In 2003, the Republican-dominated House passed a GOP version of healthcare, Bush's Medicare Part D. Today it is, by far, the worst part of the Medicare system and it allows for these systemic ripping off of the elderly by Big Pharma. The final vote in the House was 216-215; it passed by one lousy vote. The leaders of the House Democrats-- Dick Gephardt and Nancy Pelosi-- whipped against it and 195 Democrats voted NO. They were joined by 19 Republicans (with arch conservative Ernest Istook from Oklahoma voting "present"). The 19 Republicans were up in arms because they saw it as a corporate give-away to Big Pharma and among them were Jim DeMint (R-SC), principled libertarians Ron Paul (R-TX) and Walter Jones (R-NC), now-Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS), Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Richard Burr (R-NC), and a handful of generally deranged lunatics like Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Ryun (R-KS), Mike Pence (R-IN), John Hostettler (R-IN) and Dan Burton (R-IN). Also voting NO, at the time-- along with these 19 Republicans and all but 9 Democrats, was Congress' only Independent, Bernie Sanders.Now let's take a look at the Democrats who ignored their party leaders to vote for Bush's and Big Pharma's horrible proposal which has brought so much pain and misery to so many seniors. Here's the list-- along with the legalized bribes they've taken from the pharmaceutical industry:
• Rodney Alexander (Blue Dog-LA)- $64,749• Leonard Boswell (Blue Dog-IA)• Bud Cramer (Blue Dog-AL)- $46,700• Ralph Hall (Blue Dog-TX)- $147,133• Steve Israel (Blue Dog-NY)- $320,500• Ken Lucas (Blue Dog-KY)• Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)- $665,378• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)- $42,500• Earl Pomeroy (Blue Dog-ND)- $179,149
So obviously, the only Democrats to cross the aisle and vote for this monstrosity were Blue Dogs. All are very conservative and very corporate-oriented. They were all infamous-- or in two cases are still infamous-- for trading their votes for corporate cash. Two quit the Democratic Party altogether and joined the GOP soon after this vote: Rodney Alexander and Ralph Hall. Bud Cramer and Jim Matheson, rather than face certain defeat at the polls, retired from Congress. Leonard Boswell, Ken Lucas and Earl Pomeroy were both defeated at the polls, after Democratic voters in their own districts just got sick of their constant betrayals and refused to come out and vote for them again. And two are still in Congress, still doing immense damage to working families and to progressive ideals. One is Minnesota right-winger and corporate agriculture's key man inside the Democratic Party, Collin Peterson. The DCCC spends millions of dollars on his reelection campaigns and he votes with the GOP on nearly everything, most recently, as we discussed yesterday evening, to gut the Affordable Care Act and defund Planned Parenthood.Peterson's protector inside the party is the 9th Democrat, the deciding vote that passed Medicare Part D for Bush, the Republicans and Big Pharma: Steve Israel. Israel left the Blue Dogs when he decided to strive for a position inside party leadership. Although they are ideological opposites, Israel became a Pelosi ally and she eventually appointed him to chair the DCCC. He has been the most catastrophically failed DCCC chair in history, responsible for years of Republican dominance and for the current atrophied state of the organization which is incapable of mounting credible battles against the Republicans and continues to guarantee GOP hegemony in the House far into the future. Steve Israel has done more for the conservative movement in Congress than almost any individual Republican. And the drug industry is still paying him off to this day for passing Medicare Part D-- another $112,000 in 2014 and so-far this year another $55,700.
