Hot! Who Is The Gang Of Six Whovotedhow

August 20, 2009 by Mercy Warren Filed under Congress

The Gang of Six Tele-Farse

There are six members of the Senate Finance Committee who taut themselves as the bipartisan voice of that legislative body and believe themselves to be endowed with the power of negotiating the details of the proposed $2.5 trillion complete overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system. Panel Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat Senator from Montana, was the person in charge of selecting this group of six. Originally, it was supposed to be a group of seven, until Orrin Hatch left after realizing that bipartisanship was utterly lacking. Upon leaving the group, Mr. Hatch stated, "I am definitely concerned about the high costs of this bill, the push towards a single-payer system which is what it is, that s what s behind the whole government plan option."

The " Gang of Six " had been holding weekly meetings until the August break. While some of the "Gang of 6" members have had conversations among themselves, a teleconference has been scheduled for tonight at 9pm in an effort to once again speak as a group in order to float trial balloons, gauge progress, and attempt to promote the false notion that compromise between socialized medicine and a privatized healthcare system is possible.

Who are They?

The members of the "Gang of Six" who are involved in talks that potentially affect the American Healthcare system as we know it today and which represents one-sixth of the U.S. national economy are:

Max S. Baucus, (800) 332-6106), Democratic Senator from Montana, in office since 1978. Baucus is often viewed as a moderate in the Democratic party, though he is not a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.

Kent Conrad, (202) 224-2043, Democratic Senator from North Dakota, in office since 1987. Baucus serves as chairman of the Budget Committee and is said to be concerned over the potential enormity of cost to the American taxpayer and the growing deficit. Considered a centrist and at times voting what the Democratic party progressives might term conservatively, Conrad also is not a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.

Jeff Bingaman, (202) 224-5521, Democratic Senator from New Mexico, in office since 1982. Of the three democrats sitting with the "Gang of 6", Bingaman s voting record indicates his positions consistently lean left. As chair of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Bingaman is supports the controversial "cap and trade" legislation, another partisan bill garnering nearly the same amount of heated discussion as the proposed healthcare bill.

Chuck Grassley, (202) 224-3744, Republican Senator from Iowa, in office since 1981. In a recent Fox interview, Grassley has taken the position that Obama and his administration should seek more than just token Republican support and take the public option off the table.

Olympia Snowe, (202) 224-5344, Republican Senator from Maine, in office since 2003. Despite her popularity in her own state, Snowe is regarded by conservatives as a Republican in Name Only (RINO), meaning that in the majority of voting, Snowe more often than not is a moderate at best. While Snowe is supposed to represent the Republican voice in the "Gang of 6," few hold any glimmer of hope that her ultimate stance on the healthcare debate will reflect the position of her Republican counterparts.

Michael Enzi, (888) 250-1879, Republican Senator from Wyoming, in office since 1997. The National Journal ranked Enzi as the sixth most conservative Senator in their conservative/liberal rankings in March 2007, according to Wikipedia.org.

It will be interesting to find out what comes out of the teleconference and whether the voices of their constituents have had any influence on the track of negotiations these six will now take.