Arlen Specter, The Flexible Health Care Vote In The Senate

Today, Senator Arlen Specter held a town hall with live coverage on network TV, not the amateur and cell phone video we’ve seen from previous town halls.  Almost everyone in the room was opposed to more government intervention in the health care or the health insurance businesses.  To his credit the Senator listened politely to a least a dozen hostile questions and negative comments from the audience. But his answers were contemptible.

There were several episodes of applause and raucous cheering for questioners, but the audience did quiet down each time to allow Specter to respond, uninterrupted.

Most of the questioners had done their homework.  They asked about specific provisions in the thousand page bill that has been on the Internet for several weeks,  HR3200.  Most of Specter’s answers were variations of the same response:  There is no final version for Senators to vote on yet.  Thus, any specific provision the questioners didn’t like might or might not be part of the final version.   At one point he said he hasn’t read HR3200, a sorry admission.  While he seemed to agree that parts of HR3200 were outrageous, he got slippery and evasive when asked for a firm commitment to vote no on a final bill that included any of those outrageous provisions.

His answer to a question about “single payer” provides an insight to his thinking and his character.  Single Payer means there no private insurance and government pays for every medical service for every citizen.  Canada has single payer and  Canadians who can afford it come to the US and pay out of pocket for needed medical services because their government system is so dysfunctional.   The questioner asked  how Specter would vote if the ObamaCare were designed to morph into single payer in the future.  His answer:

I’m prepared to keep single payer on the table as a mater of consideration and flexibility.  I believe that when we are in the formative stage of figuring out what to do, that we have to consider every option, and hear the people out…my idea is to keep the public option on the table, to keep single payer on the table, to get a sense of America as we’re going to be debating this all month in meetings like these, and figure out what the American people would like to have, so I’m flexible.

From this we can conclude that  Specter, a Senator for 28 years doesn’t approach the issue with any firm principles in mind. His only “principle” is willingness to be flexible.   He  recently switched parties and is now more motivated by a desire to help fellow Democrats piece together enough votes to pass a bill any other consideration.

For Arlin Specter, there are no deal breakers.  Any idea is just as valid as any other, especially if its inclusion helps some version of ObamCare snare 51 Senate votes.