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| Can Republicans 'smoke out' Jim Webb? |
| 2009-12-15 |
| Senate Republicans say they want to "smoke out" Democratic senators who could help them bring down the health care bill, and so far, they think they've found one in Sen. Jim Webb. With all the attention focused on four other fence-sitting moderates, Webb has voted with Republicans six times on the first series of amendments on the Senate floor -- giving GOP leaders some hope that the unpredictable Virginian could buck his party in the end and block the bill. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, No. 4 in GOP leadership, said Webb's votes "came as a bit of a surprise" and that he "probably wasn't on our initial list that we thought of [as] people we might get." Webb, who won his seat in 2006 in a cliffhanger race against Republican George Allen, has taken a low-key role in the debate so far. It's far from clear whether he'll vote for the bill in the end, although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is "confident" that Webb's concerns will be addressed and that he will ultimately back the bill, a Reid spokesman said. "Jim's gone his own way on several things -- he's independent, and I respect it," said Reid's deputy, Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). "But he's been very honest with us throughout, and I count him as an important and valuable member of our caucus." Still, his early votes have given party leaders pause. He voted for GOP efforts to send the bill back to the Senate Finance Committee as well as to restore proposed cuts to Medicare -- a move some in the GOP said was intended to keep entitlement programs from being "raided" to pay for the new health care initiatives, a label most of Webb's party strongly rejects. In an interview, Webb said he's "rather skeptical that those cuts [to Medicare] are sustainable," given the increasing number of people from the baby boom generation eligible for the entitlement program. He also said Medicare Advantage programs have improved services in rural parts of Virginia. "I'm voting my conscience, which Harry Reid wants all of us to do," Webb said. "I have a lot of concerns about Medicare. I think it's important to express those views on these votes." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 Do any USNA pix exist of Ollie North knocking jameswebb out in the ring at Anapolis back in the late 1960's ? |
| Posted by: Asymmetrical Triangulation 2009-12-15 21:26 |
| #3 Speaking of uncomfortable-silences weird... but Webb seems like the sort to cotton to Medicare-cut populist panic-talk. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-12-15 11:02 |
| #2 I figured their Kucinich was Jim Moron. Er, Moran. Sorry. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2009-12-15 08:13 |
| #1 I say, forget about "Smoking out" Jim Webb, (smoking is not PC) rather "Set the Hounds" on this "I was born fighting" piker. Not respected by me and an opportunist at best, as the article implies. This guy is Virginia's Dennis Kucinich. |
| Posted by: Hupegum Forkbeard9881 2009-12-15 06:56 |