Remember that girl in 3rd grade that promised you a kiss at the end of the week if you just carried her books to school every day? Remember that young woman who promised you “something extra” if you took her out to that fancy restaurant for an expensive date? Remember how both times you were disappointed? There was always some excuse, some reason, some additional request before you got what was promised.
You know the type — someone that makes promises that bring that person lots of attention in exchange for something later. Many times, that person never gave what was promised and guys called that type of person a tease. (Of course, there were other less polite terms used too.”
Well, that little girl and young woman has grown up — and her name is Olympia Snowe. Sen. Olympia Snowe — the tease.
First, a little background.
Olympia Snowe in Maine’s senior senator and has been in the Senate since 1994. She is on the Senate Finance Committee and is probably one of the few Senators who has actually read the entire health care bill. She was also the only Republican to vote for health reform in the Finance Committee in October.
Before making up her mind on which way to vote, she had lots of calls and private audiences with President Obama. She was getting more press than the President and was on the news constantly. Folks were gushing about her maverick stance in voting against her fellow Republicans and doing what was right for the country. Mainers were proud of her independence.
When voting for the health care bill, she said: “So is this bill all that I want? Far from it. Is it all it can be? No, it is not. But when history calls — history calls.” Wow — what a leader.
What folks should have been more focused on was something else she also said at the time, “So there should be no mistake – my vote today, is my vote today. And it in no way forecasts my vote in the future.”
Ahh, there’s the rub.
At the time, Sen. Snowe said she would not support a health care bill that included a public option. She said that a trigger plan, one that would establish a government plan as a fallback, would merit her support.
Now that she’s garnered immense publicity for her vote at the Finance Committee level, and now that the public option is off the table because it has been excluded from the health care bill, what is stopping Sen. Snowe from voting in favor of health care?
The leading statement on her website explains her position this way:
“I deeply regret that I cannot support the pending Senate legislation as it currently stands, given my continued concerns with the measure and an artificial and arbitrary deadline of completing the bill before Christmas that is shortchanging the process on this monumental and trans-generational effort.”
So now, despite the fact that her office in a recent news story says that “she's been spending more than 100 percent of her time on the health care issue,” Sen. Snowe wants more time.
More time? More time for what?
Universal health care has been something proposed in Congress since President Harry Truman. “Millions of our citizens do not now have a full measure of opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health. Millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness. The time has arrived for action to help them attain the opportunity and that protection,” wrote President Truman in 1945.
The heath care issue has come up often in Congress since then: in 1946, 1949, 1962, 1964-5, 1974, 1979, 1991-4 and in 2009. Each time, nothing was done about it.
So despite the fact that proposed heath care bill now is not much different than the one that was supported by Sen. Snowe in the Finance Committee, she’s still not voting for it.
Sen. Snowe is nothing but a tease on health care.
She doesn’t really need more time — it’s just an excuse to drag the process out and get more publicity. More time is what all those ads on television request which recommend that we “start over” on health reform. Start over is a euphemism for stop. Because there is no place to start over.
Let me make this perfectly clear for those that might not understand it: Republicans oppose any form of health reform. Period. There is no ability to start over when one party refuses to accept any health care reform bill no matter what provisions it contains.
So if this health bill doesn’t pass, it’s dead. Gone. Over.
I find it ironic that in today’s Portland Press Herald, there is a full page endorsement of Sen. Snowe by the AARP thanking her for fighting to lower drug costs. The ad says: AARP applauds your bipartisan leadership and commitment to lowering drug prices through safe, legal drug importation. Unfortunately, special interests blocked your efforts to help patients gain the affordable prescription medication they desperately need.”
Well isn’t that interesting? If memory serves me right, AARP has publicly endorsed the health care bill. I don’t see the AARP saying thank you to Sen. Snowe for voting against the bill.
Sen. Snowe has received her 15 minutes of fame — and then some — for her position on health care reform. Now it’s time to recognize it for what it really was — a call for greater attention.
Well you know what Sen. Snowe — history has called and you weren’t there. Instead, you were walked lock-step with your fellow Republicans by voting no on health care reform.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. A tease always leaves you disappointed.
