Max Baucus and Healthcare

Who is Max Baucus? Well, Baucus is a U.S. Senator from Montana. He is also the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has the final say on any health care plan in the Senate. Yeah, he is important. Read up:

The American Prospect: This is the uncomfortable reality that will face the next administration. While most reformers have been obsessed with the policy details of the presidential campaign -- health-care mandates or simple subsidies? tax cuts or credits? -- much of the success of the next president's agenda will, in truth, rely on the actions of one of the most experienced, inscrutable, and unpredictable politicians in the country. Over the next two years, Max Baucus could prove a progressive legislative giant. Or he could be Bad Max.

Time Swampland: The Senator's 87-page Call to Action on Health Reform. He is serious about this.