Baucus got $1.5 mill from the health sector *and* a past VP of Wellpoint helped him draft "reform"

[renate]

Baucus took $1.5m from the health sector for his political fund in the past year. Other members of the committee have received hundreds of thousands of dollars. They include Senator Pat Roberts, who last week tried to stall the bill by arguing that lobbyists needed three days to read it.

Baucus holds dinners for health industry executives at which they pay thousands of dollars each to be at the table, and an annual fly-fishing and golfing weekend in his home state of Montana that lobbyists pay handsomely to attend. They have included John Jonas, who represents healthcare firms for Patton Boggs, widely regarded as the top lobbying firm in Washington. Jonas, who formerly worked on the congressional staff, acknowledges that political contributions are intended to buy influence and says it works.

(snip)

The health industry permeates the process in other ways. At Baucus's side, drafting much of the wording of the reform, was Liz Fowler, a senate committee counsel whose last position was vice-president of the country's largest health insurer, Wellpoint, which stands to be a principal beneficiary of the new law.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/01/lobbyists-millions-obama-healthcare-reform

[FiveGoodMen]

1. This guy is one of the biggest traitors in American history and he's on "our" side.

[spanone]

5. no, he's not on our side

[AndyA]

2. When does this shit get to be ENOUGH?

What will it take for this crap to stop? The American people, the sleeping giant, need to wake up and start kicking some serious elected representative ass.

And the thing that's really angering is they are so blatant about it. They don't even try to hide it, it seems. They just act like they're all above board and doing the right thing.

Bullshit.

Meanwhile, all of them have people DYING in their districts due to no access to health care.

[tosh]

3. All of this "bed-mates" stuff just needs to stop. nt.

[newtothegame]

4. Not saying the Wellpoint guy isn't corrupt...

but who exactly should have participated in these discussions if not people who know what's wrong with the current system? We're not exactly experts just cause we read things on the internetz.

[renate]

6. that's a good point...

It'd be awesome if the ex-insurance guy who's been a whistleblower on Countdown and TRMS had a hand in writing it (I wish I could remember his name--he's wonderful). But I have a feeling that if the ex-Wellpoint employee were on our side, Baucus' plan wouldn't be such a hot mess.