Did money talk?

Posted at 2:04 PM on September 29, 2009 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: Health, Politics

The so-called "public option" component of health care reform died today when the Senate Finance Committee's Health Care Subdivision (essentially the entire committee) rejected an attempt to include it in legislation the panel is considering. Other bills circulating at the Capitol still have "public option," but Sen. Max Baucus removed it from his bill under pressure from Republicans, who considered it Socialist. The number of Democrats refusing to support the idea pretty much sinks it.

The vote was 15-to-8, with Democrats Baucus, Sen. Tom Carper, Sen. Kent Conrad, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, and Sen. Bill Nelson joining all of the committee's Republicans with "no" votes.

Most of the Democrats voting against the bill, were among the biggest Democratic recipients of health care cash in campaign fundraising. Coincidence? Who can say? The campaign finance system is such that one can only speculate what role it plays when legislation is considered that affects the campaign contributors. So you have to decide.

Here's the breakdown by committee members. The numbers in parentheses represents its rank for that senator in the grouping of contributions by industry. Keep in mind, these numbers are the amount raised through the end of June, well before the health care issue dominated the national dialogue.

DEMOCRATS

John D. Rockefeller, West Virginia (Chairman) - $255,950 from health professionals (2nd),

Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico - $210,563 from health professionals (3rd) and $92,000 from pharmaceutical industry (7th).

Sen. Kent Conrad, North Dakota - $239,533 from health professionals (3rd), $233,625 from the insurance industry (4th).

John Kerry, Massachusetts - $91,036 from insurance industry (7th). $64,948 from health professionals (13th)

Blanche Lincoln, Arkansas - $298,700 from health professionals (2nd), $153,304 from pharmaceutical industry (5th) and $131,850 from insurance industry (8th).

Ron Wyden, Oregon - $173,475 from health professionals (1st), $83,299 from insurance industry (7th).

Charles Schumer, New York - $155,300 from insurance industry (5th) , $108,650 from health professionals (9th).

Debbie Stabenow, Michigan - $338,455 from health professionals (4th). Second-biggest contributor was Blue Cross Blue Shield ($59,700)

Maria Cantwell, Washington - $206,001 from health professionals (11th).

Bill Nelson, Florida - $332,179 from health professionals (6th)

Robert Menendez, New Jersey - $256,950 from health professionals (7th)

Thomas Carper, Delaware - $238,680 from insurance industry (2nd), $139,520 from pharmaceutical industry (7th).

REPUBLICANS

Sen. Charles Grassley, Iowa - $241,856 from health professionals (1st), $201,148 from insurance industry (2nd), $152,650 from pharmaceutical industry (3rd), $139,137 from hospitals and nursing homes (4th). Blue Cross Blue Shield ($26,750) is second-largest contributor. Select Medical Group is third-largest contributor ($23,000).

Orrin G. Hatch, Utah. Ranking member - $481,081 from insurance industry (1st), $242,550 from health professionals. Blue Cross Blue Shield is second-largest contributor ($45,603)

Olympia Snowe, Maine - $174,074 from health professionals (2nd), $163,585 from insurance industry (3rd). Aetna Inc., is second-biggest contributor.

John Ensign, Nevada - $269,325 from health professionals (3rd), $211,462 from insurance industry (7th).

Michael Enzi, Wyoming - $218,700 from pharmaceutical industry (1st), $144,049 from health professionals (2nd), $124,250 from insurance industry (4th). Blue Cross Blue Shield is fifth-largest contributor ($15,000).

John Cornyn, Texas - $759,113 from health professionals (4th), $350,294 from insurance industry (9th).

John Kyl, Arizona - $649,383 from health professionals (4th).

Jim Bunning, Kentucky - $86,433 from insurance industry (1st), $63,650 from health care (3rd). Kindred Healthcare is fourth-largest contributor ( $12,100).

Pat Roberts, Kansas - $178,299 from pharmaceutical industry (9th).

(Source: OpenSecrets.org)

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Comments (7)

Our "government" makes me want to throw up in my mouth.

Posted by Tyler | September 29, 2009 3:37 PM

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Excellent reporting, although this information just made my head explode.

Posted by Joanna | September 29, 2009 5:28 PM

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I have never before been so disappointed in my elected officials. Despite a majority of the people saying that we want this - they vote no. I hope they remember that we can vote no too and their number is coming up.

Posted by angeltimes3 | September 29, 2009 6:53 PM

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This is so infuriating. It's really hard to find the words. I'm with angeltimes3, so disappointed.

Posted by Greg | September 29, 2009 7:18 PM

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I'm afraid I may join the ranks of the uninsured
next year. My premiums, deductible, and out of
pocket maximum for this year will be just over 40%
of my gross income. The rates for $3,000
deductible (I have $2,000 deductible now) when
I turn 55 next year will cost about $30 less per
month than what I pay now, and my present
deductible will cost about $100 a month more.
I have preexisting conditions that keep me out
of the lower risk pool, so I end up in the higher
cost high risk pool.

Posted by Dan | September 29, 2009 10:20 PM

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This is so disappointing! This can't be the end of it though, can it? We need to let our voices be heard too and more expressively. I, personally, refuse to give up. I going to walk from Minnesota to D.C. starting Friday to support 'Meaningful' Health Care Reform. You can follow the walk at this website http://clockworkdistractions.com/twomillionsteps/ where i will update my location daily or follow on twitter http://twitter.com/DavidArcaine. My hope is to gather enough exposure to get people talking, catch media buzz, and ultimately help pressure our representatives into doing the right thing. My goal is for the public to pose the question “why are you not willing to take one step forward, when others are willing to take two million?” My site is just getting off the ground, but check it out in a couple days when i hit the road. Thanks for the support!

Posted by David Arcaine | September 30, 2009 12:31 AM

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A couple of issues that come to mind: the need for campaign reform which is directly related to our corporatocracy. If no one can get elected without crazy amounts of money, we are bound to end up with representatives who predominantly want to pad their campaign financing, If we allow the rich and corporate interests to buy politicians, it is a vicious cycle. We are stuck w/ a gov't for and by the rich.

Posted by Ben | September 30, 2009 8:33 PM

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