Blue Dogs Raking It In and Sticking It To The Poor
Did you expect anything different? Oh, those Blue Dogs, the “fiscal conservatives” who cry rivers of tears for the poor, put-upon millionaires and insurance profiteers.
The Blue Dog Political Action Committee has collected $1.1 million for the 2010 election cycle, more than any other leadership political action committee on Capitol Hill, according to CQ MoneyLine.
The total includes about $300,000 from health care interests, including $158,000 from doctors and other provider groups; $87,000 from makers of drugs and medical devices; and $50,000 from health insurance interests.
For the comparable period in the 2008 cycle, the PAC collected slightly less overall: $875,000, including $218,000 from health care political action committees.
Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona, co‑chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and other liberal lawmakers have criticized Blue Dogs for not backing a top priority for Obama.
“Whose interest do the Blue Dogs serve if they vote no?” Grijalva said. “They should check with uninsured families and other interests that go beyond K Street.”
A coalition of interest groups has complained about the obstructionism. TPM explains:
Right now, one of the key sticking points in House negotiations between Blue Dogs and health care leaders is the question of financing–how to pay for the bill? Leaders had initially endorsed a surtax on high income earners to cover about half the bill’s cost–but, under pressure from Blue Dogs, they’re now walking that back. The original proposal had been to initiate the tax on families making over $350,000 a year, or individuals making over $280,000 a year. But now, they say, they might limit the tax to millionaires only.
But that creates a cost hole that needs to be filled. And Blue Dogs have suggested extracting it from working- and middle-class Americans. The bill, as proposed, would have provided subsidies for people living under 400 percent of the poverty line to buy health insurance–and Blue Dogs are suggesting that the line be lowered to 300 percent.
Right now, the average national premium for family coverage is $12,600–or $1,050 per month. Presumably, over time, reform legislation would lower that cost, but in the interim, it will continue to cost nearly that much. House legislation would help more middle-class people cover that cost–unless Blue Dogs get their way.
Those affected by the change would be people and families living between 300 and 400 percent of the poverty line, who don’t already have employer-provided health insurance.
Didn’t someone ask about the Blue Dogs? Well, here’s your answer.
Tags: Blue Dogs, Health Care Reform
The Blue Dog Neo Conservatives like Tom Carper, et all, are being exposed by the “Aggressive Progressives”. They have a list of blue dogs online. These are the fat cats with millions in contributionsfrom these companies,standing side by side with the repukes to “tax” health care provided by your employer. While employers are dumping employee sponsored health care every day, more and more workers are forced to go without or qualify for a medicaid program. Reform will not lower the cost to the for profits, which is why they are lobbying against any public option. They know more people will opt for the public option which is reasonable and affordable, and they lose all those profits by loosing those customers.
Medicare costs must be reigned in. Doctors believe they are forced to “add on more tests” to make sure their diagnosis is correct or else be subject to a lawsuit. Doctors are paying millions of dollars in malpractice insurance. There is no co-ordination of care. A primary doctor could order tests for you, while a specialist could order the same tests. Doctors book keepers are filling out forms in medicare where they simply “check” off the procedure. What they are finding is procedures were checked off that were never performed. Most medicare receipents are elderly and never ask for a itemized statement. There is billions in waste, fraud and abuse in the current system, which if corrected those funds would pay for other americans without health care. Dental insurance is another scam. Just came from my dentist who told me she had a patient this morning with dental insurance. The patient came for a teeth cleaning. The doctors staff called the insurance company as the patient was in the chair. The insurance company told the dentist, “only clean one half of the mouth bring her in a month for the other half”!!! The dentist was furious. This was an elderly woman who was brought into the dentist in a wheelchair. The dentist said, “cleaning only one half the mouth would permit germs from the one side to go over to the clean side”. She refused and cleaned all the womens teeth. My dentist said, “you have no idea how many elderly we see who are paying out of pocket and cannot afford it”.
Elderly think having dental insurance will pay for it all, but they didnt read their plan and were suckered into a plan that really covers no dentures, the patient is only permitted one teeth cleaning in two years. Granny is loosing all her teeth, and the disabled are having all their teeth removed…because there is no money to pay for fillings. This health care system is a cruel hoax on the american people. We are 37th in the world, our infant mortality equals those in some underdeveloped countries. ONLY single payer will pay for mental, dental, medical, aids, prisoners, long term, nursing home care…NO PLAN OFFERED other than single payer will do that. Even Obama had to admit that last night, but then moved right along to “why they have a different plan”. HR 676 now has 86 sponsors on it. The single payer debate is not over on the federal level. We can only hope whatever these corporate whores do in DC, will not affect our ability for states to enact their own single payer plans.
But that creates a cost hole that needs to be filled. And Blue Dogs have suggested extracting it from working- and middle-class Americans. The bill, as proposed, would have provided subsidies for people living under 400 percent of the poverty line to buy health insurance–and Blue Dogs are suggesting that the line be lowered to 300 percent.
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Christ.
Obama won’t sign it.
The Blue Dogs are not stopping health care reform, they are asking valid questions about the Obama proposals.
These Blue Dogs are Dems and they have serious reservations about a hugely expensive policy change.
The CBO has plainly said the bill goes up and increases the federal obligation.
As for the UN, read the report on the ranking. Check out the countries ahead of us and please note which countries are on your list to move to and become a citizen.
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html
Mike Protack
That is a great resource! Thanks!
Here is what noone is saying. Government run health care is different because you cannot sue the federal government in most circumstances. While insurance companies have to deal with this all the time, the government will not. They say no and no is it. No if’s and’s or but’s. Think of the savings advantage if only you can just say no whenever you want and boom there you are. Next, we all know in business the biggest customer is king. By picking up every uninsured and putting them on a single plan that will be the government. Then there is the ability to fund losses forever, which no actual business can do, but as we have seen the government can. So the biggest gets bigger, in time there is no competition, then the squeeze on the supplier begins, this costs too much, that is unnecessary, then we are done. Noone will spend the time or expense to train for a profession that doesn’t pay. One by one the providers fail and are bailed out. It starts from their immunity, it ends with our demise.
Republicans like the status quo, we get it. They want to protect the sanctity of the doctor-patient-insurance bureaucrat denying service relationship.
UI has it right. But on top of that, they want us to keep paying more and more for the sheer privilege of having service denied or inadequately covered.
Besides the only government run health care is in the military and at the VA. Period.
The military and VA medical service is a joke. If you want to convince people that government health care is the way to go, don’t use those examples.
I would like to know one large scale government bureaucracy the runs efficiently and cheap.
Blindly stabbing the dark as to why the government is going broke, ooh it’s the military, ooh it is healthcare. It is congress, and extending their failed policies is no solution. Which state will be the first to threaten to secede rather than serve under the yoke of the master ?
38 states have legislation reminding the feds about the tenth amendment. The Federal government is supposed to be the servant of the states, not the other way around.