the health committee's proposal and the house bill would both lead to budget deficits, in contrast to the baucus plan, which would reduce the debt. ornstein has argued that this is an important advantage for the baucus plan. howard dean has stated that the majority of senate democrats support a more liberal plan. if it reaches the senate floor, baucus' proposal will have to be amalgamated with the health committee's proposal. on september 29, the finance committee rejected two amendments to add a public plan to baucus' proposal. senator jay rockefeller's amendment was rejected 15 to 8, with five democrats (baucus, kent conrad, blanche lincoln, tom carper, bill nelson) and all republicans voting no. senator chuck schumer's amendment was defeated 13 to 10, with three democrats (baucus, conrad, lincoln) and all republicans voting no. finance committee debate and votes responses from finance committee members committee chairman max baucus (center) pictured with ranking committee member charles grassley (left) according to the san francisco chronicle, the proposal was "much-anticipated" and it represented the only attempt by a senate committee to reach bipartisan compromise. mcclatchy newspapers has also called the proposal "closely watched". after its release, the proposal divided congressional democrats and attracted no support at all from congressional republicans according to national public radio health correspondent julie rovner. all of the republicans on the senate finance committee initially announced opposition to the proposal. senator mike enzi (r-wy) remarked, "his bill does not do enough to lower costs, and in many cases, it will actually increase health-care costs through the new taxes mandated." senator olympia snowe (r-me) released a statement on sept. 22 reading that "the mark before us is a solid starting point—but we are far from the finish line." she said in the first week of october that she had not yet decided whether or not to vote for the plan. norman ornstein of the aei has stated that the high cost "cadillac" insurance plans, which would face a new tax under the baucus plan, are more common in maine compared to other states. amendments and proposed amendments sen. charles schumer. the amending process, known officially as the 'mark-up', began on september 22. the committee members offered 564 possible amendments, which involved a wide variety of issues. baucus said in his opening statement, "his is our opportunity to make history." the members, collectively, spent over three hours in their opening comments. baucus played a key role in facilitating the recent agreement between the obama administration and the pharmaceutical research and manufacturers of america in which the group promised an $80 billion reduction in medicare drug prices over ten years. the administration then promised in return not to make any more financial demands on the group in the future. on sept. 25, senator bill nelson (d-fl) created an amendment to reverse the deal. the committee voted 13–10 to reject the amendment. the finance committee also rejected, by 14–9, an amendment removing the individual mandate from the proposal. senator jim bunning (r-ky) proposed the change, which he said would remove an 'un-american' requirement. baucus labeled the amendment "mortally wounding" to the health care system set forth in the proposal. democratic sen. charles schumer of new york, who was vice-chairman of the senate democratic conference, introduced an amendment to include a public plan in the proposal. the committee rejected his amendment on september 29, in a 13 to 10 vote. three democrats (baucus, conrad, lincoln) and all the republicans voted no. schumer had said on september 24, "i think we have a strong chance on the senate floor to get it." finance committee vote on october 13, the senate finance committee made their final vote on the baucus proposal. the committee passed its bill 14 to 9. all republicans voted no with the exception of sen. olympia snowe. she later commented, "when history calls, history calls." the san francisco chronicle referred to her vote as "a coup" for baucus, coming after criticism from his fellow democrats for making too many compromises. snowe, as well as some moderate democratic members of the committee, have vowed that they will drop their support for the baucus plan if a 'public option' is added at any point. responses responses from other lawmakers senator tom harkin (d-ia), who became chairman of the senate committee on health, education, labor, and pensions following the death of senator ted kennedy (d-ma), generally praised the proposal and was reported as then becoming more "optimistic" that health care reform would pass the congress in 2009. he also commented, however, that the co-operatives system leaves "a lot to be desired". senator ron wyden (d-or), a key figure behind the rival healthy americans act, expressed concern that baucus' plan would not do enough to promote competition in the private insurance marketplace. in an official gop weekly message in mid-october, rep. kevin brady of texas argued that "americans inherently know government interference drives costs up, not down.... the massive health care plans being crafted behind closed doors in washington will ultimately allow the government to decide what doctors we can see, what treatments the government thinks you deserve and what medicines you can receive." responses from the obama administration the day after baucus made his proposal, president barack obama referred to the plan during a speech at the university of maryland. he declined to endorse baucus's plan directly, but he criticized the opponents of his broader goals in health care reform. the crowd of left-leaning college students booed at the mention of baucus' proposal and cheered at obama's other comments. obama praised the senate finance committee's vote in support of the baucus plan on a september 13 address. he described the vote as a "critical milestone" and stated that it "has brought us significantly closer to achieving the core objectives i laid out". the president also said, "we are now closer than ever before to passing health care reform, but we're not there yet... now's the time to dig in and work even harder to get things done." however, according to millier in 2019, "the trump administration is working to repeal the law." other responses the u.s. chamber of commerce sent a letter to baucus and ranking republican member chuck grassley that labeled the proposal "unacceptable in many areas" while still "the most balanced health reform proposal to be marked up by congress to date". the group highlighted the proposed tax on high-value insurance plans as unacceptable. michael d. tanner, a cato institute senior fellow, criticized several aspects of the proposal such as the health care materials tax, which he said "will result in higher health care costs that will be passed on to consumers", and the individual mandate, which he labeled "heavily punitive". harold a. schaitberger, general president of the international association of fire fighters, stated that the proposal "puts a bigger tax on middle-income americans who are already paying enough". jim hoffa, president of the teamsters union, and senator jay rockefeller (d-wv) also expressed opposition to the health plan tax. president barack obama expressed support for the proposed tax, saying that "i do think that giving a disincentive to insurance companies to offer cadillac plans that don't make people healthier is part of the way that we're going to bring down health care costs for everybody over the long term." republicans in the finance committee have called the tax a violation of obama's campaign promise to not raise taxes on anyone earning less than $250,000 a year. the aarp has not objected to the cuts to future medicare spending in the proposal. charles kahn, president of the federation of american hospitals, has called the proposal "the right thing to do." the washington post has labeled the possible changes as "designed to be relatively painless". the national council of la raza opposes the measures in the proposal that require individuals to prove their citizenship status before receiving coverage. the group has created a campaign to leave senators voice mail messages about the issue. former cigna vp-turned health care activist wendell potter has criticized the senate committee for rejecting a public option. he charged that senators are only taking their positions due to pressure from insurance industries in an interview with amy goodman. howard dean, former democratic national committee chairman, has remarked that "the baucus bill is the worst piece of healthcare legislation i've seen in 30 years." he has also said, "it's a $60 billion giveaway to the health insurance industry every year... it was written by healthcare lobbyists, so that's not a surprise. it's an outrage." americans united for life (aul), the first national pro-life organization in the us, has stated that federal taxpayer funding of abortion could still be mandated by the baucus bill, despite claims to the contrary. aul's ceo dr. charmaine yoest stated that the bill "provides $6 billion for the establishment of health insurance cooperatives which would be permitted to cover abortion". he also said that if the hyde amendment is not renewed, coverage for all abortions would be mandated, under this legislation. the editors of national review criticized the plan, arguing that "his proposal resorts to the same kinds of arbitrary fee cuts, taxes, and regulatory payment-control schemes that have been tried many times before and have never worked." the weekly standard also ran an article blasting the proposal and stating that it would increase the cost of health insurance premiums through controls such as making individuals buy more comprehensive insurance than they would otherwise want. the wall street journal editorialized that baucus' plan, a "rube goldberg proposal", would eventually lead to a total government takeover of the health care industry. b'nai b'rith international and the religious action center of reform judaism both released statements praising the senate finance committee after its vote in favor of the baucus plan on october 13. the latter group stated that "jewish tradition teaches that human life is of infinite value and that the preservation of life supersedes all other consideration. providing health care is not just an obligation for the patient and the doctor, but for society as well." it also referred to maimonides' placing of health care first on his list of the ten most important communal services in maimonides' work mishneh torah (hilchot de'ot iv: 23). on october 14, journalists from financial times stated that "he bill claims that it will bend the fiscal curve by reducing the rate of healthcare inflation.... economists are sceptical on whether it will achieve this aim." shawn tully, editor at large for fortune, stated on oct. 9 that the baucus bill would provide incentives for employers not to provide insurance to its employees. she further argued that at worst the plan would add $90 billion to the cbo's original projection annually.