Tale of Senate integrity, courage

From the same small state tucked under the eastern arm of Canada, serving the same largely lower-income constituencies, facing the same fiscal challenges, and carrying identical banners for the same political party, Maine’s two senators present a Dorian Gray portrait of contrasts.

One has staked out a position of courage; the other of compromise — Senators Collins and Snowe, respectively.

The stark contrasts began emerging two weeks ago when Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe defected from the Republican Party to cast the lone GOP vote for The Baucus Bill, an action that significantly moved forward the federal government’s takeover of the American healthcare system and gave Obama the questionable ability to declare that he had achieved a “bipartisan” victory.

Now, Maine Sen. Susan Collins — representing precisely the same demographics as Sen. Snowe — voted against the Obama’s healthcare legislation in a 60-39 party-line vote. As did Sen. Snowe, further obfuscating her position.

Not to be confused with her counterpart’s vacillation and her disloyal behavior, Sen. Collins seized the moment and immediately emailed her constituents with news of the Senate vote and of her strong stance regarding it.

At 8:11 p.m. Saturday, The Washington Post moved its first Internet news advisory on passage of the healthcare bill in the upper chamber:

“Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) this evening secured the 60 votes needed to move an $848 billion health-care reform bill to the Senate floor for debate, clearing the way for amendment deliberations to begin after the Thanksgiving recess.”

At 9:07 p.m. Saturday, Sen. Collins’ email list received this notification:

“Senator Susan Collins tonight voted against considering a divisive, partisan bill and, instead, urged her colleagues to work together to develop a new, bipartisan proposal to help reform our nation’s health care system.”

The roll call vote registered these results:

Voting for the healthcare legislation: 58 Democrats and 2 independents;

Voting against the healthcare legislation were: 39 Republicans and 0 Democrats.

At perhaps one of the most crucial policy moments in recent Senate history, Sen. Snow could not muster the energy or commitment to stand by her previous treacherous vote, and retained an innocuous official Web site position unrelated to the national healthcare debate and the immediate Senate vote.

Sen. Snowe’s official Web site offered the following lead story of tortured construction, and maintained this content into the following week:

“As reports regarding the impact the economic stimulus plan has [sic.] had on job creation and retention in the nation continue to demonstrate significant inaccuracies, U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today, in a letter, demanded that the Administration provide the methodology used to calculate job claims and explain the reporting errors on the Recovery.gov Web site.”

Not only do Mainers, and all Americans, need a senator more concerned with the quality, affordability and availability of their healthcare than Sen. Snowe, but they also need one who can hire a staff that can write a simple declarative sentence.

As wishy-washy as Sen. Snowe has been regarding her precise position regarding healthcare reform, Sen. Collins has been direct. Sen. Collins made the following unequivocal declarations in her Saturday night email message to constituents, a message that immediately followed her Senate vote.

“We must find a way to control the health care costs that have driven up the cost of coverage for families, employers and governments alike.  But Senator Reid’s proposal falls far short when it comes to reining in the cost of healthcare….

“This bill would actually drive up the cost of health insurance for many middle-income families and small businesses…

“This bill would impose billions of dollars in new penalties on employers, which will ultimately be paid by American workers in the form of reduced wages and lost jobs. This just does not make sense, especially at a time when unemployment already exceeds 10 percent…

“[This bill] would create a taxpayer-subsidized, government-run health insurance company which would ultimately lead to fewer choices and higher costs.

“[This bill] would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicare, which provides care for our oldest Americans and most vulnerable citizens. These cuts would adversely affect the ability of Maine’s hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, and other health care providers to provide essential services to our seniors. Any savings in Medicare should be used to shore up the financially troubled program.

This tale of these two senators, who represent exactly the same constituencies under the same political banner, is one that gives Democrats both concern and hope. Immediately after Saturday’s decisive vote, Sen. Harry Reid called both Maine politicians and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar personally visited Sen. Collins, according to The New York Times.

The votes of Senators Collins and Snowe will be critical elements in determining the future of Obama’s healthcare takeover. Perhaps integrity, deliberation and prudence will win, with Sen. Collins’ reasoned approach eeking out victory.