Snowe and Collins are both useless. They "talk moderate" all the time, but they always vote with the far right that runs their party. They're "reliable."

Both of them prove that Republicans are worthless, regardless of their "moderation."

I'm a "people". I'm "very concerned" that Collins is spouting nonsense. Will she now stop spouting nonsense?

when they spout nonsense it is because they are puppets for the corporations, not because they are actually that stupid.

If we had any actual reporters, every time a Republican expressed opposition to public-private competition, or even to something that might conceivably trigger public-private competition, the follow up question should be: "So, are you writing the amendment for the type of invasive regulatory bureaucracy that will be required otherwise in order to hold down costs and keep the private insurers honest? Since you're rejecting a proposal that essentially is intended to help control costs, you must have an idea of a better way to achieve that goal. Let's hear it."

Which of course you will never, ever hear asked, because in political circles it's considered impolite to point out the turd in the punchbowl and ask questions about how anyone intends to deal with it.

Yeah, it's sad that we have both a horrendous Republican Party, a wish-washy and flabby Democratic Party (see for example http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090913/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_health_care), and just the sort of Media that Jennifer spotlights that a very apt phrase.

"It's a reminder that even moderate Republicans aren't that moderate. They only seem that way because the rest of the party is so far to the right."

They don't seem moderate at all. If they do seem that way to anyone, it's because they are in denial that their country is circling the drain.

Yes a trigger...here's how that works...it goes into effect as soon as elements of whatever bill is passed go into effect (up to 3-4 years) because you just know the insurance industry will make NO CHANGES until then...problem solved!!!

If we had any actual reporters, they would ask Collins why she accepts government insurance through her job, and why isn't she introducing a bill to save the federal government millions by eliminating health insurance for Senators and their families. I am still waiting for more Democrats, including Obama, to speak up more forcefully and clearly!

Two, Collins' case is entirely ideological -- it doesn't matter what works in the real world; what matters are theoretical, philosophical objections to some arbitrary standards of the size of government.

I'm guessing Collins is running for at least VP in 2012 as a ticket balancer. She's setting herself up as the anti-Palin, ready to lead the party out of its Southern Captivity.

- Northerner, in a party dominated by the south and west.
- Moderate, in a party owned by crazies.
- Not in visible thrall to theocrats.
- Pro-choice (see above)
- What passes for an environmentalist (ANWR vote).

Her tango with Nelson on the stimulus was her coming-out party.

She's carefully measuring how far away from the median GOP position on issues, and the answer on this one is 'not far'.

I think she's got a snowball's chance in hell, but her approach is consistent with all the time-honored nostrums of ordinary politics. It's not going to work in exordinary times, though.

There is only one sane solution to the Elephant in the Room, and few want to speak about it:

Single Payer with optional additional private care for those who can afford it and choose to do so.
Insurance is based upon the spread of risk amongst the greatest amount of members possible. Am I correct?
In other words, the more subscibers to the pool of insureds, the better the chance of at least breaking even in paying out claims.
Of course, the easy way to have constancy of profit is to exclude those subscribers who are a higher risk for claims than the average. Therein lies the problem:
Just as Auto and Home Insurance companies have for years dropped those who have had an accident and/or nature driven loss, so have those with pre-existing conditions been slashed from health insurance coverage.
The insurance industry as a whole has been given a pass by the regulatory agencies at the federal, state and local levels again and again.
Health Care for Profit falls under the same business decisions fuelled by greed and avarice and is both ethically and economically untenable.
Medicare and TriCare are government directed programs that work. To use these programs as a guide for "Medicare For All" or Tricare For All" would give the insurer (yes, that would be an agency of the Federal Government) the advantage of "risk spread" by insuring both the healthy and the ill, and by sheer numbers in purchasing power of medicines and equipment the bargaining power of a large corporation.
Therein, of course, lies the conundrum, and this is the core of the fight of the corporations and their shills against reform.
This is why the "astroturfers" have been organized by those whose interests lie not with "We The People", but with "Us The Corporations".
I could go on...

Collins doesn't just provide cover for conservative Republicans with her so-called "moderate" endorsement of their right wing agenda, she also provides cover for Blue Dog Democrats by presenting the illusion of a down to Earth realism. Her hand wringing over the cost reinforces that illusion. That it's only an illusion doesn't seem to worry too many Blue Dogs.

why is anyone wasting anytime at all with republicans? They are morons:

they don't want any of the democratic bills and claim to want to start over, but they offer nothing that supports health care reform.

they claim to be worried about costs, but refuse the ONLY item on the table that could control costs.

the republican positions are completely incongruous to any one capable of rational thought. They are disingenuous obstructionists dealing solely at the political level with no concern at all for Americans.

Me? I want a public option. Even more I want a single payer system. That said, James Surowiecki who writes about matters economic for the New Yorker, wrote a reassuring piece the other day mostly about "what if no public option..." Most of us haven't wanted to consider that possibility, but Surowiecki's piece takes a look at what might happen and -- believe me -- there is hope.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/jamessurowiecki/?xrail

And third, what Collins really wants to is tackle the cost issue.

No, what Collins -- and her asshole buddies -- really want is to block ANY legislation that Barack can claim as a success.

Especially with Republicans ideology is an aesthetic, not a theory.

A theory is built upon and adapted to reality and new information. An aesthetic is an eternal verity.

But, but, but . . . Collins is supposed to be Snowe's "Mini-Me!" Didn't she forget that that's how she keeps getting elected in Maine???

When will politicians grow enough spine to say, "I don't like..." or "I'm concerned" instead of "some say" and "other people don't like..."?

I predict early retirement for them both. Maine is one of the poorest states in the union, it has some of the highest unemployment levels. Mainers need universal, affordable health care.
The Maine hospital I recently left had 80% Medicare and Medicaide patients, and is in danger of having to close down.
It takes a stone cold heart to vote against these people.

I don't know much about Maine politics but why don't Baldacci or Angus King run against the Maine queens. I remember hearing King on NPR and he seemed like a pretty decent pol.

@warren, Baldacci is not popular at all in Maine. He only won because the GOP had a divisive primary and the eventual gubernatorial nominee was a crazed wingnut.

As for Angus King, you're right, he should challenge Snowe or Collins. He's really the only politician up there who could potentially make a contest of it. But even he would face long odds. For some inexplicable reason, Mainers just love their pair of pseudo-moderates, refusing to wake up and see them for the far-right rubber stamps that they are.

Being a puppet of corporations (or of any other person or thing) is a form of stupidity--a refusal to think, despite what one's intelligence might indicate; an abdication of personal responsibility. Ideology which cannot be affected by reality is a form of stupidity. Why the Democrats don't stand up and say this, over and over, is inexplicable--unless they too are puppets.

The operative word is "option." You don't have to take it. Maybe nobody signs up for it, but republicans have always been against choice of any kind. However, they know lots of people will, thus putting the lie to their position that "the people" don't want it.

The only thing the R's think about is how the rich can get even richer.

I saw a comment from a Mainer this morning expressing a somewhat negative opinion of Ms. Collins that may explain her position. He characterized Ms. Collins as a "corporate whore." Assuming that corporate well-being was more important to her than the personal well-being of her constituents goes a long way to explaining her behavior.