Thursday, June 19, 2008

Max Baucus, Senator Extraordinaire

Matt Yglesias says that the biggest obstacle in getting "good health care reform" is none other than our very own Max Baucus.

One thing I'd forgotten during the long debate about Clinton versus Obama on health care, and in speculation about the Senate filibuster, is that the key legislative player, the chokepoint through which health care reform must pass, is Max Baucus, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. But he's not just Finance Committee Chairman, he's also a terrible Senator! Indeed, on core economic policy issues he's probably the worst Senator -- a little bit right-wing, a lot corrupt and unprincipled. Ezra Klein has a piece on Baucus and health reform that nods in the direction of Baucus' critics but then waxes optimistic:


Sadly, even Baucus recognizes his own inteptitude.

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