill to reconciliation may actually spur Senate Republicans to participate in negotiations.
Still, keep in mind that any bill lacking the public option won't pass the House...
Whatever. I'm headed out the door on a family, long-weekend excursion -- if the proposal is released today, I hope some soul will see fit to post a diary with a link to the text, etc & co.
...and it's interesting he's planning on releasing it today, the Griz home opener. Makes you think it's going to really, really suck. |
