Baucus to Release Bill with No Republican Backing

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September 16, 2009

Baucus to Release Bill with No Republican Backing

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) "will formally introduce his long-awaited health care reform bill today, but without the bipartisan backing he has intensely courted for months," Roll Call reports.

"Baucus' gang of six bipartisan Finance negotiators is vowing to continue working toward a deal heading into next week's legislative markup of the bill. Yet positions appeared to be hardening on both sides of the aisle, both within the group and among other Finance Committee members."

In fact, Nate Silver notes many key Democrats don't support the bill either, including Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).

"These are not just any old random set of Senators opposing Baucus's plan -- these are the thought leaders on health care reform."

Baucus previews his bill in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. It will be formally unveiled at noon today.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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September 16, 2009