Gary Trauner ran two spirited, and oh-so-close races, for the Wyoming House seat in 2006 and 2008. Last week, he had the chance to talk to Max Baucus directly about the state of healthcare reform. Here's his report. --mcjoan
I’ve been debating whether or not to write about my recent experience with Senator Baucus, but after the events of the last week, I can’t hold off any longer.
Let me start with a disclaimer – I have supported the Senator in the past, financially and otherwise, viewing him as a thoughtful member of the Senate doing his best from a neighboring western State.
No more.
I went to a fundraiser with Max Baucus last week (Aug. 23) in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Thankfully, the fundraising was for the WY Democratic Party – at this point, I wouldn’t give the Senator a penny; and besides, I’m not a big enough hitter to attend the post-reception dinner where the big money flowed into the Senator’s campaign coffers.
During his talk, Baucus made a point of emphasizing, several times, how he and Obama were trying to get a bipartisan bill, while in the same breath admitting that the leadership on the other side of the aisle (he specifically mentioned McConnell and Kyl) is dead set against any health care reform, putting heavy pressure on Senators Enzi and Grassley in the Gang of Six to nix any reform. It was at the point where Baucus said that while one of my Wyoming Senators – John Barasso (an MD, no less) was completely unresponsive, our other Wyoming Senator and charter member of the Gang of Six, Mike Enzi was working in good faith to achieve a bi-partisan compromise - that I couldn’t take it anymore. My hand shot up like a dutiful student, and when the Senator called on me, the first thing that blurted out of my mouth was, "Forget about Enzi, he will NEVER vote for any healthcare reform bill of any substance that comes out of Congress". Privately, I was thinking, "how is it possible that this guy doesn’t see what everyone else who pays any attention in Wyoming already knows – Enzi is an impediment to reform, not an ally."
I then asked how many Republicans would constitute bipartisanship, because everyone knows it would be a miracle to get even 3 Republicans to sign on (of course, now Enzi says the Senate will need 75-80 votes on such an important issue, a completely arbitrary and ridiculous assertion; when the Republican Congress passed Bush’s tax cuts with 51 votes & 58 votes respectively, and Medicare Part D with 54 votes – all under Reconciliation – I didn’t hear Enzi or any other "R" talking about bipartisanship, much less 75-80 votes). I also told Baucus that the Dems were going to own whatever bill finally came out because the other party will never give them credit for anything good, and the smart political thing to do was the same as the smart policy thing to do – pass universal healthcare with a public option to help control costs! Because if healthcare reform actually works and makes people’s lives better, it would be the political equivalent of drafting Bill Russell into the Celtics hoops dynasty – Democrats would be solid for a generation! Baucus spoke about trusting the American people and how smart they were, and I told him if he really believed that, then he should understand that basically no one outside the Beltway cares about false bipartisanship and chumminess amongst Senators – that even among the wealthy supporters in the room, I bet none of them knew how many votes it took to pass the Bush tax cuts or Part D (let alone Social Security, Civil Rights legislation, Clean Air, etc.); they only care about policy and how it affects their lives (and I was right - no one knew how many votes any of those bills took to pass).
Finally, I pushed him on 1) Reconciliation (he doesn’t want to go there) and 2) getting 60 votes for cloture on an up or down vote on a healthcare bill (he doesn’t want to go there).
Senator Baucus repeatedly remarked how tough a spot he and the Democrats were in. He told a story about floating the trial balloon of raising revenue by taxing healthcare benefits, something the labor unions vehemently object to. He said after getting pressure, they had to take that funding mechanism off the table. As if taking heat from interest groups – on either side of the political spectrum – and then buckling under is standard procedure that the rest of us just can’t understand. Next to me, I heard someone mutter the obvious – wasn’t his job as a US Senator to make tough decisions?
As the event wound down, a sad realization came over me – because when I looked into Senator Baucus’ eyes, I realized he truly thinks he is trying to help the rest of us out, but he has been inside the beltway for so long that he can’t see one inch past the Senate’s clubby chambers or the $$$$ he gets from corporate interests. Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt (and he is a good person), how could he not realize that Enzi would never vote for real, meaningful reform that helps people, not profits? How could he not get that bi-partisanship DOES NOT EXIST when it comes to healthcare reform?
As someone who ran to try and change the dynamic in DC, I now despair for the future of our country. Because if Max Baucus is leading the charge on healthcare reform, if Senate Dems can’t understand that in this case good policy is good politics, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
