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Blanche Lincoln: The Bizarro Robin Hood

Via TPM, Blanche Lincoln says:

We can [. . .] expand coverage to the uninsured and underinsured without creating a purely public, new government program.

Of course we can. We can also eliminate Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare and get rid of all government run health insurance. Does Lincoln support that? After all, we can take from the American People and give not hundreds of billions of dollars to the insurance companies, but trillions of dollars instead and get rid of these horrible government run insurance entities. The Max Tax that Lincoln supports chooses to tax the less well off and let the rich insurance companies, corporations and the wealthy off scot free. It is a terrible policy. Moreover Lincoln is wrong when she says "We can [. . .] stabilize the cost of coverage [. . .] without creating a purely public, new government program." That is a lie. Blanche Lincoln, a Bizarro Robin Hood, wants to take from the less well off and give to the insurance companies. It is as simple as that. I doubt that is a winning political formula. But I am no interloper. Blanche Lincoln will find out if the formula works for her next year.

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  • Display: Sort:
    Senator Lincoln should quiet down and (5.00 / 3) (#1)
    by scribe on Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 11:00:16 AM EST
    look at her own poll numbers.  If she did that, she would see that she is tanking in her own re-election.  Statistically, her decline in "re-elect" numbers appears to be in a straight-line correspondence with her refusal to go along with a real public option.

    I hope she has a nice sinecure lined up at Wal-Mart beginning in January 2011.  At the rate she's going, she'll need it.

    Sen. Lincoln is looking out for her (5.00 / 2) (#3)
    by MO Blue on Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 11:06:01 AM EST
    constituents that is for sure. Of course her constituents are not the people in her state. They are:

    Curious that the Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee that receive the most money from the healthcare and insurance industries are also the ones that voted no on the Rockefeller and Schumer amendments. From Politicus USA:

    The two largest industries in terms of contributions to Finance Committee are the Health, and Insurance industries. According to Open Secrets, the healthcare industry gave $7 million in PAC contributions to committee members. Not to be outdone, the finance, insurance, and real estate industries also gave $7 million to the committee.

    Committee chairman Max Baucus has taken $1.1 million each from the health and insurance industries. The two largest contributors to Tom Carper of Delaware for 2010 have been the health and insurance sectors. The same holds true for Kent Conrad. The top donor for 2010 to Blanche Lincoln was the healthcare industry. The insurance industry has given $1.5 million to Bill Nelson for the 2010 cycle. link



    There oughta be a law. (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by oculus on Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 11:19:09 AM EST
    No vote value 19 million (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by Stellaaa on Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 12:20:21 PM EST
    According to Intershame:   the total pay out to the Senators who voted no was about 19 million.  

    Parent
    Oooh, more fun from (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by Stellaaa on Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 12:25:08 PM EST
    OPEN Secret Representative, by position and by contribution.  

    Parent
    you know what (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by Capt Howdy on Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 11:06:55 AM EST
    Im with Mikey.

    I will gladly help him defeat her (and Pryor) if this goes the way it seems to be going.

    Moore Warns: Health Reform or Else
    Michael Moore issued a threat to Democrats who stand in the way of universal health care-or at least a public option- saying that he would organize a movement to vote them out and replace them with a Republican if need be. Clip above, full speech here.



    How are individual mandates supposed to work (none / 0) (#2)
    by HenryFTP on Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 11:03:57 AM EST
    without creating a "new government program"? Or for that matter, how are all the new "tougher" regulations of the health insurance companies supposed to work without a "new government program"? How soon will it be before we're hearing from Senator Lincoln and her ilk that the reason costs are still going through the roof is "inefficient government bureaucrats"?

    We are reaping the bitter harvest of 30 years of nonstop propaganda about how government is the "problem".

    On the other hand, given the jaw-dropping ignorance displayed by senators such as Conrad who have been allegedly considering health care reform for years, maybe some of the propaganda is not unfounded, at least if we're talking about "government" in its current Versailles-sur-Potomac form.

    She did repeatedly say "new" (none / 0) (#6)
    by oculus on Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 11:20:26 AM EST
    government program.

    So she would be ok with Medicare for All? (none / 0) (#7)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 11:30:58 AM EST
    WBLRM (none / 0) (#8)
    by andgarden on Wed Sep 30, 2009 at 11:41:42 AM EST