Obama Isn't Counting Chickens

President Obama says he's pleased with Sen. Olympia Snowe's (R-ME) pledge today to vote "yes" on Chairman Max Baucus's health care bill in the Senate Finance Committee, but he says he's not going to count the bill's fate as sealed.

"Senator Snowe has been extremely diligent in working together so we can reduce the costs of health care...So I never count chickens before they're hatched, but this is obviously another step forward in bringing about another deal for the American people," the president told reporters during a brief availability after meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.


A "yes" vote from Snowe could ensure passage of Democratic health reform plans--depending on what happens on the Senate floor. Snowe's support for the bill seems tenuous: as she announced her support for the bill in committee today, she said: "Is this bill all that I would want? Far from it...My vote today is my vote today. It doesn't forecast what it will be tomorrow." If the bill changes just a bit, that tomorrow could look different.