DISQUS

tlsintx · 5 months ago

when will influence peddling be made illegal? why isn't this just considered bribery, and prosecuted as such? this is nuts.

sonofloud · 5 months ago

Reminds me of Geithner and Goldman Sachs.

Butch1 · 5 months ago

These conflicts of interest need to be addressed in public. He needs to be exposed for what he really is.

cufford · 5 months ago

Well, DUH!

Three words define our current system of government

"Conflict of interest"

This has been obvious for years.

Are a few people just now getting this???

Busboy · 5 months ago

The large corporations are hoping and praying for the public option so that they can get out of the business of providing health care benefits for their employees. It's nirvana for GE, the auto companies, the utilities, state governments, etc. Finally, a chance to offload these expenses onto the federal gov't.

ndtovent · 5 months ago

Sooo.. Why are they fighting it so hard?

Busboy · 5 months ago

Big pharma is fighting it. But the biggest corporations in the USA are praying for it to happen. Imagine what it would mean to GE's bottom line if they could jettison their employee's health care package and pay their people an extra $300 a month to enroll in a public option equivalent to medicaid. I have friends who work in and with large corporations who know this to be true.

tlsintx · 5 months ago

busboy, always throwing the monkey wrench...trying to frighten everyone...just come out and scream it like your GOPer buds : SOCIALISM!!!

NAVDOC3rdMAR · 5 months ago

It is morally repugnant to profit off the misery or ill health of Americans. It's criminal that medical bills to private for-profit MEDICAL/INSURANCE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX make up 62% of all bankruptcies filed in the U.S. each year. The overhead at private for-profit MEDICAL/INSURANCE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX is upwards of 35% of the healthcare dollar spent each year in the U.S. This allows the private for-profit MEDICAL/INSURANCE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX to pay for their lavish lifestyles and huge salaries plus perks and bonuses. All the while milking the hard-working men/women of this great nation of their hard earned money.
On the other hand Medicare has an overhead of 2%, Canada's system is 1.5%, Europe's 2.5% on average. The money that could be saved by eliminating the private for-profit MEDICAL/INSURANCE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX is estimated at $500 Billion a year. Enough money to help pay for putting all Americans on MEDICARE/SINGLE PAYER TYPE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.
We have to fight back and call, write e-mails, letters-to-editors and to Congress to let them know how Americans feel about for-profit health care in America.
Here are some Senators who are wrong on Health Care reform. Give them a call and demand,
"MEDICARE/SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE FOR ALL NOW!"

Joe Lieberman I-CT, Chuck Grassley R-IA, Lindsey Graham R-SC,
Susan Collins R-ME, Olympia Snowe R-ME, David Vitter R-LA,
Saxby Chambliss R-GA, Tom Coburn R-OK, Jon Kyl R-AZ,
John Thune R-SD, Richard Lugar R-IN, Jim DeMint R-SC
Jeff Sessions R-AL, Richard Shelby R-AL, Mel Martinez R-FL,
John McCain R-AZ, Mitch McConnell R-KY, Jim Inhofe R-OK,
Lamar Alexander R-TN, Dick Burr R-NC, John Cornyn R-TX

Thomas Carper D-DE, Mary Landrieu D-LA, Max Baucus D-MT,
Kent Conrad D-ND, Ben Nelson D-NE, Maria Cantwell D-WA,
Kay Hagan D-NC, Blanche Lincoln D-AR, Ron Wyden D-OR,
Evan Bayh D-IN, Diane Feinstein D-CA, Arlen Specter D-PA

Here are the toll-free numbers for the Capitol Hill Switchboard:
(House and Senate)
1-800-828-0498
1-866-338-1015
1-866-220-0044.

Also give the President a call or write an e-mail:

White House Comments Line:
1-202-456-1414 M-F 09:00 - 05:00 est. (NOT A TOLL-FREE #)
President Obama's e-mail: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Nothing rattles the Congress more than voters ringing the phones off the hook. Call the House, Senate and the White House and demand
MEDICARE/SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE FOR ALL NOW!

tlsintx · 5 months ago

any legislator who accepts lobbyist money should be charged with a crime. lobbying should be illegal...John Roberts notwithstanding.

tduffy2 · 5 months ago

Then remove this Senator from the Senate Finance Committee for conflict of interest (and anyone else for that matter) and appoint a Senator who's not in Big Insurers' pocket who wants to work for the American people, not the CORPORATIONS who HAVE NO VOTE.

Baucus is acting like a K street lobbyist, but he's on the tax payer's dime. As a tax payer, and of the majority who is demanding a public option, he should be remanded to the toilet and flushed to obscurity.

Fireblazes(cheetohsandcatfood) · 5 months ago

My wife went to a cardiologist last week. The bill came today, it is $300. She was in his office for 15 minutes. Our insurance pays nothing. Hopefully it will apply fully to her $450 deductible. Next week she has a stress test, I cannot even imagine how much that will cost. I have put off going to the doctor so we can pay for her care. I think that is called rationing.