This interview with Senator Rockefeller by Ezra Klein is a must read. Some important excerpts:
...46 percent of the American people have health insurance from fairly large companies that self-insure. And they're not included in the regulations. They have to have protection from preexisting conditions and lifetime caps and rescissions too.
I had no idea about that. Baucus, you bastard!
At the second-to-last meeting with Baucus, Democrats really let loose at Baucus. When you're getting close to the time you need to vote, public policy takes on a new type of intensity.
Good. I wish we had a recording of that meeting. I guess we'll all have to imagine the meeting -- and smile. More on this meeting:
The meeting we had last night helps me say that. Max Baucus does need our votes to get the through the Senate Committee. And there was a coalescence of Democrats that hadn't been pre-plotted. Some of these members had been quiet, and suddenly they were speaking, and loudly, about what was wrong. And if those things weren't fixed, they implied they wouldn't vote for it.
I really hope the senator can rally more Democrats to his camp. He's definitely on the right track, and if he can get his public option amendment passed during markup, well, that'd be fantastic. Unlikely, but fantastic.