Jane Hamsher: "who is the Democratic Senator who's taken the most money from the Health Care sector?

[mcablue]

Health Sector Contributions to Members of the 111th Congress, 1989-2009*

Baucus: $3,902, 881
Specter: $4,521,093
Kerry: $ 8,344,060

That would be John Kerry.

When the Dorgan Amendment on reimportation of prescription drugs failed 51-48 the other day, Kerry was one of the Democrats who voted “nay.” He tried to give himself cover by voting “yea” on the Lautenberg “poison pill” amendment that neutered the Dorgan amendment.

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/12/18/john-kerry-attacks-howard-dean-for-fun-and-profit/

[BeyondGeography]

1. Under the bus, with Coburn's aborted babies

[chimpymustgo]

3. A spade is a spade. Kerry voted HIS personal, financial, political interests - not ours.

[ProSense]

12. Oh BS. n/t

[chimpymustgo]

19. Our Democratic "representatives" are surely full of BS.

:puke:

[ProSense]

24. They can't do anything about idiots.

Jane Hampsher is an idiot.

[chimpymustgo]

55. She is not the PROVEN idiot in this thread.

[ProSense]

58. You're right.

Thanks for owning up. n/t

[chimpymustgo]

69. Oh, the patheic ass-kissers.

[maryinthemorn]

90. ...

:thumbsup: :hi:

[ima_sinnic]

85. unbelievable (nt)

[flpoljunkie]

63. John Kerry ran for president. That's why his contributions are high, but pale next to Obama's 20 mil

Obama, Barack P IL $20,144,316
McCain, John S AZ $9,027,044
Kerry, John S MA $8,344,060

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/12/18/john-kerry-attacks-howard-dean-for-fun-and-profit/

[karynnj]

66. No - he is the ONLY Senator who ran for President

Remove the donations - from people who worked for drug companies - for the 2004 primaries, and he falls down the list. You might remember that Kerry opted out of public financing for that election following Dr Dean.

She is smart enough to know that and to know Kerry has been an advocate of getting money out of campaigns for his entire career.

Here is his introduction for the campaign finance bill he wrote - that he and Wellstone sponsored.

Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I want to speak before you today about a critical challenge before this Senate--the challenge of reforming the way in which elections are conducted in the United States; the challenge of ending the ``moneyocracy'' that has turned our elections into auctions where public office is sold to the highest bidder. I want to implore the Congress to take meaningful steps this year to ban soft money, strengthen the Federal Election Commission, provide candidates the opportunity to pay for their campaigns with clean money, end the growing trend of dangerous sham issue ads, and meet the ultimate goal of restoring the rights of average Americans to have a stake in their democracy. Today I am proud to join with my colleague from Minnesota, PAUL WELLSTONE, to introduce the ``Clean Money'' bill which I believe will help all of us entrusted to shape public policy to arrive at a point where we can truly say we are rebuilding Americans' faith in our democracy.
For the last 10 years, I have stood before you to push for comprehensive campaign reform. We have made nips and tucks at the edges of the system, but we have always found excuses to hold us back from making the system work. It's long past time that we act--in a comprehensive way--to curtail the way in which soft money and the big special interest dollars are crowding ordinary citizens out of this political system.
Today the political system is being corrupted because there is too much unregulated, misused money circulating in an environment where candidates will do anything to get elected and where, too often, the special interests set the tone of debate more than the political leaders or the American people. Just consider the facts for a moment. The rising cost of seeking political office is outrageous. In 1996, House and Senate candidates spent more than $765 million, a 76% increase since 1990 and a six fold increase since 1976. Since 1976, the average cost for a winning Senate race went from $600,000 to $3.3 million, and in the arms race for campaign dollars in 1996 many of us were forced to spend significantly more than that. In constant dollars, we have seen an increase of over 100 percent in the money spent for Senatorial races from 1980 to 1994. Today Senators often spend more time on the phone ``dialing for dollars'' than on the Senate floor. The average Senator must raise $12,000 a week for six years to pay for his or her re-election campaign.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg. The use of soft money has exploded. In 1988, Democrats and Republicans raised a combined $45 million in soft money. In 1992 that number doubled to reach $90 million and in 1995-96 that number tripled to $262 million. This trend continues in this cycle. What's the impact of all that soft money? It means that the special interests are being heard. They're the ones with the influence. But ordinary citizens can't compete. Fewer than one third of one percent of eligible voters donated more than $250 in the electoral cycle of 1996. They're on the sidelines in what is becoming a coin-operated political system.
The American people want us to act today to forge a better system. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows that 77% of the public believes that campaign finance reform is needed ``because there is too much money being spent on political campaigns, which leads to excessive influence by special interests and wealthy individuals at the expense of average people.'' Last spring a New York Times found that an astonishing 91% of the public favor a fundamental transformation of this system.
Cynics say that the American people don't care about campaign finance. It's not true. Citizens just don't believe we'll have the courage to act--they're fed up with our defense of the status quo. They're disturbed by our fear of moving away from this status quo which is destroying our democracy. Soft money, political experts tell us, is good for incumbents, good for those of us within the system already. Well, nothing can be good for any elected official that hurts our democracy, that drives citizens out of the process, and which keeps politicians glued to the phone raising money when they ought to be doing the people's business. Let's put aside the status quo, and let's act today to restore our democracy, to make it once more all that the founders promised it could be.
Let us pass the Clean Mo ney Bill to restore faith in our government in this age when it has been so badly eroded.
Let us recognize that the faith in government and in our political process which leads Americans to go to town hall meetings, or to attend local caucuses, or even to vote--that faith which makes political expression worthwhile for ordinary working Americans--is being threatened by a political system that appears to reward the special interests that can play the game and the politicians who can game the system.
Each time we have debated campaign finance reform in this Senate, too many of our colleagues have safeguarded the status quo under the guise of protecting the political speech of the Fortune 500. But today we must pass campaign finance reform to protect the political voice of the 250 million ordinary, working Americans without a fortune. It is their dwindling faith in our political system that must be restored.
Twenty five years ago, I sat before the Foreign Relations Committee, a young veteran having returned from Vietnam. Behind me sat hundreds of veterans committed to ending the war the Vietnam War. Even then we questioned whether ordinary Americans, battle scarred veterans, could have a voice in a political system where the costs of campaigns, the price of elected office seemed prohibitive. Young men who had put their life on the front lines for their country were worried that the wall of special interests between the people and their government might have been too thick even then for our voices to be heard in the corridors of power in Washington, D.C.
But we had a reserve of faith left, some belief in the promise and the influence of political expression for all Americans. That sliver of faith saved lives. Ordinary citizens stopped a war that had taken 59,000 American lives.
Every time in the history of this republic when we have faced a moral challenge, there has been enough faith in our democracy to stir the passions of ordinary Americans to act--to write to their Members of Congress; to come to Washington and speak with us one on one; to walk door to door on behalf of issues and candidates; and to vote on election day for people they believe will fight for them in Washington.
It's the activism of citizens in our democracy that has made the American experiment a success. Ordinary citizens--at the most critical moments in our history--were filled with a sense of efficacy. They believed they had influence in their government.

Today those same citizens are turning away from our political system. They believe the only kind of influence left in American politics is the kind you wield with a checkbook. The senior citizen living on a social security check knows her influence is inconsequential compared to the interest group that can saturate a media market with a million dollars in ads that play fast and loose with the facts. The mother struggling to find decent health care for her children knows her influence is trivial compared to the special interests on K Street that can deliver contributions to incumbent politicians struggling to stay in office.
But I would remind you that whenever our country faces a challenge, it is not the special interests, but rather the average citizen, who holds the responsibility to protect our nation. The next time our nation faces a crisis and the people's voice needs to be heard to turn the tide of history, will the average American believe enough in the process to give words to the feelings beyond the beltway, the currents of public opinion that run beneath the surface of our political dialogue?
In times of real challenge for our country in the years to come, will the young people speak up once again? Not if we continue to hand over control of our political system to the special interests who can infuse the system with soft money and with phony television ads that make a mockery of the issues.
The children of the generation that fought to lower the voting age to 18 are abandoning the voting booth themselves. Polls reveal they believe it is more likely that they'll be abducted by aliens than it is that their vote will make a real difference. For America's young people the MTV Voter Participation Challenge ``Choose or Lose'' has become a cynical joke. In their minds, the choice has already been lost--lost to the special interests. That is a loss this Senate should take very seriously. That is tremendous damage done to our democracy, damage we have a responsibility in this Senate to repair. Mr. President, with this legislation we are introducing today, we can begin that effort--we can repair and revitalize our political process, and we can guarantee ``clean elections'' funded by ``clean money,'' elections where our citizens are the ones who make the difference

{/div]

JH is being dishonest in comparing Kerry with the others and not removing the Presidential contributions or noting that they were NOT from PACs but almost entirely by people working for drug companies. Are you more "acceptable" as a person contributing to a campaign than people I know who work on research for drug companies? Like you, their contributions are based on their values - not to benefit their company. (Note: I never worked for a drug company, but enough people in my county do so I have met many as parents of my kid's friends or in organizations I belong to)

[polichick]

2. Wow - no wonder he spoke out about Dean's position. nt

[spiritual_gunfighter]

5. Of course, this doesnt surprise me in the least

you know what they say, "follow the money".

[karynnj]

68. Guess one person responsible for Kerry's high number - Howard Dean

Why? Kerry opted out of public financing only after Dean did for the 2004 primaries. It is for that campaign that the bulk of those contributions came. (The fact is that Dean's own 2004 numbers would be high, but lower than Kerry's because Kerry was clearly going to be the nominee in early March.)

Also, they were almost entirely from INDIVIDUALS who work for drug companies. Are scientists working on drug research less acceptable than you to give money to political candidates? I know some and they are good people. I have no idea if they contributed to Kerry or to anyone else.

[tblue]

4. I was never crazy about John Kerry.

But I thought, being from Mass. and being a good friend of Ted Kennedy, he was better than this. Flush him, too.

[Better Believe It]

6. John Kerry claims he fought hard for a public option? Bull shit!

John Kerry:
"Well, I am a strong supporter of the public option and I’ve fought to see it included. But if it cannot be included, I’m not willing to walk away."

When, where and how did John Kerry fight hard for a strong public option?

His glaring absence from the battlefield has been very obvious. In this war for universal health care he was AWOL. He walked away from that battle.

[janet118]

37. I wrote to Kerry about the public option . . . twice

and all I got back was the same canned letter telling me about how he supported the S-Chips bill and about how great the Massachusetts (Romney) health care system is. It's like no one read what I wrote.

Only a man totally out of touch with reality could be representing Massachusetts yet continue to sing the praises of the half-assed, over-priced health care system we have here. It screws the self-employed, the unemployed, the middle-class and small businesses in this state. The policy "choices" we get are expensive or else have high deductible and co-pays and cover little. And, guess what, the prices are going up anyway so that the private insurance companies can squeeze even more profit from our suffering.

Sen. Kennedy gave Kerry cover. Kerry doesn't care a twit what his constituents think. He proved that with his Iraq vote. In fact, I really don't believe he even lives here. The only time he comes around is just before an election.

I see that the Kerry Corps is out in force to protect their guy's "integrity" - I hope he pays them a little something for their vigilance. He seems to have enough money.

[Mass]

39. You mean the Kerry's hate brigade is here. You are only present when Kerry has to be attacked. Never

when we talk about issues. Surprising!

[paulk]

79. Kerry's vote on this

is damn hard to defend

[Mass]

82. I am not defending Kerry about his vote. You will not find me defending it on this.

This said, attacking somebody demands a minimum of intellectual honesty, that the OP does not have. He (and the link he is referring to) is referring to numbers of all the healthcare system (including doctors and nurses) to say Kerry is the senator who has gotten the most money. Not surprising because they cannot make this claim with just health insurance and Pharma, and even less with Pharma, and this with a presidential campaign included in the numbers.


Now, I am not naive to think this is about this vote either. This is about the speech he gave yesterday to support the bill, where he said Dean was wrong. I understand why people are unhappy. I was too when I heard this part of the speech. But being unhappy does not give you the right to take shortcuts. The claim in the OP is false if, as most people will, you understand healthcare sector as insurance and pharma.

[karynnj]

70. None of us are paid employees of Senator Kerry

Nice recital of Republican points. The fact is that Kerry has often been in MA since the election - including at least 3 town halls - more than my two Senators combined. As to where he lives, like most Senators, he spends a large amount of time in DC and he has been extremely busy in Senate breaks doing work for the SFRC - going to places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Gaza Strip, Sudan etc He has a home in Boston.

If you watched the Finance committee hearings, Kerry was a very strong supporter of the public option and made an excellent case for it when it was discussed in considering Rockefeller's and Schumer's amendments.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

9. Some so-called progresssives are not better than the RW.

Counterpuke: Bernie the Quitter Fools Us Again

In small minds, everyone who makes sense and deals with reality is a sellout.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. I think people who work for the Insurance Industry are sell outs

They remind me of a Paul Simon song:

He's a one trick pony
One trick is all that horse can do
He does one trick only
It's the principal source of his revenue

See how he dances
See how he loops from side to side
See how he prances
The way his hooves just seem to glide
He's just a one trick pony (that's all he is)
But he turns that trick with pride.


It is a great song, and I keep thinking of it here on DU for some reason. Which is nice because now I'll go play the record, which I love. Beautiful tee shirt weather today. Perfect.

[Garam_Masala]

42. I will back him on nuclear power

Because of actual facts as follows:

The coal mining industry has resulted in deaths of thousands of miners
Coal also produces poisonous air when burned in power plants

Gasoline refinery accidents have killed thousands of workers.

Nuclear power generation in US, Canada, Great Britain, France (80% nuclear), all other
western European countries, Australia, India, Brazil etc have killed ZERO workers.
Nuclear power plants emit ZERO green house gases and ZERO lung killing gases.
We have the technology to safely dispose of nuclear waste.

So, based on FACTS, nuclear power is a better alternative than coal or oil.

[ProSense]

8. Jane Hamsher is an idiot.

Kerry ran for President between 1989 and 2009. He got and gets most of his contributions from individuals not PAC, unlike a lot of other Senators. Since Hamsher mentioned Dorgan.

Kerry 2005 to 2009

Dorgan 2005 to 2009

Kerry has put significant reforms into this bill.

[jefferson_dem]

14. +1+

She's already advocating that lefties join forces with teabaggers. It won't be long before she's blogging for RedState and NoQuarter.

[BeyondGeography]

18. Being an idiot is good for business these days

[jefferson_dem]

27. That's it!

We can sit here and scratch our heads about how Glenn Beck is so popular. This is the same thing. Reason and constructive political dialogue doesn't sell. Teh crazy stoopid does.

[ClarkUSA]

48. Amen. She's got an enemies list & now Kerry's on it after his pro-HCR speech. How Rovian of her.

But then again, she's been a bitter Chicken Little since the outcome of last year's election wasn't to her liking.

[saltpoint]

62. She's a gifted film-maker, IMO. Politically, she is in fact an idiot.

[Mass]

10. Jane Hamsher has lost my confidence with this. She know Kerry has the highest level because of his

run for president. In % of money taken and in the last few cycles, he did not and she knows that.

BTW, this is exactly why I was objecting to Kerry's speech yesterday. Rather than focusing on issues, people start throwing bombs at each others. This wont help anybody.

[mcablue]

17. Even if we subtract what Kerry got in 2004, he would be on top

He received 3,405,107 from the health care sector that time: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepoliticalsystem/a/industrybucks.htm

And I'm being charitable, because I'm assuming that Kerry would have gotten $0.00 if he hadn't run for President, which is obviously unrealistic.

[ProSense]

20. Don't be ridiculous.

That's someone's post, and taken together with Hamsher's distortion is simply compounding inaccuracies.

Kerry raises money primarily from individual contributions. Trying to use a 20-year span to claim he is beholden to any group is ridiculous.

[mcablue]

22. Ok so how much did Kerry receive in 2004 then?

If you won't accept the statistics cited for that year.

[ProSense]

29. Statistics can't make up for lack of comprehension. In fact,

what point is Hamsher trying to make about Kerry the and Pharma?

Over 20 years, including a run for President and raising money from individuals, Kerry has only gotten about $1.6 million (the source of Hamsher's information) from the insurance and pharma sectors. Most of that coming during his Presidential campaign. Kerry gets on average about $12 in contributions from Pharma, some years less and during his campaigns for Senate a little more), and still it comes from individual contributions, not PACs.

Jame Hamsher engages in nothing but distortions.

[chill_wind]

33. $869,482

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=F09&recipdetail=S&sortorder=A&cycle=2004

[Mass]

35. This is from the insurance sector. Hamsher is talking of the TOTAL healthcare including doctors and

nurses, who are about half of these $8 M

[chill_wind]

43. My apologies. In the insurance sector only, he's still in the top 5 over all, BUT

so are these others:
McCain, John (R-AZ) $2,909,803
Obama, Barack (D) $2,499,102
Dodd, Chris (D-CT) $2,316,596
Clinton, Hillary (D-NY) $1,875,265
Kerry, John (D-MA) $1,396,617,

all having had presidential races. So, although I ordinarily like Jane Hamsher, I'm a little uncomfortable with what she's doing with her particular numbers, too. In the last 2 years, he's only taken $250 from this sector. In fact, we can look back and see he's not any where near the top in the last few cycles:

Insurance: Money to Congress

2010 cycle so far:

Schumer, Charles E (D-NY) $197,600
Dodd, Chris (D-CT) $165,750
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) $126,450
Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR) $113,450
Bennett, Robert F (R-UT) $107,400
Reid, Harry (D-NV) $106,750
Burr, Richard (R-NC) $102,750
Shelby, Richard C (R-AL) $98,100
Bayh, Evan (D-IN) $87,600
Gillibrand, Kirsten (D-NY) $80,600
Crapo, Mike (R-ID) $80,400
Thune, John (R-SD) $68,200
Murray, Patty (D-WA) $67,650
DeMint, James W (R-SC) $66,050
Nelson, Ben (D-NE) $64,500
Wyden, Ron (D-OR) $59,600
Carper, Tom (D-DE) $50,610
Vitter, David (R-LA) $48,700
Isakson, Johnny (R-GA) $48,600
Ensign, John (R-NV) $48,526
Dorgan, Byron L (D-ND) $46,250
Corker, Bob (R-TN) $45,020
Specter, Arlen (D-PA) $42,825
Coburn, Tom (R-OK) $42,250
Merkley, Jeff (D-OR) $35,000
Bennet, Michael F (D-CO) $32,080
McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) $31,950
Brown, Sherrod (D-OH) $30,400
Menendez, Robert (D-NJ) $30,400
Conrad, Kent (D-ND) $26,500
Nelson, Bill (D-FL) $25,000
Wicker, Roger (R-MS) $24,600
Baucus, Max (D-MT) $24,350
Inouye, Daniel K (D-HI) $24,100
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI) $22,432
Bunning, Jim (R-KY) $21,683
Hatch, Orrin G (R-UT) $21,050
Warner, Mark (D-VA) $19,000
Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK) $18,500
Leahy, Patrick (D-VT) $17,600
Tester, Jon (D-MT) $15,750
McCain, John (R-AZ) $14,800
Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN) $14,250
Harkin, Tom (D-IA) $14,000
Cornyn, John (R-TX) $13,625
Cardin, Ben (D-MD) $13,500
Risch, James E (R-ID) $12,000
Feingold, Russ (D-WI) $11,975
Mikulski, Barbara A (D-MD) $11,500
Boxer, Barbara (D-CA) $11,450
Durbin, Dick (D-IL) $10,960
Landrieu, Mary L (D-LA) $10,500
Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) $10,200
Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI) $8,500
Kyl, Jon (R-AZ) $8,000
Webb, James (D-VA) $8,000
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) $7,000
Johanns, Michael O (R-NE) $7,000
Casey, Bob (D-PA) $6,850
Lieberman, Joe (I-CT) $6,500
Franken, Al (D-MN) $6,400
Clinton, Hillary (D-NY) $6,350
Reed, Jack (D-RI) $6,000
Snowe, Olympia J (R-ME) $6,000
Roberts, Pat (R-KS) $5,750
Begich, Mark (D-AK) $5,500
Johnson, Tim (D-SD) $5,000
Udall, Tom (D-NM) $5,000
Hagan, Kay R (D-NC) $4,000
Sessions, Jeff (R-AL) $3,400
Collins, Susan M (R-ME) $3,000
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) $2,500
Lugar, Richard G (R-IN) $2,500
Barrasso, John A (R-WY) $2,000
Rockefeller, Jay (D-WV) $2,000
Inhofe, James M (R-OK) $1,700
Cochran, Thad (R-MS) $1,500
Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX) $1,000
Shaheen, Jeanne (D-NH) $1,000
Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM) $500
Alexander, Lamar (R-TN) $250
Kerry, John (D-MA) $250



2008


McCain, John (R) $2,442,606
Obama, Barack (D) $2,320,820
Clinton, Hillary (D-NY) $1,196,390
Dodd, Chris (D-CT) $853,006
McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) $400,583
Coleman, Norm (R-MN) $396,629
Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) $344,736
Sununu, John E (R-NH) $303,804
Cornyn, John (R-TX) $287,569
Dole, Elizabeth (R-NC) $284,662
Baucus, Max (D-MT) $281,850
Smith, Gordon H (R-OR) $232,650
Collins, Susan M (R-ME) $215,700
Reed, Jack (D-RI) $201,050
Wicker, Roger (R-MS) $170,200
Johnson, Tim (D-SD) $164,586
Roberts, Pat (R-KS) $158,900
Shelby, Richard C (R-AL) $157,249
Reid, Harry (D-NV) $144,300
Durbin, Dick (D-IL) $130,800
Pryor, Mark (D-AR) $124,315
Specter, Arlen (R-PA) $122,848
Landrieu, Mary L (D-LA) $118,848
Harkin, Tom (D-IA) $107,680
Sessions, Jeff (R-AL) $107,250
Rockefeller, Jay (D-WV) $105,174
Voinovich, George V (R-OH) $102,000
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) $101,100
Biden, Joseph R Jr (D-DE) $100,000
DeMint, James W (R-SC) $93,768
Salazar, Ken (D-CO) $92,000
Alexander, Lamar (R-TN) $91,700
Corker, Bob (R-TN) $91,000
Levin, Carl (D-MI) $90,318
Kerry, John (D-MA) $88,250
Enzi, Mike (R-WY) $84,250
Barrasso, John A (R-WY) $75,000
Inhofe, James M (R-OK) $72,300
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) $72,200
Menendez, Robert (D-NJ) $69,450
Nelson, Ben (D-NE) $68,450
Crapo, Mike (R-ID) $65,750
Conrad, Kent (D-ND) $57,300
Bennett, Robert F (R-UT) $52,300
Martinez, Mel (R-FL) $50,900
Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR) $49,500
Thune, John (R-SD) $47,560
Bunning, Jim (R-KY) $46,100
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI) $43,100
Wyden, Ron (D-OR) $42,749
Lautenberg, Frank R (D-NJ) $41,950
Hagel, Chuck (R-NE) $36,950
Cochran, Thad (R-MS) $36,300
Isakson, Johnny (R-GA) $35,550
Burr, Richard (R-NC) $35,450
Domenici, Pete V (R-NM) $33,550
Stevens, Ted (R-AK) $32,550
Carper, Tom (D-DE) $28,700
Vitter, David (R-LA) $27,750
Hatch, Orrin G (R-UT) $27,380
Brown, Sherrod (D-OH) $26,750
Murray, Patty (D-WA) $26,750
Cardin, Ben (D-MD) $26,500
Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI)$26,250
Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN) $24,950
Tester, Jon (D-MT) $24,915
Dorgan, Byron L (D-ND) $24,450
Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX) $24,404
Lott, Trent (R-MS) $23,000
Nelson, Bill (D-FL) $22,730
Bond, Christopher "Kit" (R-MO $21,050
Ensign, John (R-NV) $19,400
Casey, Bob (D-PA) $19,000
Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK) $18,000
Inouye, Daniel K (D-HI) $17,750
Boxer, Barbara (D-CA) $16,600
Gregg, Judd (R-NH) $15,200
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA) $13,700
Brownback, Sam (R-KS) $12,600
McCaskill, Claire (D-MO) $11,250
Feingold, Russ (D-WI) $10,750
Bayh, Evan (D-IN) $8,000
Craig, Larry (R-ID) $7,000
Akaka, Daniel K (D-HI) $5,000
Snowe, Olympia J (R-ME) $5,000
Leahy, Patrick (D-VT) $4,500
Schumer, Charles E (D-NY $3,000
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) $2,750
Coburn, Tom (R-OK) $2,000
Kyl, Jon (R-AZ) $2,000
Mikulski, Barbara A (D-MD)$2,000
Webb, James (D-VA) $2,000
Lugar, Richard G (R-IN) $1,700
Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM) $1,500
Byrd, Robert C (D-WV) $1,000
Warner, John W (R-VA) $1000

2006

Santorum, Rick (R-PA) $491,306
Lieberman, Joe (I-CT) $424,894
Clinton, Hillary (D-NY) $381,200
DeWine, Mike (R-OH) $354,586
Nelson, Ben (D-NE) $321,136
Talent, James M (R-MO) $284,286
Kyl, Jon (R-AZ) $274,420
Dodd, Chris (D-CT) $254,750
Baucus, Max (D-MT) $247,075
Allen, George (R-VA) $201,636
Carper, Tom (D-DE) $190,020
Nelson, Bill (D-FL) $183,700
Conrad, Kent (D-ND) $159,375
Snowe, Olympia J (R-ME) $153,585
Sununu, John E (R-NH) $153,436
Menendez, Robert (D-NJ) $151,850
Ensign, John (R-NV) $143,536
Smith, Gordon H (R-OR) $142,200
Chafee, Lincoln D (R-RI) $140,809
Johnson, Tim (D-SD) $137,911
Hatch, Orrin G (R-UT) $133,539
McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) $122,250
Burns, Conrad (R-MT) $113,161
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI) $112,900
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) $110,100
Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX) $107,150
Lott, Trent (R-MS) $83,086
Kennedy, Edward M (D-MA) $76,400
Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM) $65,532
Landrieu, Mary L (D-LA) $62,050
Cornyn, John (R-TX) $60,600
Thomas, Craig (R-WY) $52,635
Durbin, Dick (D-IL) $52,200
Lugar, Richard G (R-IN) $48,250
Bayh, Evan (D-IN) $47,800
DeMint, James W (R-SC) $46,534
Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) $46,500
Pryor, Mark (D-AR) $45,400
Biden, Joseph R Jr (D-DE) $42,325
Enzi, Mike (R-WY) $41,000
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) $39,148
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) $37,473
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA) $37,300
Bennett, Robert F (R-UT) $33,500
Akaka, Daniel K (D-HI) $33,300
Martinez, Mel (R-FL) $31,650
Coleman, Norm (R-MN) $30,750
Voinovich, George V (R-OH) $27,900
Hagel, Chuck (R-NE) $27,700
Reed, Jack (D-RI) $26,500
Dole, Elizabeth (R-NC) $25,750
Collins, Susan M (R-ME) $23,150
Sessions, Jeff (R-AL) $22,900
Crapo, Mike (R-ID) $19,800
Thune, John (R-SD) $19,800
Byrd, Robert C (D-WV) $18,750
Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR) $18,000
McCain, John (R-AZ) $16,175
Lautenberg, Frank R (D-NJ) $15,500
Rockefeller, Jay (D-WV) $15,500
Burr, Richard (R-NC) $15,200
Isakson, Johnny (R-GA) $14,950
Reid, Harry (D-NV) $14,950
Salazar, Ken (D-CO) $14,750
Roberts, Pat (R-KS) $13,550
Specter, Arlen (R-PA) $12,600
Harkin, Tom (D-IA) $12,500
Vitter, David (R-LA) $12,266
Alexander, Lamar (R-TN) $12,250
Bunning, Jim (R-KY) $11,350
Obama, Barack (D-IL) $10,800
Wyden, Ron (D-OR) $10,450
Stevens, Ted (R-AK) $9,250
Leahy, Patrick (D-VT) $8,500
Allard, Wayne (R-CO) $8,000
Cochran, Thad (R-MS) $7,000
Inhofe, James M (R-OK) $7,000
Feingold, Russ (D-WI) $6,500
Shelby, Richard C (R-AL) $5,500
Murray, Patty (D-WA) $5,300
Craig, Larry (R-ID) $5,250
Mikulski, Barbara A (D-MD) $5,000
Coburn, Tom (R-OK) $3,250
Domenici, Pete V (R-NM) $3,250
Gregg, Judd (R-NH) $3,000
Kerry, John (D-MA) $2,536
Dorgan, Byron L (D-ND) $2,000
Levin, Carl (D-MI) $2,000
Bond, Christopher "Kit" (R-MO) $1,500
Brownback, Sam (R-KS) $250
Jeffords, James M (I-VT) $250

2004

Kerry, John (D) $869,482
Specter, Arlen (R-PA) $338,050
Dodd, Chris (D-CT) $333,116
Bunning, Jim (R-KY) $269,999
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) $265,545
Schumer, Charles E (D-NY) $242,500
Nelson, Ben (D-NE) $219,123
Lieberman, Joe (D-CT) $218,200
Gregg, Judd (R-NH) $193,250
Bayh, Evan (D-IN) $186,948
Voinovich, George V (R-OH) $183,016
Bond, Christopher "Kit" (R-MO) $179,000
Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR) $178,818
Daschle, Tom (D-SD) $171,360
Shelby, Richard C (R-AL) $152,800
Conrad, Kent (D-ND) $149,849
Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK) $146,084
Hatch, Orrin G (R-UT) $132,797
Clinton, Hillary (D-NY) $126,650
Santorum, Rick (R-PA) $126,056
Crapo, Mike (R-ID) $124,250
Carper, Tom (D-DE) $122,651
Reid, Harry (D-NV) $104,710
Dorgan, Byron L (D-ND) $92,450
Edwards, John (D) $84,626
Bennett, Robert F (R-UT) $83,450
DeWine, Mike (R-OH) $81,000
McCain, John (R-AZ) $76,675
Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) $73,100
Smith, Gordon H (R-OR) $71,300
Graham, Bob (D) $58,550
Baucus, Max (D-MT) $58,260
Brownback, Sam (R-KS) $56,650
Coleman, Norm (R-MN) $55,575
Murray, Patty (D-WA) $55,500
Wyden, Ron (D-OR) $53,450
Sununu, John E (R-NH) $52,250
Cornyn, John (R-TX) $50,586
Nelson, Bill (D-FL) $47,550
Kyl, Jon (R-AZ) $47,200
Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX) $45,000
Snowe, Olympia J (R-ME) $44,660
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) $42,209
Kennedy, Edward M (D-MA) $38,500
Boxer, Barbara (D-CA) $35,167
Lugar, Richard G (R-IN) $34,300
Ensign, John (R-NV) $34,033
Alexander, Lamar (R-TN) $33,950
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) $32,750
Mikulski, Barbara A (D-MD) $32,500
Breaux, John (D-LA) $32,050
Nickles, Don (R-OK) $28,800
Dole, Elizabeth (R-NC) $27,615
Inouye, Daniel K (D-HI) $26,500
Sessions, Jeff (R-AL) $25,521
Allen, George (R-VA) $23,500
Campbell, Ben Nighthorse (R-CO) $23,450
Johnson, Tim (D-SD) $21,750
Collins, Susan M (R-ME) $19,850
Lott, Trent (R-MS) $19,750
Landrieu, Mary L (D-LA) $17,500
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI) $17,500
Feingold, Russ (D-WI) $17,300
Talent, James M (R-MO) $15,500
Sarbanes, Paul S (D-MD) $11,100
Enzi, Mike (R-WY) $11,000
McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) $10,500
Biden, Joseph R Jr (D-DE) $9,500
Thomas, Craig (R-WY) $9,000
Leahy, Patrick (D-VT) $8,000
Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM) $7,500
Burns, Conrad (R-MT) $7,000
Lautenberg, Frank R (D-NJ) $7,000
Roberts, Pat (R-KS) $6,500
Hagel, Chuck (R-NE) $5,200
Jeffords, James M (I-VT) $4,700
Durbin, Dick (D-IL) $3,500
Harkin, Tom (D-IA) $3,450
Pryor, Mark (D-AR) $3,250
Warner, John W (R-VA) $3,000
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA) $2,000
Dayton, Mark (D-MN) $1,750
Chafee, Lincoln D (R-RI) $1,400
Fitzgerald, Peter G (R-IL) $1,050
Reed, Jack (D-RI) $1,000
Inhofe, James M (R-OK) $25



All Cycles (20 years)

McCain, John (R-AZ) $2,909,803
Obama, Barack (D) $2,499,102
Dodd, Chris (D-CT) $2,316,596
Clinton, Hillary (D-NY) $1,875,265
Kerry, John (D-MA) $1,396,617
Santorum, Rick (R-PA) $1,267,850
Nelson, Ben (D-NE) $1,259,799
Baucus, Max (D-MT) $1,191,663
Schumer, Charles E (D-NY) $1,140,000
Specter, Arlen (D-PA) $1,066,255
Lieberman, Joe (I-CT) $1,038,652
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) $984,674
McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) $958,557
DeWine, Mike (R-OH) $923,163
Gramm, Phil (R-TX) $872,599
D'Amato, Alfonse M (R-NY) $858,693
Conrad, Kent (D-ND) $848,337
Dole, Bob (R) $847,661
Bunning, Jim (R-KY) $787,699
Sununu, John E (R-NH) $759,629
Coleman, Norm (R-MN) $717,695
Shelby, Richard C (R-AL) $715,598
Smith, Gordon H (R-OR) $713,885
Hatch, Orrin G (R-UT) $682,857
Cardin, Ben (D-MD) $648,427
Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) $647,066
Bond, Christopher "Kit" (R-MO) $639,971
Bayh, Evan (D-IN) $632,952
Ensign, John (R-NV) $629,466
Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX) $618,200
Dole, Elizabeth (R-NC) $600,051
Bradley, Bill (D) $596,868
Talent, James M (R-MO) $589,036
Daschle, Tom (D-SD) $587,123
Cornyn, John (R-TX) $577,678
Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR) $553,483
Voinovich, George V (R-OH) $552,196
Nelson, Bill (D-FL) $547,246
Kyl, Jon (R-AZ) $541,044
Sessions, Jeff (R-AL) $540,527
Burr, Richard (R-NC) $538,321
Johnson, Tim (D-SD) $518,643
Alexander, Lamar (R-TN) $502,900
Carper, Tom (D-DE) $499,594
Collins, Susan M (R-ME) $499,493
Reed, Jack (D-RI) $495,167
Menendez, Robert (D-NJ) $491,079
Reid, Harry (D-NV) $482,060
Ashcroft, John (R-MO) $481,794
DeMint, James W (R-SC) $477,545
Thune, John (R-SD) $475,409
Lugar, Richard G (R-IN) $464,385
Harkin, Tom (D-IA) $459,867
Torricelli, Robert G (D-NJ) $458,439
Dorgan, Byron L (D-ND) $455,551
Coverdell, Paul (R-GA) $452,355
Crapo, Mike (R-ID) $443,332
Abraham, Spencer (R-MI) $433,545
Hagel, Chuck (R-NE) $429,129
Kennedy, Edward M (D-MA) $425,424
Durbin, Dick (D-IL) $424,742
Snowe, Olympia J (R-ME) $414,490
Gore, Al (D) $410,351
Landrieu, Mary L (D-LA) $404,931
Bennett, Robert F (R-UT) $400,255
Lott, Trent (R-MS) $400,001
Nickles, Don (R-OK) $394,631
Rockefeller, Jay (D-WV) $393,374
Corker, Bob (R-TN) $392,145
Allen, George (R-VA) $392,018
Gregg, Judd (R-NH) $388,499
Roth, William V Jr (R-DE) $384,939
Faircloth, Lauch (R-NC) $374,531
Burns, Conrad (R-MT) $374,406
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) $371,490
Inhofe, James M (R-OK) $366,116
Isakson, Johnny (R-GA) $365,442
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) $359,782
Thompson, Fred (R) $345,169
Breaux, John (D-LA) $337,891
Smith, Bob (R-FL) $336,688
Martinez, Mel (R-FL) $323,100
Grams, Rod (R-MN) $321,963
Graham, Bob (D-FL) $320,166
Coats, Daniel R (R-IN) $313,168
Levin, Carl (D-MI) $303,108
Roberts, Pat (R-KS) $303,092
Allard, Wayne (R-CO) $296,431
Kerrey, Bob (D-NE) $287,381
Wyden, Ron (D-OR) $285,523
Lautenberg, Frank R (D-NJ) $274,585
Wicker, Roger (R-MS) $273,804
Vitter, David (R-LA) $271,526
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI) $271,482
Gorton, Slade (R-WA) $258,985
Edwards, John (D) $247,941
Frist, Bill (R-TN) $243,596
Enzi, Mike (R-WY) $240,953
Boschwitz, Rudy (R-MN) $237,741
Brownback, Sam (R-KS) $237,462
Biden, Joseph R Jr (D-DE) $236,900
Pressler, Larry (R-SD) $236,082
Moynihan, Daniel Patrick (D-NY) $235,470
Warner, Mark (D-VA) $230,800
Domenici, Pete V (R-NM) $221,052
Chafee, Lincoln D (R-RI) $218,738
Brown, Sherrod (D-OH) $218,395
Packwood, Bob (R-OR) $211,247
Cleland, Max (D-GA) $210,300
Pryor, Mark (D-AR) $206,690
Mack, Connie (R-FL) $204,593
Wilson, Pete (R) $201,343
Hutchinson, Tim (R-AR) $196,074
Hollings, Fritz (D-SC) $194,320
Cochran, Thad (R-MS) $194,212
Craig, Larry (R-ID) $190,575
Thurmond, Strom (R-SC) $189,756
Stevens, Ted (R-AK) $188,882
Murray, Patty (D-WA) $188,300
Helms, Jesse (R-NC) $187,445

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=F09&recipdetail=S&sortorder=A&cycle=All


to get the cycles-- drop-down menu.

(link edit)

[chill_wind]

50. Agreed. If she wanted to do it right, she would only use the numbers

from insurance and big Pharm, you would think. I don't know what that spread would look like.

[Mass]

51. He still would be close to the top given the presidential run, but the number would be a lot less

impressive. I started looking because the $8 M was way too high if it was only pharma and insurance. but, among the 5 names she quotes (including Obama and McCain, he comes 5th)

The OP has another post that gives Kerry at $20,000 from 2003 to 2009 (I imagine that this does not include the presidential run).

[Mass]

21. Interesting to see how you avoid saying from where comes the bulk of the money.

(to her credit, she does though avoiding to bold it): Healthcare pros, like doctors, nurses, ... In fact, pharma and healthcare industry are each about 10 % of the money.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. Kerry is another skull and bones boy

Another anti equality shill. And a man who could not beat Bush and did not really seem to try much. Ohio I say to him. Feh, I say to him. Feh.

[karynnj]

71. Anti-equity shrill?

Kerry in 1993 spoke in favor of gays in the military, giving an excellent Senate speech on the other countries that had no problem with it and how, in reality, gays had fought in every war.

Kerry has a 100% record on gay rights.

Kerry backed the lawsuit MA filed against DOMA.

In 2004, he explicitly favored rewriting laws to give all federal rights of marriage. A position that went beyond any previous position. (Obama had the same position, but he did not make the commitment to legislation - and he is a generation younger and from a church that favors gay marriage.)

Kerry worked his heart out in 2004 and nearly accomplished the impossible. Did you see his excellent debates?

[saltpoint]

73. Be fair to Fate, as it has more cards to play that we do. Things

do change.

Most people in their 60s, say, are not the same sort of folk they may have been in their 20s, say.

Las Vegas began as a Mormon mission.

[inna]

13. i thought that would be Max Baucus.

crap. :(

[Mass]

15. It is, if you speak of comparable things. She puts Kerry's presidential campaign in the total.

[PBS Poll-435]

23. LOLOLOLOL

Kerry is a brazillionaire. And Jane is being dishonest.

[yurbud]

25. from insurance and pharma or doctors and nurses?

That would make a big difference.

[Mass]

26. Half of this money is from doctors and nurses. Less than 20 % from insurances....

(The numbers are in Hamsher's post)

[mcablue]

28. The table has Kerry on top in both the "Health Insurance" and "Pharma" categories

There. And the figures were obtained from here: http://www.opensecrets.org/capital_eye/health.php?type=C&cycle=2010

[ProSense]

32. Just shows how dishonest Hamsher's attempt is

This is what the chart shows Kerry getting from Pharma over 20 years. $887,043

This is how much of that came during his Presidential campaign: $634,248

That leaves about $250,000. Which would average less than $15,000 per year, and again from individual contributions.

[Azathoth]

30. The purging has begun. When do we start mailing teabags to Senators?

:hide:

[mcablue]

31. Around here, opponents of the bill have been called "leftbaggers"

Comparing liberals to the teabaggers is more accurately described as coming from the LieberCare side.

[Mass]

36. By people who are not afraid to twist numbers for that. Who knew doctors and nurses were bad people?

[karynnj]

72. Who knew people who worked researching drugs were?

I live in NJ and have met several because they were parents of my kids' friends. Many were extremely nice - all were extremely intelligent.

[CreekDog]

34. Isn't Massachusettes home to more pharmaceutical companies than anywhere else?

I'm sure Kerry has a ton of constituents that get their paychecks and health insurance benefits from these companies --hell, here in the Bay Area it's the same way. It's no accident that Anna Eshoo (from San Mateo and Santa Clara counties) took the position she did. You guys make it out to be some evil conspiracy, but sometimes there's no there there. And yes, I hate Blue Cross/Blue Shield and their ilk (though my health insurance comes from them), I don't think they add value to anything in the health care system.

But I do think the many people that work in the pharmaceutical industry to create drugs and other therapies are doing a lot of great work and I don't think it's somehow evil to have someone like Kerry think that such an industry is one of the better ones to have in the USA. Now we could all write a book on the problems with this industry, but the idea that some senators with lots of those workers in their states are going to look out for those interests is somehow evil --well, that's going too far.

[girl_interrupted]

38. K&R

[beachmom]

53. Actually, I know Mass. is home to a Senator that was his party's presidential nominee

and who had to raise hundreds of millions of dollars one way or the other, seeing as it was a $1 billion election.

http://www.fec.gov/press/press2005/20050203pressum/20050203pressum.html


I bet if you checked every measure of fundraising, Kerry would beat every Senator, except in some categories, John McCain who also was a party's presidential nominee.

[pmorlan1]

40. Kerry criticizing Dean on Healthcare

John Kerry is nothing but a poser. He would have to stand on a ladder to even touch the bottom of Dean's boots. He sold out to the establishment a long time ago and anyone who thinks otherwise is just not paying attention.

[ProSense]

41. Kerry has

a point. He also had a more progressive health care bill during the 2004 Predential campaign.

[karynnj]

74. That is ridiculous

I thought of taking your post and reversing Kerry and Dean - but it was disgusting, not because Dean has a stronger claim to not having sold out - he doesn't, but because neither deserve that abuse.

If you look over Dean's career, he was a moderate DLC governor for 12 years. He was not considered to be liberal and in VT he often was opposed by a progressive candidate as well as a Republican.

Kerry fought Nixon on Vietnam, Reagan on the Contras, Bush 1 on BCCI. None of those actions of someone "selling out to the establishment". Kerry has a far more liberal record than Dean, as Kennedy said in 2004. (As to corporations - Dean had corporate help in VT.)

The fact of the matter is that Kerry had every right to criticize Dean's stand on the Senate bill. Dean actually was wrong in his op-ed on the Kerry provision. Dean not only criticized the bill but he has said things that imply negative things about the people who worked hard to get a bill that could pass. Don't you think Kerry has the right to defend the bill that he and others worked hard to improve and get 60 votes for over the last year? Or, even to defend himself after Dean mistakenly said his provision was not in the bill.

[hulka38]

75. Kerry folded on the invasion of Iraq and he's for turning a real HCR bill into an insurance boon.

There's nothing wrong with that if you're an arch conservative.

[ProSense]

76. Kerry did no such thing.

Kerry never once minced words in opposing Iraq:

And the truth is that George Bush has made America weaker by overextending the armed forces of the United States, overstraining, overstraining our reserves, driving away our allies and running the most arrogant, reckless, inept and ideological foreign policy in the modern history of our country.

link

If the president would move in this direction, if he would bring in more help from other countries to provide resources and to train the Iraqis to provide their own security and to develop a reconstruction plan that brings real benefits to the Iraqi people, and take the steps necessary to hold elections next year, if all of that happened, we could begin to withdraw U.S. forces starting next summer and realistically aim to bring our troops home within the next four years.

link

I will make a flat statement: The United States of America has no long-term designs on staying in Iraq.

KERRY: And our goal in my administration would be to get all of the troops out of there with a minimal amount you need for training and logistics as we do in some other countries in the world after a war to be able to sustain the peace.

link

You obviously don't remember that Kerry angered the Republicans one week into the Iraq war by calling for regime change in the United States?

[karynnj]

81. He forgot the more aggressive Dean of Fall 2002 as well

Dean's own preference, for a resolution would have been even easier for Bush to have violated.

Here is what he said on Face the Nation on September 29, 2002, shortly before the IWR vote.

HOWARD DEAN: It’s very simple. Here’s what we ought to have done. We should have gone to the UN Security Council. We should have asked for a resolution to allow the inspectors back in with no pre-conditions. And then we should have given them a deadline, saying, ‘If you don’t do this, say, within 60 days, we will reserve our right as Americans to defend ourselves and we will go into Iraq.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/1879
(I can't find the FTN interview as it appears to no longer be on line. This is a link to David Swanson's post of many Dean statements. Swanson was a co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org - so this should be an acceptable source for a quote that was in the mainstream media back in 2002.

Dean said he would support Biden/Lugar, Kerry's preferred resolution and there was no quote I could find in 2004 where Dean said before or even shortly after the IWR that he would vote against it. Both Kerry and Dean ruled out invasion for regime change. The biggest difference was that Kerry had to vote.

[hulka38]

83. He opposed the Iraq invasion in word but voted for it in deed - the Kerry way.

That's exactly what I remembered.

[karynnj]

77. Kerry was one of the closest people to Kennedy on the effort

to get a HCR bill. You obviously listened to none of the Finance hearings or you would realize that Kerry was one of the few working AGAINST the insurance companies bad actions.

On Iraq, Kerry said before the invasion not to rush to war and that war had to be a last resort. He was one of the few to prominently speak out then. He was actually labeled anti-war until about mid 2003.

[freddie mertz]

44. Explains a lot. He used to an OK guy.

But that was back in the 70s.

[dave29]

45. Hamshter is running in circles in her Hamshter cage.

And can't seem to stop.

[ClarkUSA]

47. !!!

:rofl:

[mcablue]

49. Debating 101: Compare your opponent to an animal

Lol. That's it. You win with your classy, substance-laden logic. Socrates would be proud!

[dave29]

54. she's not my opponent

She's advocating working with teabaggers which makes her irrelevant to me. Sure, it's insulting. So is her idea.

[Teaser]

67. I would compare her to mucus, personally

.

[Cha]

86. Anyone who advocates "Marching with the Teabaggers" is an

idiot. It fits right in with all her other hyperbole and disingenuous raging, though.

However I am surprised that everyone would fall for this.."Marching with the Teabaggers"..let me know how that goes.

[jonnyblitz]

46. good ole Lurch "reporting for duty". nt

[ProSense]

56. Yeah, the Freepers were right, huh? n/t

[beachmom]

52. He was the Democratic nominee for President (only other Senator like that is McCain), so his numbers

are going to be higher than anyone else. But if you remove that variable, Kerry is way down the list.

[flpoljunkie]

64. Bingo!

[Phx_Dem]

57. Fuck off Jane. n/t

[PBS Poll-435]

59. I was going to dust off the old SNL line

But half of this place would accuse me of sexism.

[Phx_Dem]

60. LOL. I'm ashamed I didn't think of it myself.

I'm a woman so I'm not worried about charges of sexism.

[saltpoint]

61. Hamsher, in addition to being wrong, is just plain nasty.

Why, who knows, ladies and gentlemen? Who's to say but that the nasty Ms. Hamsher might even be spending a bit of time here on DU.

I mean who's to say, really.

[saltpoint]

65. It would not have hurt Bitter Jane to have a look at the details quite

a damn bit more carefully.

One of several sites dedicated to correspondent information on health care donations to members of Congress:

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/09/30/health-industry-throws-cash-at-senators.aspx

[FrenchieCat]

78. So much hyperbole, so little time!

Let's put them all in a hole and just throw a grenade, hey?

[Milo_Bloom]

80. Does this suprise anyone?

He voted for the Iraq war in 2003.. principles haven't been his strong point in the last decade.

[Heywood J]

84. I would have said Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)...

but apparently my information is no longer accurate.

[karynnj]

89. They are both higher, but as they are not NOW in the Senate, her list excludes them

Your information is completely accurate.

[saltpoint]

87. IceMongrelPuddle

[saltpoint]

88. Seriously. I think Jane should answer her true talent as a

film-maker.

One of the very fine writers she has over at her website could do the soundtrack, as she is an absolutely tremendous pianist.

Jane. For gods sake do a film. Let your talented writer buddy from Ohio do a great soundtrack. I'll buy copies of the DVD and CD, I swear.

But you smear John Kerry or Barbara Boxer again, as you've done in the past, and I'm going to have a fleet of biplanes drop several thousand dildos on your damn house.