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The public option was killed by Arlen Specter, a Democrat, who refused to go along with the other Democrats. Rs were united, which made his defection critical.
by paulusthe 3y ago
The public option was killed by Arlen Specter, a Democrat, who refused to go along with the other Democrats. Rs were united, which made his defection critical. Kind of like how Joe Manchin throws a wrench in the works every few years in return for oil and coal extraction benefits for his company in WV
- lotsofpulp 3y agoOne person cannot kill legislation in the Senate, it takes 51 nay votes.
- nl 3y agoBlaming one dumb Democrat when all the other party voted against it seems odd. To be clear: he shouldn't have voted against it. But if the Republicans wanted good outcomes neither should any of them.
- js2 3y agoIt was Joe Lieberman (and 40 Republicans), not Arlen Specter, who killed the public option: https://publicintegrity.org/health/elimination-of-public-option-threw-consumers-to-the-insurance-wolves/ https://publicintegrity.org/health/elimination-of-public-opt... https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/10/did-sen-joe-lieberman-just-kill-the-public-option.html https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2009/10/did-sen-joe-lieb...