Senator Thomas Carper, of Delaware, was quoted as having pushed the Snowe trigger to the President as a compromise. Here's what he said below:
When President Obama met with the Moderate Dems Working Group on Thursday, the panel's co-chair urged him to bridge divisions within the Democratic Party by structuring a public insurance option as a "fallback" and not as a first resort.
"If there is no meaningful competition after a couple of years, we would create competition through a public plan," said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., in an interview with ABC News. "I think that could end up being the compromise because it bridges the differences between those who are for a robust public option and those who are adamantly opposed to a public option."
"I raised it with the president," Carper continued, referring to his public option with a trigger proposal. "Olympia Snowe and I are both advocates of this approach," he added, referring to the Republican senator from Maine who so far has been alone among GOP senators in wanting to craft a compromise with Democrats.
You know what's even more ironic? Senator Thomas Carper previously equated the Snowe trigger to the Medicare Part D trigger, as we all know never got triggered because private insurers found a way around the trigger, and killed it dead. Here's what he said about the trigger being like Medicare Part D on MSNBC with David Shuster:
Shuster: Why shouldn’t people believe that your decision to say a public option as backup plan — why shouldn’t people believe that it’s been influenced by the money you’ve gotten from the insurance companies and from pharmaceuticals who don’t want a backup plan, who want it as — who don’t want a public option, at all, or a backup plan as a worst-case scenario?
Carper: Well, at the end of the day, I want us to pass a bill. I want us to pass a good bill … At the end of the day, there are more important things in the bill than whether or not we have a public plan or a public option. I think the idea of what we did in the Medicare Part D plan, where we have a fallback plan on the shelf, ready to pull out if we need it, in order to make sure market forces are working, that seems to me to be a perfectly good option.
Shuster: But, Senator, you’re under a lot of pressure, wouldn’t you acknowledge, from the insurance companies, with all the money they’ve given you?
Carper: I don’t feel a lot of pressure at all. The most effective lobbyist for me — I’ve been governor; I’ve been congressman; I’ve been state treasurer; now I’m the senator — the most effective lobbyist, for me, in everything I have ever done, are actually people from Delaware that I know that I trust who talk to me, in all kinds of parades all over my state this last Fourth of July weekend, and people that call my office, mostly from Delaware, that have a view, some for public plans, some against it.
You know what we say to that? Utter bullshit. Senator Carper, over his career, has received over $297,640 from PACs that represent private insurers. This year alone, he's received over $23,980 in special interest money from PACs that represent Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, UnitedHealth, WellPoint, Inc., and other insurers.
Senator Carper's also received $1000 in individual donations from Kelly Bingel who works with the Mehlman, Vogel, & Castagnetti lobbying firm that represents America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), and $1200 from Timothy Constantine, an executive from Blue Cross Blue Shield in Delaware. There's the money shot with $620 from Karen Ignani of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). He also received $400 from William E. Kirk, a vice-president with Blue Cross Blue Shield in Delaware. Let's not forget the $3,000 from Gary Lauer, the CEO of EHealth, Inc., and $2000 from Scott P. Serota, an executive with Blue Cross Blue Shield in Illinois.
Let me be clear on this. Triggers aren't real health care reform. Triggers are a cop-out designed to never let a public option see the light of day. Any Democrat pushing the trigger or accepting it as a fall-back should be CALLED out for not really supporting the public option. It's not an acceptable compromise, and we need to let Democrats know that!
This is what I want you to do today--help me and thousands of other Americans in killing the trigger on the public option and arguing against co-operatives.
PLEASE CALL these Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus today to thank them for supporting the public option, and saying that you don't want a trigger on the public option. Here are the talking points for your phone calls to these Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus today:
Hi [Representative's Name]. I want to thank you for supporting the public option, but I don't want you to support a trigger on the public option! A trigger on the public option would be a surrender to the private insurance companies. Please don't let the insurance lobbyists win by allowing a trigger on the public option. Also, please STAND TOGETHER as a Member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to fight for the public option in the final conference bill!
And please keep on calling your own Representatives to advocate for the public option, and demand that there be no triggers on the public option!
CALL AND E-MAIL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY! WRITE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR URGING YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR NOT TO SUPPORT A TRIGGER ON THE PUBLIC OPTION
Please follow me on Twitter @slinkerwink to get the latest action updates and news about the public option as an essential element of real health care reform! Also, please follow nyceve on Twitter @nyceve1.
Please RECOMMEND this diary to CALL and HOLD our elected officials accountable on the public option as the line in the sand!
Now, for a round-up on the research we did yesterday on the 5 Democrats.
- Rep. Jane Harman took very little money from PACs representing the health industry, which is good. She's also taken very little money from lobbyists representing the health industry this year alone.
- Rep. Tim Ryan's taken money from a couple of PACs such as Blue Cross Blue Shield and Cardinal Health, Inc. that oppose the public option. He hasn't taken money from lobbyists representing special interests in the health industry except for $250 from Sean D'Arcy, a lobbyist that represents medical-device makers and pharmaceuticals.
- Rep. Robert Brady hasn't taken money from PACs representing special interests in the health industry. However, he has taken individual contributions from two lobbyists at the same firm that represent Blue Cross Blue Shield.
- Rep. Michael Doyle has taken money from the American Hospital Association PAC, and from the Bayer PAC, which represents a major pharmaceutical group. Those were the only two PACs in the list representing special interests in the health industry. And there are no red flags with individual contributions from lobbyists.
- Rep. Peter Welch took PAC money mostly from medical associations and one from the American Hospital Association. And there are like three individual contributions he's taken in this year alone, which is surprising.
And here are the four Democrats we need you guys to help with the research on today:
Rep. George Miller
Rep. Charlie Rangel
Rep. John Lewis
Rep. Dale Kildee
Now, let's keep holding our elected officials accountable for the trigger-free public option as a required component of the FINAL bill!
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