1.  Weak Support for Baucus Health Bill; Key Republican Doesn't Endorse

Senate Finance Committee Chariman Max Baucus released the details of his health care reform plan Wednesday morning, and he's already getting flak from both sides of the aisle, Talking Points Memo reports. Liberal colleagues such as West Virginia's Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Wisconsin's Russ Feingold criticized Baucus for nixing a public insurance option in favor of a private co-op model. Baucus had tried to woo Republican senators with that provision, but so far, none has publicly supported the bill. Indeed, Maine's Olympia Snowe—perhaps Democrats' most crucial Republican ally—was "highly unlikely" to support the bill, a Senate Democratic aide told TPM. While Snowe said the bill "moves in the right direction away from a government-run system," she cautioned that "a number of issues still need to be addressed," including costs to consumers, insurers, and the government. Baucus promised in his announcement of the bill that it would not "add a dime to the deficit."

Read original story in Talking Points Memo | Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009