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--> --> Republican weakness begets more defeats By Robert Novak WASHINGTON - The first test for the Senate's 49 Republicans as an effective minority was, by admission of their own strategists, an abysmal failure. Lacking the unity and discipline that Democrats displayed the past six and one-half years while the GOP held the Senate majority, Republicans could not prevent lopsided passage of a "patients' bill of rights" that President Bush says he cannot sign. He now depends on the Republican-controlled House to save him from a politically dangerous veto. In his debut as majority leader, Sen. Thomas Daschle dictated the pace of the health bill debate. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, as floor manager, controlled its content. Feckless Republicans, fearful of Daschle's threat to their Fourth of July recess, did not slow the Democratic timetable much less really alter the bill's content. Five senior GOP senators, including Minority Leader Trent Lott, did not even stick around for final passage last Friday. If the Senate bill roars through the House and arrives unchanged on the president's desk, Bush would face this dilemma: renege on his commitment to veto a lawyer-biased bill or risk killing a popular measure. His hope rests with the House, which lately has been considered irrelevant in a virtually unicameral Congress. During last week's Senate fiasco, Bush met with moderate House members who are backing the bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky. He gave the impression that his young presidency is at stake. How to lead a militant minority was demonstrated by Daschle following Republican assumption of Senate majority status in January 1995: by practicing unity and discipline. Those qualities were sadly lacking in the GOP approach to HMO reform over the last two weeks. Just as the 50-50 Senate was only nominally controlled by Republicans, their 49-51 minority following Sen. James Jeffords' defection is also illusory. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island hardly ever votes with his party and is often joined by Maine's two senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is unpredictable, and Oregon's Gordon Smith sometimes strays. John McCain of Arizona is drifting from his conservative roots. Even Mike DeWine of Ohio bolts now and then. That leaves 42 dependable Republican votes, insufficient to produce health legislation satisfactory to the White House. The caliber of the Republican performance can be judged by the Snowe-DeWine amendment to lessen employer liability. Kennedy accepted it immediately, and the two Republican supporters agreed to its final drafting by Kennedy's health committee staffers. Such a procedure aroused suspicions that were justified when it was found the Snowe-DeWine amendment protected labor unions from health plan liability. That was changed, but the "bipartisan" amendment still falls short of Bush's specifications. The bill tested whether Republicans would be as obstreperous in the minority as Democrats had been, and they flunked. Nobody called Daschle's bluff when he threatened to cancel the current recess if the measure were not passed. Even before the recess officially began, Lott and three ranking GOP committee members - Pete Domenici, Phil Gramm and Frank Murkowski - plus Ben Nighthorse Campbell, missed the final vote to meet personal commitments. That gave Daschle a handsome victory of 59 to 36. Bush's antidote is the House bill sponsored by Fletcher, a physician who was spanked last year by the American Medical Association for not supporting anti-HMO legislation. While protecting employers from lawsuits, it expands private medical saving accounts (fiercely opposed by Kennedy for years) that would satisfy Bush enough to sign the bill. Meeting with Fletcher and his supporters at the White House June 27, Bush appeared to draw a line in the sand when he indicated he always could return to Crawford, Texas, if the liberal health juggernaut grinds him down. The president's own team is divided as to whether that line should be drawn. However, those who advise Bush to put the issue behind him by signing any patients' bill of rights are misguided. In the Senate last week, Kennedy responded to Republican warnings that the bill would deprive more Americans of insurance coverage by thundering: "We will be back. We give the other side the assurance we will be back ... We will be back with legislation on the uninsured." Senate Republican weakness only begets more defeats. Robert Novak is a Washington-based syndicated columnist. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing