{"id":77,"date":"2009-09-29T01:26:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-29T09:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=77"},"modified":"2009-09-29T01:26:00","modified_gmt":"2009-09-29T09:26:00","slug":"barf-public-option-vote-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2009\/09\/29\/barf-public-option-vote-today\/","title":{"rendered":"BARF Public Option Vote Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

That\u2019s right.  Today the Senate Finance committee is scheduled to debate and vote on adding the Public Option to BARF<\/a>.  The rabid right is running new ads that are particularly dysfunctional.  Here\u2019s an example, cleverly edited by a pro reform activist.
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Hat-Tip: Huffington Post<\/a>
Whatever happened to do no HAARM?
And is the Nevada Leg-Hound, a title earned for his habit of humping the GOP leg instead of leading, is Harry Reid fighting for the American People?<\/p>\n

\"Reid\"<\/a> The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, has secured a special deal protecting his state against the costs of expanding Medicaid under one of the major health care bills moving through Congress.<\/span>
Mr. Reid, a Democrat, complained about the impact on Nevada when the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, unveiled his bill on Sept. 16. <\/span>
Now Mr. Baucus has modified the bill to spare Nevada and three other states, and Mr. Reid, who faces a potentially difficult race for re-election next year, is taking credit for getting a \u201cmajor increase\u201d in federal money for his state.<\/span>
The Senate bill, like a companion measure in the House, would expand Medicaid to cover childless adults, parents and other people with incomes less than 133 percent of the poverty level, or $29,327 for a family of four. The federal government would pay most of the new costs \u2014 anywhere from 77 percent to 95 percent, with a higher share in poorer states, in the first five years.<\/span>
Under Mr. Baucus\u2019s [sic] original proposal, the federal government would have paid 87 percent of the new costs in Nevada. Under the modified version, the federal government would pay 100 percent<\/strong> of the new costs for the first five years. Severe financial problems have prompted Nevada and other states to cut spending and furlough workers, and some states have even considered releasing prison inmates to save money\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

inserted from <NY Times<\/a>>
No, he didn\u2019t lead.  Instead of humping a GOP leg, he humped Max Baucus\u2019 leg and got preferential treatment for Nevada.  I don\u2019t think Baucus would have done this unless Reid sold us out to get the special deal.
Some of the best thinking I\u2019ve heard on this came from Countdown, even in the absence of Keith Olbermann.  For one thing, Blue Dog DINOs are getting pressure from the left to either support the Public Option or face primary challenges to their reelection, a move I support.<\/p>\n