(h/t Blue Gal.)
President Obama, I do hope you stop wooing this "reasonable" woman, one whose intellectual capabilities are far exceeded by her political grasp. (She's proposed some breathtakingly bad ideas, like this one.)
Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, praised President Obama's speech to Congress on health care, but said Thursday that his refusal to drop the "public option" insurance proposal will delay action on health care reform.
Snowe said in a prepared statement that the proposal to offer a government alternative to private insurance is "divisive" and is "unnecessarily delaying our ability to reach common ground."
Olympia? If you know how to read polls, you'd know the only place the public option is divisive is in the corporate political class. We The People like it just fine.
Obama spoke before Congress on Wednesday night and maintained his support for the public option, but said he is willing to listen to a reasonable alternative that provides affordable coverage to Americans without insurance.
Snowe, who opposes the public option, has been working with five fellow members of the Senate Finance Committee to draft a health care reform bill. As a moderate Republican, Snowe is considered a pivotal figure in the debate and a potentially decisive vote.
Snowe said Obama indicated that he's willing to work with Republicans to move the reform measure forward. But Snowe said many Americans are afraid that the public option represents a government takeover of health care.
She has proposed a "safety net" that would provide health insurance if private insurers failed to offer affordable coverage after reforms took effect.
See, now, I'm confused. I thought the public option was the safety net? What would this net be, Your Majesty?
