Why the Gang of Six Is Deciding Health Care for Three Hundred Million of Us

Last night, the so-called
"gang of six" -- three Republican and three Democratic senators on the
Senate Finance Committee -- met by conference call and, according to
Senator Max Baucus, the committee's chair, reaffirmed their commitment
"toward a bipartisan health-care reform bill" (read: less coverage and
no public insurance option). The Washington Post reports that
the senators shared tales from their home states, where some have been
besieged by protesters angry about a potential government takeover of
the nation's health care system.

It's come down to these six senators. The House has reported a bill
as has another Senate committee, but all eyes are fixed on Senate
Finance -- and on these three Dems and three Republicans, in
particular. But who, exactly, anointed these six to decide the fate of
the nation's health care?

I don't get it. Of the three Republicans in the gang, the senior
senator is Charles Grassley. In recent weeks, Grassley has refused to
debunk the rumor that the House's health-care bill will spawn "death
panels," empowered to decide whether the sick and old get to live or
die. At an Iowa town meeting last Tuesday Grassley called the president
and Speaker Nancy Pelosi "intellectually dishonest" for claiming the
opposite. On Thursday Grassley told the Washington Post that
Congress should scale back its efforts to overhaul health care in the
wake of intense anger at town hall meetings. But -- wait -- the anger
is largely about distortions such as the "death panels" that Grassley
refuses to debunk.

This week on Fox News Grassley termed the House bill "the Pelosi
Bill," and called it "a government takeover of heath care, exploding
the deficit because it's not paid for and it's got high taxes in it."

I really don't get it. We have a Democratic president in the White
House. Democrats control sixty votes in the Senate, enough to overcome
a filibuster. It is possible to pass health care legislation through
the Senate with 51 votes (that's what George W. Bush did with his tax
cut plan). Democrats control the House. The Speaker of the House, Nancy
Pelosi, is a tough lady. She has said there will be no health care
reform bill without a public option.

So why does the fate of health care rest in Grassley's hands?

It's not even as if the gang represents America. The three Dems on
the gang are from Montana, New Mexico, and North Dakota -- states that
together account for just over 1 percent of Americans. The three
Republicans are from Maine, Wyoming, and Iowa, which together account
for 1.6 percent of the American population.

So, I repeat: Why has it come down to these six? Who anointed them?
Apparently, the White House. At least that's what I'm repeatedly being
told by sources both on the Hill and in the administration. "The
Finance Committee is where the action is. They'll tee-up the final
bill," says someone who should know.