User:Viclyn/Tripartisan

The two party system currently in place in the United States, does not take into account the growing political power or contributions of our Independent voters and their elected leaders.

Tripartisan (noun) is a word to describe co-operative, non-partisan, agreements or compromises reached by Democrats, Republicans AND Independents politically. This term holds true anytime three opposing groups and/or opinions are fused together to reflect a totality of thought that has been reached through compromise.

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Dec. 4th 2009 "Tripartisan," but not on public option

Sens. Joe Lieberman, Arlen Specter and Susan Collins called a press conference Friday to unveil a “tripartisan” amendment aimed at boosting cost savings in the Senate health care bill.

But similar to most gatherings these days on Capitol Hill, it turned into a three-way debate on the public option from the podium of the Radio-TV Gallery.

Specter, who was not initially billed to attend, launched into a defense of the public option during his turn at the microphone.

“There has been wide misunderstanding about the public option,” Specter said. “It does not drive the private sector out; it is an option, it is another choice.”

Asked moments later if they could support a bill with a public option, Lieberman and Collins didn’t equivocate. No, they said.

And they didn’t just say “no,” they eviscerated the public option.

“A public option insurance company won’t help a single poor person get insurance; it won’t force a single insurance company to give insurance to people who are sick, and it won’t even contain costs,” Lieberman said, in a series of statements that supporters of the public option would say are false. “It would be wrong and terrible for our country.”

Collins referred to Maine’s experiment with government-sanctioned insurance. “It has not worked. I have seen in real life time a well-intentioned plan impose tremendous costs and not achieve the goal.”

Specter didn’t let the issue drop.

“One comment in rebuttal: I think we have learned a lot from the Maine plan; we know what not to do. We are not going to adopt the Maine plan,” Specter said. “And when Sen. Lieberman talks about single payer, I think he is putting his finger on the pulse of it. That is what people are confusing the public option with: It isn’t a single payer, and it is not going to add to the deficit, and it is going to be a level playing field.

“So I would invite everyone to read the fine print,” he added. “And, with Susan and Joe, to reread the fine print."

http://www.politico.com/livepulse/1209/Tripartisan_but_not_with_public_option.html

Thomas W. Costello (born July 8, 1945) is a politician from the U.S. state of Vermont. He served in the Vermont House of Representatives from 1976 to 1980, and from 1994 to 2000. He is currently a candidate for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Vermont and is a member of the Democratic party.

Costello's was a representative in the Vermont House of Representatives for Rutland City from 1976–80, when he relocated to Brattleboro, Vermont. He served three additional terms in the legislature from 1994 through 2000 representing the Town of Brattleboro. During his five terms in the House, Costello was the Chair of the Judiciary Committee (from 1994 though 1998) and Chair of the Committee on General, Housing & Military affairs (from 1999 through 2000). [1] He also served on a Special Legislative Committee investigating Vermont State Police practices (which resulted in the creation of an internal affairs unit to investigate police misconduct).[7]

One of the highlights of Costello's term in the House was his 1997 chairmanship of a committee that reviewed what at the time was a novel issue - the deregulation of Vermont's electric industry. Although then-Governor Howard Dean and the Senate endorsed the idea, Costello led tri-partisan special committee which took testimony, hired analysts, and eventually voted to reject the legislation. Had Vermont deregulated, Vermont's electric companies would have been purchased by the famed energy trading company of Texas, Enron, and Vermont would have been exposed to the same issues that plagued other deregulated states like the California electricity crisis.[8]

SEE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_W._Costello FOR THE FULL ARTICLE