This story has been at the top of the TM headlines all day and for a very good
reason. It’s nothing
short of monumental. Not only for the content, but also for the political
theater involved.
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday will release a
sweeping proposal to overhaul the health-care system that largely reflects
President-elect Barack Obama’s vision, increasing the chances for action next
year.There is one important difference between the initiative coming from Montana
Democratic Sen. Max Baucus and the plan Mr. Obama laid out during his presidential
campaign: Mr. Baucus would require all Americans to have health insurance,
while Mr. Obama has rejected the idea of a mandate. [...]
What Baucus outlines is basically what Hillary Clinton fought for during the
primaries, minus HRC leading on it. HRC may be the most powerful woman in politics today, but in the Senate she doesn’t have seniority, so her role is quite different than when she was running for president, regardless of her effectiveness on the issue. Recently there was a piece on the “The Sleuth” that Hillary was “denied her request to create a health care subcommittee” that she would chair. HRC reportedly approached Kennedy, who was “cool” to the idea. (I cannot offer any further reporting on this juicy nugget.) Reine’s, Clinton’s spokesperson, simply reaffirmed HRC’s commitment to doing all she can to make universal health care a reality. No doubt, but she also obviously wanted to carve out a place where she could put her name on any health care reform going forward. That looks unlikely as things stand today.
Baucus is also going a step further than
President-elect Obama has wanted to go, but that may not matter at
this point.
Paul
Krugman opines on this very subject:
But now Max Baucus — Max Baucus! — is leading the charge on a
health care plan that, at least at first read, is more like Hillary Clinton’s
than Barack Obama’s; that is, it looks like an attempt at full universality.
(The word I hear, by the way, is that Obama’s opposition to mandates
was tactical politics, not conviction — so he may well be prepared to
do the right thing now that the election is won.)
Brian Beutler
is eyeing this develop with deep ambivalence:
But for now I’ll just say I think it’s odd–and possibly troubling–that
Max Baucus is jumping so aggressively into the universal health care game.
If he’s just laying a foundation to be revisited when the time is right, then
great. But it’s a curious choice when you consider that a). it’s basically
the same foundation Hillary Clinton et al have already laid, b). it comes
on the heels of the election of a president who has said over and over again
that his top priorities are near-term economic stimulus and a long-view clean
energy and infrastructure investment program, and c). Max Baucus hasn’t always
been the best-behaved Democrat in the caucus.
Health Care for America Now is applauding.
Ezra Klein runs down the jurisdiction
jockeying.
The last few months have seen intense, but quiet, jockeying between HELP
and Finance for lead on this issue. Kennedy staffed up by hiring John McDonough,
the widely-respected advocate whose long-time agitation brought the Massachusetts
health reform plan into being. Baucus staffed up by hiring Liz Fowler, a longtime
congressional health staffer who’s well known and well-respected in both the
policy and political communities. Kennedy, along with McDonough, began running
a private policy education seminar where various senators and their staffs
would meet to hear presentations and begin talking through the issues. Baucus
gathered the entire Senate Finance Committee in the James Madison Memorial
Building for a daylong, open-to-the-press, health care event entitled “Prepare
for Launch.” And around this time, Kennedy got sick. Though all reports
are that he remains involved in health reform efforts, his absence from Washington
and the dark rumors about his health have injected much uncertainty into the
role he will, or will not, be able to play.But yesterday there was a new round of jockeying. Max Baucus penned a letter
to President-Elect Barack Obama advocating quick action on health reform and
warning Obama that Baucus would be releasing a set of principles and ideas
into the Congress next week. In reply, Kennedy’s staff director, Michael Myers,
sat down at a Families USA conference and explained that Kennedy would take
his “cues from the Obama White House.” According to Myers, Kennedy
has “articulated a strategy that he calls the one bill strategy. We’ve
learned from the lessons of the past.” And Kennedy, of course, plans for
HELP to write the final bill.
Senator Clinton hovers over any talk of universal health care. So does that other
guy. Now what was his name? Oh right, John Edwards, along with his wife Elizabeth. But today it’s Max Baucus, the chairman of Finance, who blew the lid off the discussion. Wonders never cease.
How the hell we’re going to pay for it is another subject completely. It’s also the part that gives me nightmares.
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