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V o l u m e f i V e n u m b e r t h r e e , t w o t h o u s a n d n i n e | fall

The Price of Gold: Mine Reclamationat the Top of the World

Max Baucus and the Glareof National Health Care

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So, is he in t he catbird seat?

Or is he the bone in the middle of a dogfight?

Baucus laughed at those questions in a l ate July interview, as th

health care policies was throwing ever thicker smoke, ever hotter fi

right were tossing bombs at him. Conservatives fretted that he wou

socialism and new taxes into medical care. Liberals accus

the medical and insurance industries, which ship him buckets of ca

E-mails and phone calls were pouring into his office. The nati

his every word, and pressure came from above and below.

At the bottom, anonymous bloggers contorted his name into a

him of screwing over the American people. Protestors dogged his

a single payer nationalized health care program. At the other en

President Barack Obama, who had made national health care reformitem, was talking with Baucus every day, applying a very different k

bill through his committee.

Baucus, who has spent more than half his life in Congress, took

After a decades-long po

Montanas powerful Senator Max

the eyes of the nation on h

a health care bill th

everyone feel bett

A DOSEOF POLIT

B

ontana Senator Max Baucus to shape health care reform for tAs chairman of the powerful Committee, his decisions will help and affect millions of lives M

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Its kind of fun, actually, the six term Democrat said from

his office in Washington, D.C.

Never in his long career, he said, had he tackled an issue as

difficult as national health care reform.Ive never faced a challenge as great as this one, he said.

Nothing comes close to it. But I relish it.

THE SWEET SPOT

The Senate Finance Committee is arguably the most power-

ful committee in Congress because it wields jurisdiction over

such a wide variety of programs, from Medicare and Medicaid

to international trade to t he tax policies of the Internal Revenue

Service. As chairman, Baucus sets t he agenda.

Since he is the longest serving Democrat on the committee,

he becomes chairman whenever his party holds a majority in the

Senate. Since 2001, hes put in three shifts at the helm.

But never before has Baucus had such a high national

profile. Not even in 1991 when his name was briefly very

briefly mentioned as a possible presidential candidate. Thats

because health care reform is such a hot-button issue. Medicalcare constitutes a sixth of the nations economy and affects every-

bodys health and peace of mind. Its a matter of life and death.

But its also a matter of intense politics, misinformation

campaigns and vast sums of money.Baucus said hes aiming for a sweet spot where good policy,

realistic politics and good timing all coincide.

So far, its proven elusive.

Congress missed a July deadline for passing a bill and has

scheduled more work for September. And whatever bill Congress

passes or fails to pass Max Baucus will be in the middle of

things. And the middle is where he likes to dwell.

Heres an example: At the 2007 Cat-Griz football game

possibly the most partisan event in Montana, an occasion where

almost everybody chooses a side Baucus didnt pick a team.

He showed up wearing a Carroll College hat.

Baucus resides on the conservative end of the Democratic

Party, but his politics can be hard to pigeonhole. Hes endorsed by

abortion rights groups as well as the National Rifle Association.

He played a key role in passing President George W. Bushs

controversial tax cuts for t he wealthy in 2001, but he also played

a key role in sinking Bushs plan to privatize Social Security.The American Civil Liberties Union and U.S. Chamber of

Commerce give him so-so ratings. Environmentalists like him

sometimes, blast him at others, citing a mixed record.

Baucus, second from left, sits beside President Barack Obama during a

meeting at the White House among Senate Democrats to discuss health

care. Baucus is the Senate Finance Committee Chairman.

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.GHANBARI/AP

Sometimes hes been very good for Montana and sometimes

not very good at all, said Pat Williams, a Montana Democrat

who served nine terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and

worked with Baucus on many issues.

For instance, the Bush tax cuts left Montana in 4 8th place in

terms of benefits, Williams said, and Baucus endorsed Medicare

changes that sweetened the pot for drug companies instead of

Montanans.

But working with Bush on t he tax cuts provided Baucus with

a huge asset: It allowed him to trumpet his connections to the

president during the 2002 elections, when Bush still had incred-

ible support in Montana and the nation. He won that race by a

two-to-one margin.

And if theres one thing Baucus does well, its win elections.Hes made a career of it.

MADE IN MONTANA?

After growing up in Helena, a descendant

of the Sieben family, a wealthy ranching clan, he

earned degrees in economics and law at Stanford

University. He worked in D.C. as a federal lawyer

for a few years, then retur ned to Montana in 1971,

hung up a lawyers shingle in Missoula and set

about getting himself elected and sent back to

Washington.

Three years later, at the age of 32, he was

elected to the U.S. House of Representatives,

campaigning while walking from Gardiner to

Yaak. (At the age of 67, he still runs marathons.)

He spanked a Republican challenger in 1976, then

moved up to the Senate in 1978.Since then, hes had only one close race: the

1996 faceoff with Denny Rehberg, now a congress-

man.

By 2008, when Baucus sought a sixth term

unprecedented in Montana Republicans seemingly threw in

the towel. In the five-person primary of unknowns, the party faith-

ful chose Bob Kelleher, an 83-year-old perennial candidate from

Butte who usually runs as a Democrat or a Green.

But Baucus took the race seriously and raised $11 million

for that campaign, about $23 for every voter in the state, and 90

percent of it came f rom out-of-state donors.

Whose senator is he?

Like most politicians, Baucus can be adept at dodging ques-

tions. Ask his opinion on a given issue, and a standard response

is, Whatevers best for Montana. A plaque on his desk in

Washington reads, Montana comes first.

He can point with justification to public buildings, waterplants and freeway exits all over the state and say he put them

there. Hes arranged financing for huge land purchases and

conservation deals. He unabashedly brings home the bacon,

and hes probably shaken more

alive.

Yet he has lived in Montan

life, and much of that was spent

Plus, most of his campaign mon

hes aggressive about squeezing

He hosts tony fundraisers

San Francisco, $2,500 fishing

Resort and he isnt shy abo

saying, Gimme.

On Jan. 31, 2005, he asse

Washington restaurant and told

to raise $100,000 for his campa

the event.Two lobbyists, which the net

never gotten such an aggressive

This sounds like a raw, a

to raise money in Washington,

a widely praised group that adv

said at the time.

Lobbyists are always lookin

ential lawmakers, he said, But

of systematizing it to raise very

ists who you know are looking

very dangerous situation.And a dangerous situatio

leaning critics see. In the 200

million from the health care a

Baucus talks with reporters after a c

on financing an overhaul of the healt

Washington.

MANUELBALCECENETA/AP

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five of his former staffers are now lobbyists for health care or

insurance companies.

Then, when it came time to hammer out a health care plan,

those industries were invited to the polished table, while advocates

of single-payer, fully-nationalized health care were standing in the

rain.

Baucus is dismissive about any single-payer plan.

Not for the near term, he said, noting that nobody in the

Senate has offered a bill that endorses such a plan.

Some type of health care reform is desperately needed, he

said. Fifty million Americans are uninsured and many who have

insurance are happy with their coverage, but only until something

serious happens.

A lot of people are just getting shafted, he said.He wants a plan that reduces the cost spiral for medical care,

focuses on quality of treatment rather than quantity, and doesnt let

insurance companies deny people coverage.

We have to have a uniquely American solution, he said.

Other countries build on existing institutions and make them

better. Thats what we need to do.

If nothing is done, he said, disaster looms.

In nine or 10 years, 45 percent of American families will be

spending half of their income on premiums alone if the system

isnt reformed, he said.

Baucus leads President Obama and AARP Chief Executive Officer Barry

Rand into the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House before

Obama speaks about lower drug costs.

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AUTHORIZED

Critics fear that bad reform will be worse than no reform. And

theyre irked that theyve been shut out of the room. So theyve

started a campaign to buy back Baucus. With tongue only

slightly in cheek, protestors said theyre trying to raise enough

money to buy themselves a seat at the table, too.

Baucus repeatedly insists that campaign donations do not

influence his decisions.

I pay no attention to it, he said. To be honest, I dont have

time. I dont even know about them.

But he keeps taking the money.

NOT MUCH SCANDAL

Baucus has encountered little scandal in his long career.Former chief of staff Christine Niedermeier accused him of

sexual harassment in 1999, but t he charges went nowhere.

After divorcing his first wife in 1982, he lost a long court

fight with her over the amount of alimony and child support he

owed.

His second wife brought some attention, particularly when

she was charged with assaulting another woman in a parking

lot. Wags enjoyed the incident, threatening to open up a can

of Wanda Baucus, but it didnt have legs. That union ended in

divorce this year after 25 years, and Baucus is again a single

man, in a position of great powe

Eyebrows raised in t he 199

mineral rights for the proposed 7

environmentalists praised his a

mine was never built.

And he hasnt used his Se

financial disclosure form in 200

$265,000, ranking him 96th of

So what motivates him?

Max enjoys the power and

who served in Congress with h

been caught up in the glitter.

But hes definitely caught u

guaranteed until 2014, when hehim 40 years of D.C. t enure.

I dont know how you qu

been co-opted by the system in

head of the Montana Shooting S

Baucus for years over a pair of 1

control. My guess is more so ra

Co-opted or not, Baucus is

The pressure is on. The nation

spotlight glares.

Will he blink?