April 9, 2012

Who deserves the 'F' for not compromising?

Olympia Snowe recently said she would give the president an "F" for failing to work with Republicans.

During the crafting of the Affordable Care Act, Snowe was given unprecedented access to Barack Obama. Eventually, the public option was dropped from the bill at her insistence. Apparently, she didn't care that the vast majority of businesses here in Maine are quite small, and could become more competitive if they didn't have to try to provide health insurance for their employees.

For some reason, Snowe has never regarded us Mainers as her "boss" and consistently votes against our interests. After the administration and Democratic committee members dropped the public option, Snowe voted to get the bill out of committee, then stabbed the compromisers in the back by refusing to vote for it in the full Senate.

Who deserves the "F" for not compromising? After the 2012 election, I predict that Snowe will be a K-street lobbyist working for the health insurance giants.

As for Obama's "failure" to work with the GOP, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has stated repeatedly that his No. 1 priority is to make Obama a one-term president.

Not fixing the mess made by Wall Street speculators. Not repairing our infrastructure (which could create millions of jobs). Not instituting reasonable regulations to avoid a full-blown depression.

Nope! His No. 1 priority is to get rid of Obama, to the point that the president's most neutral, innocuous appointments are all blocked in the Senate.

Snowe thinks we are all sheep here in Maine. I surely hope that she is wrong.

Harley Orr

Solon

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