Sen. Ben Nelson

Worst of the worst.

:puke:


Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Report: Senator Opposing Public Health Option Takes $2M From Health, Insurance Industries
Sen. Ben Nelson, over his three Senate campaigns, ranks fourth in the Senate in lifetime contributions from insurance interests, only trailing three senators who have run for president, according to a new report.

Nelson -- who has received nearly $1.2 million in campaign contributions from these insurance interests alone, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics -- finds himself in the crosshairs of progressives following remarks on the Senate floor in which the centrist Nebraska Democrat rejected a public option for healthcare reform.

"Sen. Nelson's statement last week that he will oppose a public health plan raises serious questions regarding who he represents in Washington - insurance companies and their profits, or Nebraskans who want reform of our wasteful and inefficient health care system," says David Donnelly, Public Campaign Action Fund's national campaigns director.

"Congress has an image and trust problem that is hard to shake when lawmakers like Sen. Nelson oppose comprehensive health reform while raising money from insurance and health care interests," Donnelly says. "To counter that, Sen. Nelson should add his name as a cosponsor of the Fair Elections Now Act. In doing so, he would ensure that he truly believes that the voices of all Nebraskans, not just the special interests, should be front and center when discussing health care."

http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/report-ben-nelson-takes-2m-from-health.html

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And why aren't politicians prohibited from making policy on issues in which they receive money? If you want to take money from insurance, then you don't get to make policy on insurance. If you take money from big pharma, you don't get to make policy on big pharma. If you want to make money from real estate developers, then you don't get to make policy on real estate, etc. etc. etc.