Olbermann Rants Against Democrats Letting Money Influence Health Care Reform

Last night Keith Olbermann was mad. Mad at the Representatives and Senators who take money from the health sector and vote to represent their interests instead of those of the citizens who voted them into office. But his greatest ire was reserved for the Democrats who betray their constituents and their party by taking sides with the health industries and the Republicans, helping to weaken health care reform efforts.

Here is a just taste of his thirteen-and-a-half minute rant [1]:

“PBS pointed out that the health and insurance industries are spending more than $1,400,000 a day just to destroy the public option. The truly non-profit, wieldy, round-up and not round-down, government, from helping you pay your medical bills with about a billionth of the recklessness with which it is still paying Halliburton and its spin-offs to kill your kids. And much of this money is going to and through Republicans. But that’s the real point tonight. Not all of it is going through Republicans. Because the evil truth is the insurance industry, along with the hospitals, HMO’s, PhRMA, nursing homes--it owns Democrats too. Not the whole party... Hundreds of Democrats have taken campaign money from the health sector without handing over their souls as receipts, but conveniently the ones who are owned have made themselves easy to spot in a crowd. They’ve called themselves Blue Dogs and they are out there, hand-in-hand with the Republicans, who they are happy to condemn day and night on everything else, throatily singing Kumbaya with the men and women who are bought and sold to defend this con game of an American health care system against the slightest encroachment. Congressman Mike Ross of Arkansas, leader of the Blue Dogs in the House. You’re the guy demanding a guarantee that reform will not add to the deficit. I’m guessing you just forgot to demand that about, say, Iraq.”

Watch the whole rant:

Others have taken notice of the increased flow of money from the health sector to Capitol Hill as well. The New York Times recently noted [5]:

“The $133 million in lobbying expenditures by health industry interests in the second quarter of 2009 alone--the most of any sector by far, according to the Center for Responsive Politics--hardly sounds like the change Mr. Obama or his supporters had in mind. And in fact the strategic course the White House has chosen may have had the unintended effect of increasing the breadth and complexity of the battle involving those interests.”

And with power comes temptation, as reported [6] in the Journal Sentinel:

“Since Democrats took control of Congress in 2006, health care industry donors have been giving more campaign cash to Democrats than Republicans. Democrats have received about 63% of the health sector's donations so far this year. Overall, the industry appears to be on track to spend more on campaign contributions than in previous years, said David Levinthal, of the Center for Responsive Politics.”

But as Mr. Olbermann so eloquently put it, “conveniently the ones who are owned have made themselves easy to spot in a crowd.” You just have to see what they are supporting. As I wrote in my previous post [7],

“The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a health care reform bill that weakens important components of President Obama’s health reform plan, including the public health insurance plan option, assistance for people with low incomes, and the push for shared responsibility.”

Those working to weaken these vital components of comprehensive and effective health care reform are clearly putting the interests of health sector industries above those of their constituents and of the United States of America. As Bill Maher opined on his HBO show [8]:

“And finally, New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a profit. You know, if conservatives get to call universal healthcare ‘socialized medicine,' I get to call private, for-profit healthcare ‘soulless, vampire bastards making money off human pain...’

“When did the profit motive become the only reason to do anything? When did that become the new patriotism? ‘Ask not what you could do for your country, ask what's in it for Blue Cross-Blue Shield.’”

Those in Congress defending the profits of these industries over the wellbeing of their constituents need to hear from you. Tell them they will be out of office come the next election--no matter how deep their coffers get from contributions from the health sector--if they don’t start showing some true patriotism.

This month, make sure your representatives hear from you! [9]