The five Democrats who joined 10 Republicans to kill the public health insurance option in a Senate committee today are surrounded and nurtured by a web of medical/insurance industry lobbyists. The blanket appears soundproof, from looking at the graphic below. The fact that 65% of Americans, and 73% of doctors, want a publicly run alternative to the abuses of private insurance apparently doesn't seep through.
The five Democrats who joined 10 Republicans to kill the public health insurance in a Senate committee today are surrounded and coddled by a web of industry lobbyists. The barrier appears soundproof, from looking at the graphic below. The fact that 65% of Americans, and 73% of doctors, want a publicly run alternative to the abuses of private insurance apparently doesn't seep through.
The chart (click it to go to the original) by The Network Thinker shows only the lobbyists who surround Sen. Max Baucus, chair of the committee. But you can be sure that similar webs enclose every key senator on the committee of 23. They bring not just love but money–lots and lots of it. They sponsor political fund-raisers as well as haunt the offices of lawmakers.
And here are the donations from 2005 to 2010 from the medical, pharmaceutical and health insurance industries to the five Democrats who voted no today. Money is so, so loud.
Senator TOTAL Health Services/HMOs Health Pros. Pharmaceuticals/Health Prod. Hospitals/Nursing Homes
Blanche Lincoln $635,854.00 $86,050.00 $298,700.00 $153,304.00 $97,800.00
Max Baucus $1,727,130.00 $363,850.00 $504,641.00 $507,313.00 $351,326.00
Kent Conrad $647,678.00 $112,015.00 $239,533.00 $157,700.00 $138,430.00
Bill Nelson $570,144.00 $68,900.00 $332,179.00 $75,150.00 $93,915.00
Tom Carper $285,706.00 $22,330.00 $90,816.00 $139,520.00 $33,040.00
TOTAL $3,866,512.00
Source: www.OpenSecrets.org
