How can Senators look America in the eye knowing that 76% of Americans want a working public option and tell them it is too difficult to accomplish? It's the money.
Since 1990 the health industry has spent a total of $837,545,190 on politicians.
Politico:
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) calls them the “coalition of the willing,” a group of four Republican and three Democratic senators, including himself, that may well determine health care reform in the Senate.
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Yet in the last month, he began leaning heavily on six Finance senators who he thought would be most amenable to a bipartisan compromise: Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.).
BAUCUS
* Since 1989 has received $1,031,276 from health professionals, $740,605 from Big Pharma, $568,491 from hospitals/nursing homes, and $450,500 from health services/HMOs for a grand total of
$2,790,872.
HATCH
* Single largest industry donor since 1989 has been the pharmaceutical and health product industry with a total of
$1,273,724 and another $515,344 from health professionals.
ENZI
* Combining pharmaceutical ($289,038) and health professionals ($250,427) contributions makes them Enzi's largest career industry donors with a total of
$539,465.
GRASSLEY
* Largest single career industry donor is the insurance industry with a career total of $888,724, but the combination of Big Pharma ($474,980) and health professionals ($871,889) gives a career total of
$1,346,869.
CONRAD
* Number two career industry donor is the insurance industry at $825,337 and the third is health professionals with a total
$610,932.
SNOWE
* Number two career industry donor has been health professionals with
$409,264 total and number three has been insurance with $408,490.
BINGAMEN
* Number two career industry donor is health professionals with
$547,616 total.
It makes me sick that my tax dollars go to pay for the health care of these Senators and 76% of Americans want a public option and they sit there from on high and say it's just too difficult.
Call it what is, these people have been bought off. And that's the answer any five year old can understand: the Senators are paid shills for the health/pharma industries, and it's not too difficult; it's just not what they have been paid to do.