This afternoon, the Senate Finance Committee voted 14-to-9 in favor of a massive healthcare “reform” plan sponsored by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT). Let me make a few observations. Every Democrat, along with Republican Olympia Snowe, voted for it. All the other Republicans voted against it.

In analyzing the Baucus bill, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) suggested that the plan would probably cost $830 billion and save the government about $80 billion over ten years. But the CBO looked at “conceptual language,” not the actual legislative language. In other words, the CBO didn’t see the real bill, and it admits that “those estimates are all subject to substantial uncertainty.” Evidently “substantial uncertainty” was good enough for 14 Senate liberals.

Now the real heavy lifting begins. The Baucus bill is just one of several plans approved by various committees. Neither the House nor the Senate has actually passed anything. This battle is not over. Democrats have a super majority, but there are deep divisions among them.