HEALTH CARE DEBATE

After talking about the evils of the public option, and having the government involved in health care, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is forced to admit that Medicare is not only part of the "social fabric of America" but that it is a government run plan.



Right now, the Senate is debating Charles Schumer's public option amendment (after voting down Jay Rockefeller's public option amendment). The usual argument about the evils of government are being espoused by Senators Cornyn (Texas), Grassley (Iowa), and Ensign (Nevada). Here's the link for the public option committee debate, live.

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Incredibly, Max Baucus (D-Montana) just said (12:40 pm) that he won't vote for the public option amendment because it won't get 60 votes out of committee. Huh? As chair of the committee he's done nothing to help the public option amendments gain support. His reasoning for voting against the public option amendments is like saying, "You can't swim, and I'm not going to help you learn, so I'm not going to let you in the water."

- Mark

UPDATE: The committee just voted down Schumer's public option amendment, 13-10.