Snowe's Approval Could Provide Cover for GOP Colleagues

Bloomberg's Catherine Dodge reports on Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe's independent streak — orphaned at age 9, sometimes forced to spend the night alone at Grand Central Station — as a way to understand her break from fellow Republicans in today's vote on health care reform. Dodge notes that Snowe's "yes" vote on the finance committee's overhaul plan could pave the way for other GOP senators.

A final stamp of approval from Snowe could also clear the way for other Republicans, such as Senators Susan Collins of Maine and George Voinovich of Ohio, to back the effort. Collins joined with Snowe to support Obama’s economic-stimulus package in February, and Voinovich has been pegged as a possible Republican vote for a health-care overhaul by lawmakers including his fellow Ohio senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, Dodge writes

And this just in from WBUR: the Senate Finance Committee approved the health care overhaul plan 14-9.