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Snowe, Lincoln Push Back Against Gov't Plan

By Philip Klein on 10.27.09 @ 3:05PM

Sen. Olympia Snowe has joined Joe Lieberman in vowing to support a filibuster to block a vote on a health care bill that included the government-run plan announced yesterday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

This news alone would mean that Reid doesn't have the 60 votes he needs to proceed.

But in other news today, Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln reiterated that she does not think a government plan is the way to go.

While she didn't comment on whether or not she would go as far as to filibuster the bill, the Associated Press reports:

"Creating another government-funded option is not where we're going. We don't need to go there," Lincoln told members of the Arkansas Farm Bureau during a video conference. "A government-funded option is something that I think is not the way to go."

The problem Reid faces is that if he pulls back support for the government plan now, it will enrage liberals who will believe he's sold them out to win the support of a few moderates. But if he charges ahead with the government plan proposal, he risks derailing the entire health care effort.