An Interesting Development In Massachusetts

From the Boston Globe:

House lawmakers approved legislation last night that gives Governor Deval Patrick the power to appoint a temporary successor to the late Edward M. Kennedy in the US Senate, putting Massachusetts on track to have a new senator in place by next week.

The passage of the bill, by a 95-to-58 vote, was a crucial step toward filling the seat left vacant by Kennedy’s death last month and could carry major implications as Congress debates an overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

“This bill will give us full representation today, and the people of Massachusetts will have their second voice in the US Senate,’’ said state Representative Michael Moran, a Democrat from Boston and cochairman of the Joint Committee on Election Laws. “My overriding concern is making sure the people of Massachusetts are fully represented in the US Congress.’’

The legislation now goes to the Senate, where top lawmakers believe they have enough votes for it to pass, presuming some supporters do not get cold feet. Republicans, however, vow to use parliamentary maneuvers to stall final passage for as long as possible. * * *

This Is Clever

From The Wall Street Journal:

The White House is holding intensive talks with Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican, about Ms. Snowe's proposal to use the public plan as a fallback option, aides familiar with the conversations said.

The overhaul under discussion would include a requirement for most individuals to buy insurance; a federally operated exchange where individuals and small businesses could buy insurance; and tax credits to help people buy plans. Ms. Snowe believes that is enough to create a competitive market that drives down prices.

But if prices don't fall by a certain percentage and coverage doesn't expand beyond 95% in a given state after a time, the plan would call for adding a government insurance option to that state's choices, according to the aides familiar with the White House conversations. "We are at the point now to give it the full throttle to get it over the finish line," Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff, said in an interview. "That is why the president is going to step into a different role and be more prescriptive."

Nice idea there, Ms. Snowe. And Obama is smart to embrace it, because he can push this public plan fallback idea as an example of where a Republican is actually trying to come up with a solution instead of trying to block reform and thus hand Obama a political defeat.