Dem. Rep.: "The Lobbyists Are Winning" On Health Care Reform

nytimes.com:

Lobbying by doctors, hospitals and other health care providers, meanwhile, dimmed the prospects of various proposals to cut into their incomes, including allowing government negotiation of Medicare drug prices and creating a government insurer with the muscle to lower fee payments.

"The lobbyists are winning," said Representative Jim Cooper, a conservative Tennessee Democrat who teaches health policy.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[MNTom]

Will Amercans ever wakeup? Unregulated capicalism will eat its self up.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

Obama won without special interest money. That is a double-edged sword when it comes to actually governing. See my comment in my Huffington Post blog:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-ross/barack-obama-and-the-down_b_316690.html

[NCIndependant]

Well Rep. Cooper, as has been said here already...if the lobbyists are winning it is because you and your fellow Congressmen have sold out to them. Do your job, represent your people, not corporations.

[nellie]

Stop giving yourself cover and do the right thing.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

That would depend largely on what the right thing is. There is what is right for the public. There is what is right for the voter. There is what is right for the special interests that fund 80% or better of a campaign. That would be the right thing for most of our elected officials, sadly.

Until all of y'all push for public financing of campaigns, and end special interest money in Washington, change will be slow in coming.

[nellie]

Personally, I don't think right and wrong are that subjective. He knows we need reform.

[1010TRAVIS]

what are lobbyists doing in obamas white house anyway

[Okieborn]

"DON'T GIVE UP" !!!
This will be the last chance !!
If the American citizenry doesn't stand up together on Healthcare NOW it will be lost and back to the dark ages and square one we go !!!!!

[Shagz2001]

WHO CARES IF IT DOESN"T GET A SINGLE GOP VOTE... why should it matter? The dems have an overwhelming majority so that we COULD PASS HEALTHCARE, not because we wanted to convince republicans to change their ways.

[jinxed]

We can get this only if the closet GOPers get on board re: Baucus, Lieberman, Nelson etc.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

You care because, without a consensus, all that will happen is that you will pass something that will largely get unwound when the other party takes power again, which always happens. If there is consensus, it is hard for members of the House and Senate to vote down something that they backed. Look at the Iraq War. It has eaten up senators and congressmen who can't take back that vote without looking like total hypocrites.

You need enough votes on the GOP side to keep there from being a super-majority to vote it down four or eight years from now. should that become a problem.

[AsISaid]

Sorry, but your account of why Republican votes are necessary just doesn't fly. There is always a reason to vote no - as well as reasons to vote yes on any legislation. No bill is a single subject bill in the final analysis. If your theory is correct, how can a member of the minority party vote against a budget measure, for example, when it will most certainly contain spending for their district?

The key to passing legislation is getting a sufficient number of votes. Period. The process is one of concessions and horse trading, yes, but when all is said and done the final vote is all that matters.

The so-called 'opt-out' is a cop-out to allow legislators from both sides of the aisle to hide from a tough and contentious issue. It provides cover - but that doesn't make it a good idea. The hypocracy in the opt-out is that no one will really have to take any heat for their vote.

[lkim65]

They only win if you, the members of Congress let them win. Just a notion...

[sepiasiren]

This is news to anyone--the party of No is not going to try to help the American people.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

The GOP has a new book coming out: The Audacity of Nope.

[MakeAWish]

There is one last thing that every American can do for the traitors of the American people, and that is to vote them all out of office come next election. Every last one of them regardless of party!

[MAH999]

That's ridiculous. Why would you want to vote out the people who have stood firm? I have a great congressman who is on the right side of every issue. One of my senators is also great. Think before you vote.

[jinxed]

He did not say vote out the ones who are on the "right side" unless you thing the "neo-con right" is the "right" side. Don't be a tea bagger, read and comprehend.

[jinxed]

sorry, "think" not "thing"

[WorkingClass]

If the lobbyists are winning I guess we must be losing. We were never actually part of the game of course. The lobbyists just buy the legislation. Our only role is to pay our taxes and our premiums and continue to suffer with this impossible health care system.

[babyboomerorig]

Is David Kirkpatrick a Republican?

God forbid, the lobbyists win this one. We'll be doomed forever, unless Congress gets the gonads to kick the lobbyists out of their offices and allowing them to write bills that effect all of us. We lost our country when all the deregulation started.

[MarkVA71]

If you read the article it says a conservative democratic rep said this... because of what he sees as liberal interests and lobbying groups affecting the bill...

Good going Huffingtonpost with scaring people!

[ie]

My spouse has an EU passport--maybe it's time to use it.

[sheaintsayin]

Thanks for the reminder; mine expires next year, and I might need to be in Switzerland for some, uh, chocolate, yeah, some good-for-you old-fashioned dark Swiss chocolate! Peace!

[motoboy]

"The State always moves slowly and grudgingly towards any purpose that accrues to society's advantage, but moves rapidly and with alacrity towards one that accrues to its own advantage; nor does it ever move towards social purposes on its own initiative, but only under heavy pressure, while its motion towards anti-social purposes is self-sprung." ~ Albert Jay Nock