Gang of Six
The Gang of Six is group of six U.S. Senators, all members of the Senate Committee on Finance, who are seen as the core group that might work out an agreement on health care reform. While they have been called "moderate", that is more in the sense that they have a demonstrated ability to work across party lines, rather than an evaluation of their ideology.
- Max Baucus, chairman
- Chuck Grassley, ranking Republican
- Jeff Bingaman
- Kent Conrad
- Mike Enzi
- Olympia Snowe
Of the Republicans, Snowe, who does not face reelection until 2012, may be the likeliest to vote with Democrats. [1] While Enzi is known for bipartisanship and spoke positively at the March 2009 White House Forum on Health Reform, he has said he expects to extract Democratic concessions rather than compromise. He gave the weekly Republican radio response, to which Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said
Certainly, I think the radio address over the weekend by Sen. Enzi, repeating many of the generic Republican talking points that Republicans are using that have bragged about being opposed to health care, are tremendously unfortunate, but in some ways illuminating...It appears that, at least in Sen. Enzi’s case, he doesn’t believe there’s a pathway to get bipartisan support...Sen. Enzi’s clearly turned over his cards on bipartisanship and decided that it’s time to walk away from the table.[2]
Draft plan
On September 16, Baucus presented elements of the plan.[3] It would cost $856 billion over 10 years and mandate insurance coverage for every American. The proposal has no public option, which President Obama has wanted, but includes non-profit health care cooperatives.
It would bar dropping policyholders as long as premiums had been paid, add protections for pre-existing conditions, and set up tax credits to help purchase coverage.
Criticism
Several individuals have received substantial contributions from participants in health care, which has raised questions of the appearance of conflict of interest. Baucus, however, trails only Obama and McCain, John Kerry and Arlen Specter D-Pa., have received more health contributions than Baucus, $8.3 million and $4.5 million, respectively.[1]
| Senator | Contributions | Rank in Congress |
|---|---|---|
| Baucus | $3.9 million | 5 |
| Grassley | $2.7 million | 14 |
| Conrad | $1.6 million | 35 |
| Bingaman | $865,000 | 102 |
| Enzi | $844,000 | 104 |
| Snowe | $756,000 | 122 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Alan Fram, "THE INFLUENCE GAME: Health interests fund senators", Associated Press
- ↑ Susan Davis (31 August 2009), "Gibbs Tells Off Sen. Enzi Over Health Care Remarks", Wall Street Journal
- ↑ "Baucus Unveils 'Gang Of Six' Plan", CNN, 16 September 2009