It is no surprise that the insurance industry hand maiden from Omaha, Ben Nelson, is reprising his "centrist" gig by leading a gang of six conservative Demos to delay passage of health care reform. He is the same loyal Democrat who brought you the "Gang of 14" that voted with Repugnants not to filibuster their judicial nominees. His hypocritical attempts to be a Senate power broker are playing right into the hands of the opposition which wants only to slow down "the Obama experiment with our health" until they figure out a way to kill reform again. What does surprise US Person is that normally clear headed Ron Wyden (D-OR) signed on to the delaying tactics in a letter authored by that under cover Repugnant, Joe Lieberman. The only "heavy lifting" to be done is passage of a reform bill in the Senate that can be reconciled with the House's version (HR 3200). The letter's professed fiscal prudence rings hollow. Only one of the six voted to stop the Medicare Modernization Act which denied Medicare the right to bargain for lower prescription drug prices and was also unfunded. Could Wyden be that angry at 44, who dismissed his health care reform measure as "too radical"? It is the Republic's great misfortune to rely on men whose self importance has distorted their ability to function in the nation's best interests[1]. Shame on you Senator Wyden for ignoring the wishes of the majority of your constituents. The Democratic Party should be rapidly reaching the point where it will no longer afford to coddle office holders unwilling to march onto the field of "Waterloo" against the social darwinists and their fellow travelers.[1] Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus has accepted nearly $1.5 million from health industry companies and employees in 2007-08. Although he stopped taking money from health PACs in June he still accepts contributions from individual executives or industry lobbyists. During a break from bill writing in June Senator Baucus held his annual fly fishing and golf weekend in Big Sky, Montana for a minimum donation of $2500. As they say in DC, "money talks, bullshit walks". Money buys access while the prols protest in circles outside. Now, perhaps the reader will understand why it has taken a full half century for health care reform to reach this stage.
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