Word: plan
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...seat super-majority, who helped the party add a total of 14 seats in the 2006 and 2008 elections, is worried these days about how disappointed the Democratic base will be if Congress doesn't make a determined effort to pass health care reform with a public plan in it. Odds are good that that attempt will fail, but in Schumer's book As are still given for effort. (Read "Understanding the Health Care Debate: Your Indispensable Guide...
...almost no Senator puts forth as dogged an effort every day as Schumer. A week after the Senate Finance Committee rejected two versions of a public plan - including one authored by Schumer - the New York Democrat was still "very optimistic" about the chances of one ending up in the final legislation passed by the chamber. Indeed, despite the fact that President Obama has refused to endorse the idea as a must-have provision and that Olympia Snowe of Maine - the lone Republican Senator still supporting any version of health reform - remains opposed to it, Schumer has never given...
...Still, the issue doesn't appear to have damaged Schumer's standing in the party; many observers believe he would ultimately like to become majority leader. Part of his appeal is his uncanny sense of the political winds. Schumer crafted his compromise version of the public plan expressly to appeal to moderates, mainly by including a provision allowing individual states to opt out. His sales pitch is three-pronged. First, he says, studies have shown that government competition is the most effective means of keeping down costs. Second, polls show that most Americans want a public option; conveniently some have...
...crucially, to the Obama Administration. Schumer tried to make his case for a public option at a White House meeting on Oct. 22. But by all accounts, Obama and his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, remained unconvinced, preferring to salvage the support of Snowe, who favors a public plan built around a trigger - meaning if competition is found sufficiently lacking in a state, a public plan might be created for that locality...
...Still, Reid is pushing ahead with Schumer's plan, and it will be many weeks' worth of amendments before it is known if Democrats have the votes to pass it. Even if it fails, says Senator Nelson, Schumer will have no problem adapting to the political reality. "Chuck is the most pragmatic man I've ever met," Nelson says with a laugh. Yet it's clear that Schumer is a long way off from calling his public option a lost cause just...