Politics

Who owns Max Baucus?

• Add Comment
• Monday 27th July 2009

Meet Max Baucus, the man who’s single-handedly doing more to hold up universal health care in the US than anyone else.

Is it because Senator Baucus is worried about his own healthcare plan? Probably not, because he’s got fabulous healthcare for life, like any US Senator.

Is it because Senator Baucus is truly worried about the people in Montana he represents, and what their health care coverage might be? Probably not; the number of people in Montana without any health care at all is about the national average – 40%.

Perhaps Senator Baucus believes, along with George W. Bush, that we already have universal health care: “Just go to the emergency room.” But even Senator Baucus couldn’t be that stupid; he knows more about the healthcare industry than practically anyone, because he’s a wholly owned subsidiary of the industry.

Here’s what Trudy Lieberman – one of the most knowledgable journalists covering this issue in depth (and god knows, it’s too hard for most journalists) has to say in the Columbia Journalism Review:

“Poor Max Baucus! The pressure on him must be enormous-what with the president pushing for him to produce a bill by the August recess, the single-payer folks still holding rallies in his home state, and conservatives camping in front of his Montana office protesting that the president’s “plan” is too socialistic. These must be trivial, though, compared to the demands from all those health care special interests who have given him gobs of money to see things their way. The senator must truly be conflicted.

But in the lobbying biz, money isn’t the only thing that matters. The amounts that special interests give are astronomical, and the totals so staggering that they’ve sort of lost their meaning with the public. The Washington Post reported, in an informative piece by Dan Eggen, that health-related companies and their employees contributed nearly $1.5 million in 2007 and 2008 to Baucus’s political action committees (PACs) when he began holding hearings on health reform.

The senator’s fundraising efforts have continued apace. The Post tells us that health executives and lobbyists have flocked to recent extravagant fundraising events, such as his tenth annual fly-fishing and golfing weekend in Big Sky, Montana-minimum donation, $2,500. Camp Baucus, complete with horseback riding and hiking and fun for the whole family, is coming up soon. Apparently the senator stopped taking contributions from health care PACs on June 1-to avoid any appearance of favoritism (although donations from lobbyists and health execs are still welcome), his aides explained.”

We hope that Senator Baucus enjoys his one month recess from the stressful work on Capitol Hill. It must be awfully hard work counting the money from all those bribes listed as campaign contributions.

NPR has very helpful chart of the lobbyists, hacks, and ex-congressional staffers shoveling money at Baucus. Remember, 95% of his campaign contributions come from out-of-Montana interests. Representative government, my ass.