Snowe's Insistence on CBO Score May Put Off Senate Finance Vote on Health Care

Noted Republican obstructionist Olympia Snowe, famed for her intransigence in the face of moderate and liberal legislation and her stubborn commitment to conservative principles above all else, is requiring a CBO score before she votes on the Senate Finance Committee's version of the health-care bill:

The committee is waiting on a cost analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, which received the revised bill Friday night. Nobody knows exactly when the CBO will deliver its estimate, but it's unlikely for a few more days.

"We are expecting CBO scores later this week and will vote after we get those scores," said a Finance Committee aide.

Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) will give the committee time to review the CBO score because Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) has been so adamant about it. And Baucus is still hoping Snowe will jump on board.

All of this means that hopes of beginning a floor debate next week are looking dim.

Liberals will shout that this is an unnecessary delay meant only to drag Obama to his Waterloo, but I reckon if Tom Carper, a Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee, isn't going to read the bill, it oughtta at least be farmed out to CBO before they vote on it. It's really not much to ask.