Should Blanche Lincoln Divest Herself Of Insurance Industry Bribes Like The NRSC Demands? Yes-- And So Should McCain, McConnell, Grassley, et al

Down With Tyranny is probably the last place online one would come to look for a defense of Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln. There are 41 posts since January 2 of this year with her name tagged. Each and every one is extremely negative. We persuaded Hebiclens-- who had previously only specialized in photographing actual Republicans-- to photograph her. We started the first ActBlue page dedicated to doing something about removing her from office. And, since summer we've worked on creating and running 4 TV ads all over Arkansas, especially in the very cost-effective 7 key, heavily Democratic counties fronting the Mississippi River where Democrats need to amass huge turnouts to have even a chance of winning statewide. And we've talked with every conceivable politician in the state-- from Lt. Governor Bill Halter to independent candidate Trevor Drown. Yes, we haven't been big Blanche Lincoln boosters. Nor will we be going down that road today.

The Republican Party has been attacking her from every perspective under the sun. And now, oddly, they're attacking her for taking money from lobbyists and Insurance Industry CEOs. Which is exactly what we've been doing:



The Republican Party Establishment is demanding that she donate the more than half a million dollars she's taken in from the Insurance Industry to Arkansas charities.

In light of Lincoln's new healthcare amendment, which would cap the amount of money insurance company CEOs could claim as tax deductions in an attempt to rein in their profits, the National Republican Senatorial Committee said Lincoln ought to "apply that same standard to herself."

“If Blanche Lincoln truly believes that health care insurance industry profits are too high and that they should be punished with higher taxes, why shouldn’t she reject using those same profits to prop-up her embattled re-election campaign?" said NRSC spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson Marchand.

"Is she telling her constituents in Arkansas that health care profits should not line executives’ pocketbooks, but it’s ok if they line her campaign war chest?” Wilkerson Marchand added.

So let's look at who has been carrying water for the Insurance Industry CEOs and lobbyists. Among sitting senators, the Insurance Industry's top career-long investment has been John McCain (R-AZ), who has gotten $2,919,753 and certainly has been spouting the Insurance Industry's line entirely. Other Republican senators who are taking big money from the Insurance Industry and spouting their talking points in return are

Chuck Grassley (R-IA)- $983,674
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)- $953,557
Jim Bunning (R-KY)- $789,199
Dick Shelby (R-AL)- $693,348
Orrin Hatch (R-UT)- $684,057
Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)- $647,066
Kit Bond (R-MO)- $644,571
John Ensign (R-NV)- $629,466
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)- $618,200
John Cornyn (R-TX)- $576,678

Each of these senators has been serving the special interests as assiduously as Blanche Lincoln-- and each one of them has taken even more in corporate largesse than the $552,583 she's managed to scoop up. To be fair, I want to mention that Ben Nelson (D-NE- $1,258,299), Max Baucus (D-MT- $1,191,163), Joe Lieberman (I-CT- $1,037,652) and Kent Conrad (D-ND- $844,837) are all also notorious K Street whores taking the same kind of money the Republicans do-- and also trying to help their corporate paymasters to the detriment of their own constituents.

But the point I'd like to drive home today is that the system in severely broken when senators-- from both parties-- are willing to make policy based on corporate payoffs. It's why Blue America has drawn a line in the sand on campaign finance reform and why we have decided to endorse no one running for Congress who isn't already sponsoring-- or, in the case of non-incumbents, doesn't vow to co-sponsor-- S. 752 or H.R. 1826, the Fair Election Now Act proposed by Dick Durbin (D-IL) in the Senate and John Larson (D-CT) in the House.