WILL THE REPUBLICAN PARTY FALL INTO A DOUGHNUT HOLE OF VOTER WRATH IN NOVEMBER?

Every Saturday there's a live netroots get together at Firedoglake called "Blue America". Each week we have a progressive Democrat over to tell us about his or her campaign and to answer questions. I've been noticing they all bring up something called "the donuthole." For the last two weeks Bruce Braley (IA-01) and Eric Massa (NY-29) were pounding it, explaining why it's part of the #1 issue in their districts. Today's Washington Post explains why it may be the #1 issue, at least for senior citizens (the biggest voting bloc in the country) come November. And that is very bad news for the rubber stamp Republicans who have been taking millions and millions of dollars from Big Pharma in return for passing this horrendous piece of... legislation.

The calls are starting to come in from shocked or angry seniors. They have just learned that their Medicare drug plans are maxing out on early coverage and that they must now spend $2,850 from their own pockets before coverage will resume. "I can't pay for my medications," one man told Howard Houghton of the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging the other day. "What do I do?"

Over the next five months, several million Americans with high medicine costs could find themselves in a similar bind. The gap in insurance, popularly called the doughnut hole, is an unusual provision in most of the private plans offered in Medicare's new Part D prescription drug program. Advocates for the elderly say it is misunderstood and problematic.

"There's nothing sweet about the doughnut hole," said Deene Beebe, spokeswoman for the New York-based Medicare Rights Center... Advocacy groups and some independent health analysts have warned of serious health consequences for older and disabled Americans living on low or moderate fixed incomes. Their resources, though minimal, often are too much to qualify for extra help. They face difficult choices, advocates fear: buy medicines or food and other necessities?

The average senior citizen enrolled in Bush's rip-off program, designed primarily by and for the big political contributors in the Pharmaceutical Industry, will fall into the potentially deadly doughnut  hole in late September. That very tangible disaster could jeopardize as many as 50 Republican congressional seats. The Post explains why: "Retired teacher Elise Cain walked into her Silver Spring pharmacy last week for a pill she takes for diabetes, one of her dozen daily medicines. The 77-year-old woman had paid $20 in June. Her charge now is $175.24... Columbia resident Mary Ann Anderson, 81, was caught by surprise even though she had carefully reviewed the plans. She knew she had to choose wisely given the long list of medications she is taking after having double bypass surgery in December. 'It was a huge success,' she said of the operation. 'But not having the drugs could kill me.' This month, Anderson went to the store to pick up three refills. With her coverage, the bill had been about $125 a month. Suddenly, it had more than doubled. 'You hit the limit,' the pharmacist told her. 'What do you mean?' she asked, bewildered. She quickly learned. She also learned that the $14,952 she nets from Social Security annually made her ineligible for many assistance programs, including those offered by pharmaceutical companies. She spent five days on the phone trying to find alternatives, taking detailed notes of each conversation. She contacted elected officials, federal and state, and Howard County's Office on Aging. She asked her cardiologist for samples.

Among the Republicans most likely to lose their seats because they abandoned the interests of their constituents for payoffs from Big Pharma are Jim Gerlach (PA), Curt Weldon (PA), Sue Kelly (NY), Peter King (NY), John Sweeney (NY), Mary Bono (CA), Richard Pombo (CA), John Doolittle (CA), Chris Chocola (IN), Ginny Brown-Waite (FL), Clay Shaw (FL), Robin Hayes (NC), Charles Taylor (NC), John Kline (MN), Robert Ney (OH), Deborah Pryce (OH), Heather Wilson (NM), Charles Bass (NH), Rob Simmons (CT), Chris Shays (CT), Nancy Johnson (CT), Mike Ferguson (NJ), Virgil Goode (VA), and Mike Rogers (MI). Among the Republicans 204 voted for this Big Business boondoggle. Only 16 corporate sell-out Democrats voted with the Republicans, including many of the worst and most notorious Bush supporters like Jim Marshall (GA), Jim Matheson (UT), Collin Peterson (MN) and Lincoln Davis (TN).