Senate leaders are negotiating health care reform with a wide range of "lobbyists representing doctors, hospitals, insurers, drugmakers, the American Cancer Society, the seniors lobby AARP and others," the Washington post reminds us today.
Fair enough. Everyone deserves a seat at the table, presuming you are there in good faith seeking an effective bill.
But if you're pretending to be interested in crafting a good bill, while spending money to spread misinformation and undermine a bill, then you should be kicked out of the room.
Apparently, some lobbyists in that room are not acting in good faith.
Politico interviewed the face of conservative health care obstruction, Rick Scott, the scandal-marred former HMO chief who now runs Conservatives for Patients Rights.
Scott's ads falsely accuse Obama of hiding details of his health care plan and that the plan would mean "all your medical decisions are made by a central national board, bureaucrats to decide the treatments you receive ... even the doctors you see."
Politico pressed Scott on who funds his efforts to derail reform:
Who else is funding [your] organization?
I told people I am not disclosing their names. But there are lots of people who believe the same way we do.
Are they mostly individuals or corporations?
It is both. ... The bigger dollars will be companies.
Are there companies giving money that are at the table talking with the Democrats?
How far do you want to go? (Laughs and refuses to answer.)
Scott's cover up for those companies is a damning omission. Clearly, there are companies sitting at the table by day, and paying for lies in hopes of smashing the table at night.
Senate leaders should press to find out who are the duplicitous companies, and kick them out of the room.
