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Intershame On: Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Blanche Lincoln, Bill Nelson and Tom Carper |
Bought by the Insurance Lobby
09/30/2009
Yesterday, five Democratic United States Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark), Bill Nelson (D-Fla) and Tom Carper (D-Del) voted against the a proposal to put a government administered public option in the health reform bill that will come out of the Senate Finance Committee.
Are these senators accurately voting for the will of their constituents?
When the American public was asked if they favored of oppsed a government administered public health care option, this is what they said:
So why can't the people's representatives in Washington get behind the public option? Specifically, why can't these five Democrats get behind it when 81% of people in their party want the option. The answer I'd like to hear is that less than 50% of the voters they represent back home oppose the public option so they're voting on behalf of their constituents, however, the numbers we see in the NYT/CBS poll make that extremely unlikely. So if that's not the reason, what is? One likely answer is money. Look at the amount of money the health industry has pumped into these five Democrat's coffers:
If money is the reason these five Democrats rejected the public option, then it only took a little over 19 million dollars over 20 years to buy the five votes the health insurance industry needed to kill any meaningful reform to their industry.
19 million dollars is nothing compared to the profits the insurance industry will make if a public option is defeated. They got a great deal for that 19 million. The american people? Not so much.
1data from 1989-2009
Are these senators accurately voting for the will of their constituents?
When the American public was asked if they favored of oppsed a government administered public health care option, this is what they said:
Click to enlarge this New York Times/CBS News poll
Americans support the notion of a government administered health insurance plan by a margin of 65% to 26%. According to the same poll, people who identify themselves as Democrats favor the public option by a margin of 81% to 12%. That's nearly 7 to 1 in favor of, yet the representatives of the Democrat party in the Senate Finance Committee only voted for the public option at a ratio of 8 to 5. Perhaps the most interesting number revealed by this poll is that Republican voters favor the public option 47% to 42%.So why can't the people's representatives in Washington get behind the public option? Specifically, why can't these five Democrats get behind it when 81% of people in their party want the option. The answer I'd like to hear is that less than 50% of the voters they represent back home oppose the public option so they're voting on behalf of their constituents, however, the numbers we see in the NYT/CBS poll make that extremely unlikely. So if that's not the reason, what is? One likely answer is money. Look at the amount of money the health industry has pumped into these five Democrat's coffers:
Click to enlarge. Source: OpenSecrets.org1
Max Baucus got $7,734,102, Blanche Lincoln received $4,190,592, Ken Conrad took in $3,287,891, Bill Nelson was given $2,414,895 and Tom Carper accepted $1,592,380 from health industry interests.If money is the reason these five Democrats rejected the public option, then it only took a little over 19 million dollars over 20 years to buy the five votes the health insurance industry needed to kill any meaningful reform to their industry.
19 million dollars is nothing compared to the profits the insurance industry will make if a public option is defeated. They got a great deal for that 19 million. The american people? Not so much.
1data from 1989-2009
Comments
- 856 days agoThe five Democratic United States Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark), Bill Nelson (D-Fla) and Tom Carper (D-Del) will regret not voting for the public option.
- 856 days agoWell let's write them: http://baucus.senate.gov/contact/emailForm.cfm?subj=issue http://conrad.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm http://lincoln.senate.gov/contact/ http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/legislation.cfm http://carper.senate.gov/contact/
- 856 days agoThe Best thing to do is to fax your representative cause emailing, writing letters and calling are not as effective as faxing a hand written letter.
http://www.theorator.com/senate.html or http://www.conservativeusa.org/mega-cong.htm - 856 days agoThis is great! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!!
- 856 days agoI am going to write to them and congratulate them on standing up against socialism medicine!!!
- 856 days agoThese five Democratic United States Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark), Bill Nelson (D-Fla) and Tom Carper (D-Del) are american heroes!!!
- 856 days agoYou only showed the one result in the poll that seems to be in favor of anything going on with healthcare reform - I know it is directly related to this vote - but I think in order of fairness people should be shown all sides including those that don't agree - here is the full poll. http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/09/25/us/politics/25pollgrx.html
- 856 days agoAlmost correct, snowbegrime. They are Amerikans. Why are they heroes? Did they represent you in crafting their decision? Please explain 'socialism medecine' - not familiar with that term. Thanks.
- 856 days agoWTF! LOL "Socialist medicine" Haha! WTF are you talking about, Mr. Neocon Teabagger? It's only nationalized medicine if the entire system is administered by the government (like in the UK). Since when is an option socialism? I'll tell you when...ever since the born-again, "faith-based policy," "tea partying," war hawk, "Obama the new massa" sign carrying, Beck-Limbaugh-loving friends of Bush/Cheney decided to fuck the average American Citizen. Everything is great when you have good health coverage, but the I-only-love-money bastards who run the insurance who insist on keeping pre-existing condition clauses in their coverage are supplying the lube in our national fuckfest. If you have the misfortune of losing your job or changing jobs to try to make ends meet, you better hope you can still afford COBRA, otherwise anything the insurance company considers pre-existing will not be covered...even if it's the same insurance company providing the coverage with the new employer. Thanks, insurance industry!!!
- 856 days agoHow much money did they receive from voters? How does that compare to the money they received from corporate interests?
- 856 days ago@snowbegrime - It's OK to just admit you have no clue what a public option is instead of making yourself look like an idiot. Here's how things work currently: If you have insurance you pay your premiums into a pool. That pool is then used by the insurance companies to pay claims made by people who get sick. Unless they decide you're TOO SICK in which case you have a 1 in 5 chance of being cut off by your insurance company. Or if they decide they don't like the particular treatment your doctor wants you to have and deny payment for it. Under a public option you would pay premiums, just like with insurance, except the pool would be held and managed by the government. Because it's not for profit there would be nobody cut off for, say, cancer treatment, the way insurance companies do now. You also wouldn't have them denying treatment the way insurance companies due, again, because they aren't concerned in maintaining the huge profit margins insurance companies currently enjoy. http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/05/27/health-insurance-profits-soar-as-industry-mergers-create-near-monopoly/ "Profits at 10 of the countrys largest publicly traded health insurance companies rose 428 percent from 2000 to 2007, while consumers paid more for less coverage. One of the major reasons, according to a new study, is the growing lack of competition in the private health insurance industry that has led to near monopoly conditions in many markets."
- 856 days agosnowbegrime, you are either an employee, mentally challenged , or an idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot
- 856 days agoOne more thing - with so many admitting that nothing about the new plan is clear - I don't understand how they can say they are for a public option when they have no idea what it will really mean yet. It sounds like a knee jerk reaction by people who think the system is broken and want drastic change. I think there are things in the system that drastically need fixing.....but do we really want the government in charge of another thing in our life? "We need a new government for a new century, humble enough not to try to solve all our problems for us, but strong enough to give us the tools to solve our problems for ourselves. - Bill Clinton
- 856 days ago@noskad: I wasnt saying they were bad, just that they essentially *are* government subsidized, or socialized healthcare. I'm personally for the public option. No need to go all apeshit. Let's try to keep things civil here.
- 856 days ago@d3mag0gu3: Sorry, I was directing my disdain at snowbegrime.
I don't usually go apeshit about much, but morons like that one piss me off. I guess worrying that my mother's cancer will come back and NOT be covered by insurance this time around has me pissed off, too. - 856 days agoI think you are forgetting that we do not live in a democracy. These United States are a republic proper. We have democratically elected officials to pass law. This is to minimize the effects of mis-information, propaganda, and "posse" type lobbying. Thus, the comparisons with popular vote and arguments over the true nature of the senator's votes you pose are not valid. Unless you can provide evidence of their dissenting opinions, then you are little more than another populist publication that does nothing to further anyone's knowledge of the subject. You actually lose credibility to any knowledgable readers. BTW, I believe it is safe to say that not even half of the alleged 81% of democrats even turned the first page of this bill. Know what you're pushing for! Do you really want healthcare legislation that stays afloat by operating with government subsidies? I believe this was another poor attempt at appeasement that was not well founded. Where would the money come from? Your pockets every April, that's where. The only trouble is, eventually you run out of everyone else's money.
- 856 days agoI love the folks that say this is great cause they don't want the public option. They miss the biggest point. While to much socialism may be bad whats worse is corporations buying there votes in congress. Are they that blind?
- 856 days agoGnat214 "Thus, the comparisons with popular vote and arguments over the true nature of the senator's votes you pose are not valid" Your argument for this statement is not well founded. You forget that we live in the information age. People who really care about any issue can easily find the facts online. Well as long as there not sheep.
- 856 days agoWOW "snowbegrime" I do not know anything about you. However I hope you never loss your job and therefore your health insurance because then you will understand the need for a public option. One serious illness is all it will take to wipe out you and your family financially. One has no idea how bad the current system is, until you are exposed to it and swallowed up by it.
- 856 days agoActually, these shortsighted individuals are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Anyone of them can lose their business, job, home and be without health care coverage. The public option is a way to cover those who do fall on temporary hard times and may need it. Anyone of them could find themselves faced with a catastrophic illness of wife, husband, son, daughter without an affordable means to pay for it. Let them keep yapping and snapping at the heels of the public option. Even insurance companies employees and execs lose their jobs. God can bring you all the blessings in the world but if you don't take them they are useless.
- 856 days agoSomebody call the Faux News. Snowbegrime is clearly the most insightful conservative thinker in a generation.
- 856 days agoIf you're interested, here's a petition to Sen. Reid to disclose the identities of Democrats in the Senate who intend to filibuster. Let's shame them. http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/hccallthemout
- 856 days agoThese folks should be ashamed of themselves. How do they look themselves in the mirror? When 80% of all foreclosures in our country are due to health related bills - a public option is the only way we can keep the promise of the "American Way". Today that seems so very distant - greed and the corporatocracy have supplanted the golden rule. I for one am disgusted with these public servants.
- 856 days agoSend a fax to the five Democratic senators who voted against the proposal to put a public option in the bill from the finance committee. Tell them to stand up for their constituents. Baucus 202-224-9412, Conrad 202-224-7776, Lincoln 202-228-1371, Ne...lson 202-228-2183, Carper 202-228-2190. Other contact info and email forms available at www.senate.gov
- 856 days agoI will oppose the public option when I can have a private health insurance company charge me a $150/family/month premium, $500/family/year deductible, and then cover one hundred percent of all care, including surgeries and childbirth, with $5/10/20 prescriptions and $20 office visit copays. That's healthcare I can afford.
- 856 days agoThe US political system is broken -- special-interest lobbyists have taken over. Now that the social networks are in place, let's use them to change the world. We're creating an online service that will enable the American people to unite and form the most powerful political lobby in history -- http://TheElectors.org .
- 856 days ago@mav: Here, here! I would be all for that as long as there's no pre-existing conditions clause on top of the rest. Hell, if pre-existing were abolished, I'd pay a higher premium with little complaint. It would be worth it to know that I'm not going to go to the doctor to get my back treated and not have to worry that the insurance company will call it pre-existing. We're all one car accident or workplace injury or catastrophic illness away from medical bills that will take decades to pay.
- 856 days agoI wondered if I could keep the names of those who oppose the public option in a file that we can access when we're looking for money to cover those who would have benefitted from that public option. I don't mean medicare or medicaid. I mean those who fall through the cracks like, students, business owners, servers/bartenders etc. plus, people like my friend who gets 3 years of treatment for incurable cancer and then he's dropped. We sure do appreciate that you care enough to dig into your pockets to help these folks. When I see the jar in the gas station for your daughter who is ill, I'll throw a quarter in too.
- 856 days agoIs it just me or do any other Christians find this polarization of our politics completely unproductive and backwards? Maybe one of these neo-con evangelical Christians can explain to me why they always feel the need to support multimillion dollar international corporations who really don't give a flying fu** about God? I mean, I understand how a voting bloc works. The poor rural communities get to keep their God, and the Rich Wall Street slickers get to keep their money, But why would working people in the United States so often support government policies clearly inimical to their own self interests? Why are do they announce the Estate tax or income tax cuts that are strongly, and inherently, biased towards the rich? I know a lot of these people "feel" like they have money, but in reality the middle class is shrinking, and the upper class is only growing.
- 856 days ago@Noskad The Government funded NHS is not the only health-provider available in the UK. There are numerous private providers such as BUPA who you can turn to if you want something done in the private sector. That said I have always been perfectly happy with the NHS, whenever I've needed medical attention it's been there and it's been good. I hope for the reasons you described that you get access to a similar provision of care. What has been strange to watch on this side of the Atlantic, is some of the scare-mongering tactics which have been used by the opponents of the public option. The suggestion seems to be that if you pay tax in order to guarantee yourself medical care, then America will plunge into socialist totalitarianism. I think pretty much every other country in the western world has some form of Government-funded health system apart perhaps from Monaco, and socialist totalitarianism hasn't been fashionable in Europe since the fall of the Iron Curtain.
- 856 days agoAll I know is this, the world has been the grand experiment for universal healthcare, all nations pay half to a third what we do per year, and 35 countries have longer lifespans than us. So for the most part it is a success. I m happy to pay half of what I pay now into premiums as tax if I or my family never have to worry about healthcare or dental again. With all of the tax waste happen I can't think of a more noble and justified use of our tax dollars, on us. I am a conservitive, and I belive in profit, but not raping the citizens when it comes to nessesary things such as healthcare, gas, food and shelter.
- 856 days ago@anthonyj Stupid Christians believe that only God can heal them so why would they need health-care. If they get sick, its because they have sinned and it is God's will. Smart Christians believe God endowed us with curiosity, intelligence, understanding, and compassion so we can care for one another. When they get sick, they understand that there is this little thing called cause and effect (i.e. maybe I should not have eaten that week old jar of mayonnaise I left out in the sun). Unfortunately, it seems there are a lot more in one of those groups than the other.
- 855 days agoPlease educate yourselves about socialized medicine, where the government both employs the providers and pays the bills. We don't and won't have that here, except entities such as VA, which also contracts with outside providers in certain cases, and BIA on the federal level, and numerous hospitals run by state universities. There aree others, but I hope you get the point.
- 855 days agoFrom what I understand, the reason the Senators didn't vote for the PARTICULAR version of a public option that was proposed was because they needed to see an option that would actually PASS in the Senate. Those five senators felt that the public option bills proposed were not strong enough to pass, and therefore rejected it. I support them in being picky; I want the best public option possible, not just the quickest.
- 855 days agoWhy ain't this a crime? For anybody else it would be consider fraud, for their failure and deception to represent the public who elected them. These people and all other like them are criminals in mind and should be locked up.
- 855 days agoI thought people elected officials because they agreed with what the official would stand for. If Senators changed their minds with every poll of their electorate, we might as well have a direct democracy instead of a representative one. Remember that pure democracy is one step above anarchy.
- 855 days agoNo public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! No public option!!! FOX News is the best! Down with socialism!!! Down with socialism!!! Down with socialism!!! Down with socialism!!! Down with socialism!!! Down with socialism!!!
- 855 days agoThe greatest threat to our country is lack of education. I can't believe the level of stupidity in the country that people would actually be opposed to a national heathcare system. The police and fire depts are government run. Does that make us a socialist country? no of course not, its done that way because its makes sense. So does healthcare. Hell EVERY single other western country has it, why do you think that is? it wasnt forced on them they wanted it. The only reason we are even having this stupid debate is because the insurance companies spend millions every single day to spread misinformation and lies so the idiots among us who watch fox "news" soak it up and think the government is going to murder their grandma's to save money.
- 855 days agoOkay, I must admit that a lot of American`s are retards. I didn`t realize there were so many to screw up your closest chance to getting decent health care. Even when the republican party is a minority. Am I missing something here? I feel really bad for you rational americans. If you need room and board I have an extra room up here in Nova Scotia. Get away from this mess... its only gonna get worse and you will only get more and more disappointed. Your government is like a girlfriend that won't put out.
- 854 days agoI was Born and Raised in Florida! I voted for Bill Nelson(D-FL)! I had a lot of respect for him in the Past him being a Astronaut among other things! I can hardly believe he voted against the Public Option! I am devastated and disgusted he did so! I thought he was a decent human being that cared for the people of Florida and the United States! Many Astronauts have stated when they are in Space they do not see any boundaries as to Countries and Politics! I will certainly NOT Vote for Bill Nelson again! I will probably NOT for any people in Congress who have voted against the Public Option and the Health Reform Bill! This includes Ron Klein(D-FL) too! Just in case anyone thinks this is sour grapes, I have Medical coverage through the VAMC because I serve 4 years in the U. S. Coast Guard! The VA is a Socialize Medicine health concept! A type of a Public Option should be base on what the VA and Medicare has! I am a Humanitarian and Spiritual Person I care about people! SHAME on you Bill Nelson and Max Baucus, Lincoln, Et Al! We've been SOLD down the river for $19, 000, 000.00!
- 853 days agoSince the inception of Medicare, I paid into it via payroll deductions. Now I'm covered by Medicare and an AARP Supplemental. Medicare works perfectly for me, and I've never seen any indication mismanagement. The AARP Supplemental is fine, but processing is a bit slower by the commercial firm handling the paperwork. Folks that have hang-ups about government-administered insurance simply do not know the facts.
- 853 days agoI am going to write to them and congratulate them on standing up against socialism medicine!!!
- 852 days agoI asked an insurance agent recently if profits over people's lives was what drove the death care industry and she said yes. Let's see now if profits drive deaths in this country then you can say that the death care companies are murderers. Any person who votes against the public option is a murderer then too. Our local congressperson (I can't call him a man) says he never met anyone who was for a public option. He is tecnically correct in that when we tried to meet with him he ducked out to the heads of the hospitals and doctors clubs (country club). This has to stop and the prostitutes in Washington must divest themselves of all stock that would taint their votes just like the judges do when appointed to the bench. No stock and no takeee money from the corporations that you are supposed to oversee. Does that make sense to most Americans, I think it does.
- 849 days agowint you are an idiot. Government is going to get everyone on the public option then agter everyone is dependent on the government for health care then it is going to start cutting the funds for it, then blame the hospitals then the doctors, and so forth. I also love how they are paying for it by placing a tax on every medical device that you get or use. What a great idea!!! Let's tax the people from their paycheck then when they need healthcare tax them again on the stuff they need. GREAT!!! It is just going to make all the medical costs go even higher, way to go! Anyone who says that every western country has it that is why we need is a freaking moron. They all are struggling with the rising health care costs, the waiting time to actually go in and see a doctor or get a surgery. The prime minister of Sweden had to wait 9 months to have his hip replaced. 9 months of pain killers is not my cup of tea.
- 849 days agoGuess who denies more claims: MEDICARE. Oh, isn't medicare government run???
- 846 days ago@snowbegrime Republican neighbor was self-employed. He refused to buy insurance. His daughter was born with a heart defect and needed open heart surgery. My hospital bill (same hospital) was higher than it should have been (but covered). My neighbor burned his bill. Seems to me either he is your type of company, or he failed to pay your type of company. If he is your type of company, watch your pockets. If he didn't pay your type of company, why did your type of company need to charge me more? Your type of company is redistributing my wealth. Why is it you think you have more control over your type company (e.g. how they redistribute my wealth) than you do over your own country (i.e. how your country redistributes your wealth)?
- 841 days agoUm, so what? Who here volunteers to help the underprivileged anyway? Put your money where your mouth is
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