Mary, It's Time To Be A Democrat

From the Huffington Post:

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said on Tuesday that she is opposed to the creation of a public health care plan patients could opt into that would compete with private insurance.

"No, I'm not open to it. I'm not open to a public option," said Landrieu. "However, I will remain open to a compromise, a full compromise. Public option is not something that I support. I don't think it's the right way to go."

As some of you know Mary Landrieu is the senior senator from the State of Louisiana. David Vitter is the junior senator. Neither of them support the inclusion of the public option in the health care plans which are being considered by the Senate. The difference is that David is a Republican, and there's absolutely no hope that he will vote for the public option, no matter that the government provides him and his family with decent health insurance.

However Mary is a Democrat. It's true that she's a Blue Dog Democrat, which means that she often votes with the Republicans. I gave her money during her first run, but not for the second run, because she voted to allow torture. But my donation was only a pittance compared to the donations Mary receives from health care and health insurance industries. She has participated in government sponsored health insurance plans at least since she was a member of the Louisiana State Legilature. Why does she want to deny her constituents what she has benefited from for so many years?

Later in the HP article Mary is quoted as saying:

"I know there are some people really pushing this public option, but I think it really undermines the essence of our efforts to create a real market-based private sector model but with strong, I guess, safeguards for consumers," she said.

And don't we all know how perfectly the market operates? I like her phrasing "...with strong, I guess, safeguards for consumers".... Why safeguards for consumers? The market polices itself so well. I guess. But perhaps she is yet persuadable, if the pressure is great enough.

From Public Campaign Action Fund:

* According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, Sen. Landrieu has raised $1,668,693 from health care and insurance interests throughout her federal political career.

* Of the $1,668,693 in health care and insurance money Sen. Landrieu has raised, just 36% came from in state donors, with 64% coming from out of state interests.

* Sen. Landrieu has received substantial contributions throught her career from leading health care industries, including HMOs and pharmaceutical companies:

Health Professionals $600,366
Insurance $376,731
Hospitals/Nursing Homes $266,645
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $228,446
Health Services/HMOs $160,005

* Sen. Landrieu has also received $677,014 from registered lobbyists and their political action committees throughout her career.

* Sen. Landrieu has received large contributions from some of the largest companies and groups in the health care and insurance industries.

There's more at the link.

In addition to the money that she received from the health care and health insurance industries, several of Mary's former staff members now work for health care industries or with firms which lobby for the industries.

Could it be that the donations carry weight in helping her decide how to vote on this issue? No, it couldn't be. But wait! I wonder.

This vote is crucial, as crucial as the vote on Social Security, and it's time Mary paid her dues for calling herself a Democrat. It's time she paid more attention to the needs of her constituents than to her corporate and lobby donors.