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When no other Republican was willing to work with Democrats on legislation to revamp the health care system, Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine stuck it out.

She put forward numerous amendments when the Finance Committee took up the bill  not aimed at killing the healthcare reform bill like so many other amendments proposed by her Republican colleagues but to improve it, especially to make insurance more affordable for families and small businesses.In recent weeks, Ms. Snowe has been the subject of intense efforts by the White House to win her vote. She had several one-on-one meetings personally with President Obama, including one on Saturday afternoon. But on Sunday the string finally ran out.In a formal statement that in some ways only confirmed the obvious, Ms. Snowe said that she would vote against ending debate on the healthcare rerform bill, and would oppose the legislation absent major changes.“Having been fully immersed in this issue for this entire year and as the only Republican to vote for health reform in the Finance Committee, 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 healthcare reform bill before Christmas that is shortchanging the process on this monumental and trans-generational effort,” she said.Unlike the barrage of attacks unleashed on the healthcare reform bill by her Republican colleagues, Ms. Snowe’s criticism is particularly devastating for the Democrats. In many ways, Ms. Snowe wants to vote for the healthcare reform bill even more than some of the reluctant centrists who will provide Democrats with the pivotal votes.

In Ms. Snowe’s view, Democrats are rushing the healthcare reform bill unnecessarily. In a recent interview, she warned that Congress would spend years fixing the healthcare reform bill if it was adopted in her current form. She recalled her days in the Maine state legislature, where legislation titled “errors and inconsistencies” would be needed to correct mistakes – in the Congress such legislation is often referred to as “technical corrections” and she said many such corrections would be need on the health measure. Ms. Snowe has also sent a five-page letter to the director of the Congressional Budget Office asking numerous questions about the legislation and the budget office’s cost analysis. Among her questions were inquiries about the average projected cost of insurance policies that will be available under the legislation, as well as the impact on small employers.Democrats have made clear that they have no intention of slowing the legislation to meet Ms. Snowe’s demands. But given her intense focus on the issue, chances are the Democrats will end up having to answer her questions, one way or another.

Source: The NewYork Times

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