And then there was one.
Sen. Mary Landrieu just announced she would vote to allow Harry
Reid’s health care bill to make it to the Senate floor for a
vote.
Landrieu, who was one of just two remaining Democratic holdouts,
secured $100 million in special Medicaid funding for
Louisiana as part of the bill. She cautioned that, "The vote
today to move forward in this important debate should in no way
be construed by supporters of this current framework as an
indication of how I might vote as this debate comes to an end."
But her decision does make it much more likely that the
legislation will ultimately
pass, and leaves Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas as the only
Democrat who has yet to declare her intentions. Reid needs
Lincoln in order to reach the necessary 60-vote threshold.
UPDATE: Landrieu addressed the million payment to Louisiana in
her remarks, blasting "very partisan Republican bloggers" for
spreading the story. However, the news, as far as I can tell, was
first reported by the
Politico and
ABC News. The argument she made was that post-Katrina federal
aid to Louisiana made the state appear artificially richer, and
thus deprived them of the federal Medicaid funding they deserve.
And she boasted that the actual amount was $300 million.
In her remarks, Landrieu also suggested many improvements, and
praised Sen. Ron Wyden proposal to open up the exchanges to those
who may not be satisfied with their employer-based care.
She also continued to express reservations about the government
plan, arguing that it would pose "significant risk to taxpayers
over time.” Instead, she supports a proposal by Sen. Olympia
Snowe to "trigger" the government plan if the private market
doesn't meet certain government benchmarks.
