The Senate Finance Committee has approved a health care reform proposal that has the support of Democrats and Republicans.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine, joined with Democrats on the Finance Committee in voting for the measure.

The passage of the measure was a hot topic in the Triangle, including on local radio talk shows like WPTF's Bill LuMaye program.

A sampling of callers included these comments:

A man identifying himself as Josh from Wake Forest said, "Olympia Snowe has dug her own grave and should be ousted."

Another caller named Ken from Raleigh complained, "The Baucus bill has $404 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid."

A man claiming to be a Conservative Democrat from Sanford named Dave said, "Any Democrat that voted for the bill or is going to vote for it needs to be fired."

"This is actually bigger than the immigration issue which I thought was the biggest issue ever on talk radio," said LuMaye. "This blows immigration out of the water."

The same emotions that marked the health care town hall meetings this past August were heard by LuMaye Tuesday afternoon.

"It's amazing the passion you'll get it from both sides on the issue," he said.

Across town at Southeast Raleigh High School, parents lining up to get flu vaccines for their kids had lots to say about the Senate vote.

"I'm a little upset about the no public option they are putting in there,'' said Shara Settle of Raleigh who is concerned about the way the bill is shaping up. "I think the public option's very important."

Another parent also complained about the Baucus version of bill.

"I wish there was more; especially the government part of the plan," said George Olmoz.

As the debate rages, some believe the bill President Barack Obama signs will have to satisfy more people than the current measure.

We need more compromise," said Dr. Atul Goel, who favors health care reform. "Let's come up with something because I believe at the end of the day this country is ready for some sort of reform even if this is just a first step."

There are currently five different versions of the health care bill sitting in both the House and Senate. And politicians say it will take weeks to merge them into one measure.