NiceGuy53, I have not heard from you in quite a while. You been on vacation? OK, Olympia Snow was not the deciding vote. However, she did vote to get the bill out of committee and onto the floor. This was key because it would have never become law if it did not get out of committee. There was some bipartisanship displayed. Senator Joe Liberman of CT voted for the bill on the Senate Floor and he was an independent.
Originally Posted by flghtr65
How was her vote "key" to getting the bill out of committee when the Democrats already had the votes to get the bill out of the committee? Your changing your wording from "deciding" to "key" is silly.
Senators and Congressmen occasionally vote to move bills out of committees and then vote against the bill on the floor of their respective house. Also Senators sometimes vote to end the filibuster in the Senate (cloture) but then vote against that bill when it comes to the floor of the Senate. The bill that comes out of a committee is not always the same exact bill that is voted on, on the floor. Amendments can be added to a bill which would change the language of a bill which in turn could cause a Senator or Congressman to change their mind about how to vote.
And there were several back room deals that were made to get certain key Democratic Senators to vote for Obamacare. Remember the "cornhusker kickback" and the "Louisiana purchase"?
The fact remains not one single Republican, including Senator Snow, voted for "Obamacare" on the floor of the House or Senate. So you can not say that this was a bipartisan bill. FYI, Senator Liberman caucused with the Democrats in the Senate.