Max Baucus--(D-Blue Cross, Schering Plough, New York Life)
Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Finance committee that is currently conducting the hearings on health care reform, won't allow a discussion about single payer health insurance.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Schering-Plough and New York Life Insurance are among his top five corporate contributors through 2008. Here's the direct link to this information at opensecrets.org
Keep in mind, of course, that Senator Baucus has plenty of other sources of campaign contributions, including the private citizens of Montana.
But the fact that his top corporate campaign contributors are corporations in the health care industry must influence his decisions on the matter of a single payer health system.
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Now, THERE'S a connection! Thanks, Gary.
And, for even more fun and detail, check out the opensecrets.org link to his leadership pac info: http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave.php?cmte=C00353953&cycle=2008. And, to REALLY get into it, you can look at the FEC reports (linked to from the OpenSecrets page! (I took a quick look at Glacier's 3Q08 report and saw several healthcare-related contributions on the first few pages.
May 12, 2009 7:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
yes, there's a real live connection--and the topic is current--he's in the news right now, conducting the hearings on health reform.
Again, it's not the whole story--top corporate contributors does not a Senator make.
But it's hard to deny which ones are influencing his current decisions.
May 12, 2009 8:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes. It seems we are going to have to fight for single payer and fight hard if we really want it. We are up against the people who've been making money off of it for a long time, including senators.
May 12, 2009 9:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I appreciate the concern which is been rose. The things need to be sorted out because it’s not about the individual but it can be with everyone.
abiton
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May 13, 2009 5:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
tpmg,
Much to be done in this fight. Thanks for keeping this up front and the heat on "Faucus"!
May 13, 2009 6:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
More info on health care debate and the influence of corporate campaign contributions. This from a Greenwald post:
Blue Dog Dems Rake in Health Care Contributions, Protest Exclusion from Debate--
(my commentary--so they protest their own exclusion from debate but not the exclusion of single payer advocates?)
article continues:
On the same day that President Obama met with a number of health care organizations, a group of 45 conservative Democrats sent an angry letter to three House committees protesting the secrecy around the production of health care legislation in the House. The New York Times reports that this large group of Blue Dog Democrats is "increasingly troubled" by their exclusion from the bill-writing process. The Blue Dogs largely represent more conservative-leaning districts and take positions that are often favorable to industry. They are also big fundraisers, with their coalition PAC raking in large amounts from corporate PACs.
The Blue Dog PAC pulled in $2.26 million in PAC contributions during the 2008 election cycle. Approximately eighteen percent of that amount — $410,300 — came from PACs connected to the health sector. During the 2008 cycle, individuals members of the Blue Dog Coalition raised a combined $6.24 million from the health sector. . . . Rep. Mike Ross, who is noted in the Times article as leading the Blue Dog Health Care Task Force, received nearly twice the average for a Blue Dog Dem — $259,625 — from the health sector, the most from any sector. Some other top Blue Dogs, many of whom are on the Health Care Task Force, are also leading recipients of contributions from the health sector. Reps. Bart Gordon ($395,178), Earl Pomeroy ($392,699), Jim Matheson ($350,994), Jason Altmire ($336,729), John Tanner ($264,299), Ross ($259,625), Mike Thompson ($254,625), and Patrick Murphy ($239,371) all rank in top 50 recipients of health sector campaign contributions. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
May 13, 2009 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink