He’s Proud to Be a Merck-an

From PERRY Presidential:

AUSTIN — Although never mentioned by name, Austin lobbyist Mike Toomey’s presence was felt keenly at Monday’s Republican presidential debate when Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann harshly criticized Gov. Rick Perry for his 2007 executive order mandating that Texas teenage girls receive an HPV vaccine that would have been worth millions in sales to Toomey’s client, Merck Pharmaceutical.

Calling it “flat out wrong,” Bachmann noted Perry had received campaign contributions from the drug maker and questioned Perry’s motives. “Was it about life or about millions of dollars to a drug company?”

Perry’s response — that he was “offended” by Bachmann’s suggestion that he “could be bought for $5,000” in campaign contributions from the drug maker — belied the powerful role that Toomey, a Houston native who once served as Perry’s chief of staff, has played in the governor’s political career. From advising Perry on personal legal issues to paying $10,000 to help the Green Party siphon votes from Democrats, Toomey has been a loyal and constant Perry political ally throughout his career.

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(left to right: Mike Toomey, Grover Norquist, Governor Little Ricky Goodhair, Botox Batshit Bachmann, Dave Carney, Rick Man-on-Dog Santorum)

Gingr-itch, Starting from Scratch

From POLITICO:

Newt Gingrich has been trying to demonstrate an effort to rebuild his campaign, and one way was by getting his first finance co-chair in Iowa since the mass staff exodus of a few weeks ago.

Aides to Gingrich said he asked Greg Ganske, a former congressman who served in the House during Gingrich’s tenure as Speaker, to serve in the position during a tea party event in Indianola.

Ganske has been out of Congress for several years, but Gingrich has made clear he plans to try to make a renewed effort in the Hawkeye State, spending a string of days there this month and next in the lead-up to the Ames Straw Poll.

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The Crock in Little Rock

Oh, kids, things are getting ugly in Arkansas. It seems that Blanche Lincoln is making up stories about her primary opponent, Bill Halter. She is intimating that he has a prescription drug problem, and that’s simply not true. Blanchipoo shouldn’t be making that kinda stuff up, especially when you see what’s she’s like when she’s not working!  Just look at the pictures given to me by my trusted anonymous source:

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Something Stinks on the Links

From POLITICO:

By all public estimations, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is a pretty good golfer.

He should be, given the $82,998 his political action committee has spent on golf outings so far this year, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

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(In the golf cart, left to right:  Joseph Bruno, Jack Abramoff, Steve Buyer, Salvatore DiMasi)

Who Ya Gonna Call? Filibuster!

From Joe Conason at Salon:

If Democrats are disappointed by Joe Lieberman’s threat to filibuster any healthcare reform bill that includes a public option, they shouldn’t be. Despite all of his past promises to support universal healthcare, nothing was more predictable than the Connecticut senator’s fealty to the insurance and pharmaceutical lobbyists.

Much the same can be said of Sen. Evan Bayh, who emerged from hiding on healthcare to announce that he too plans to filibuster against reform with the Republicans, regardless of what his constituents and Americans in general plainly want. Like Lieberman, his state is home to powerful corporations that want reform killed — and like Lieberman, his wife has brought home very big paychecks from those same interests. . (UPDATE: A report published in a South Bend paper Thursday night says Bayh may now support a floor debate.)

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There’s no cure for selfishness

From Joe Conason at Salon:

Sept. 11, 2009 | In the lyrical conclusion of President Obama’s speech on healthcare, he talked about the emotions and experiences that drove his late friend Sen. Edward Kennedy to work so tirelessly and passionately for universal coverage. He tried to describe what Kennedy must have felt as two of his children suffered through bouts of cancer. Ordeals such as those, said the president, had helped Kennedy to understand the “sheer terror and helplessness” of parents whose children are stricken by serious disease, and lack the means to save them.

Reaching out to his opponents, the president tried to emphasize that such empathy toward other human beings “is not a partisan feeling,” but is instead an aspect of our national character.

…snip…

To support that reassuring observation, he cited the landmark bills that Kennedy’s Republican colleagues have co-sponsored in years past to extend healthcare to children and protect hospital patients. As he said, Americans of all parties (and none) surely possess the capacity for compassion.

But why then do nearly all of the Republicans in Congress find it so difficult to empathize with the tens of millions of their uninsured and underinsured fellow citizens — and so easy to contemplate the ruin of reform yet again, even though that means condemning hundreds of thousands to sickness, bankruptcy and even death? Why would they still insist, after 40 successful years of Medicare, that government must have no further role in ensuring decent healthcare for every American?

Perhaps the problem is that a certain kind of Republican — often with a connection to the White House or Capitol Hill — will only endorse government action to remedy the adversity they have experienced for themselves.

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They have the healthiest wallets around!

From the NEWS & RECORD:

The watchdog group Democracy North Carolina offers a piece of advice about the health care reform issue: follow the money.

The nonpartisan group says that between 2003 and 2008, the nation’s drug makers, health care professionals and insurance industry contributed $5.2 million to the state’s congressional delegation.

Following the money, said Bob Hall, executive director of the Durham-based group, “tells us that there is a substantial amount of money given by this sector. It tells us that nearly a third of it went to one person: Richard Burr .”

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What an Operation!

From Ezra Klein at The Washington Post:

There’s been a lot of anxiety over leaks outlining the compromises being made in the Senate Finance Committee’s health-care plan. Among these compromises is a rejection of the public option and the absence of an employer mandate. Disappointing stuff. But, at this point, completely predictable.

Look at this picture. Study it. This is who is in the room helping Baucus put together his bill. Olympia Snowe, Mike Enzi, Chuck Grassley, Jeff Bingaman and Kent Conrad. In a Senate of 60 Democrats and 40 Republicans, the health-care reform bill is being written by three centrist Democrats, one centrist Republicans, and two conservative Republicans. And until last week, Orrin Hatch was in the room, too.

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(l to r:  Mike Enzi, Chuck Grassley, Max Baucus, Olympia Snowe)