On March 10th, 2005, the Senate voted 74-25 to pass the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. The following Democrats voted for it: Baucus, Bayh, Biden, Bingaman, Byrd, Carper, Conrad, Inouye, Johnson, Kohl, Landrieu, Lincoln, Bill Nelson, Ben Nelson, Pryor, Reid, Salazar, and Stabenow. Hillary Clinton was the only senator that didn’t cast a vote. Seven of these senators sit on the powerful Finance Committee, including Max Baucus who serves as the chairman. The Finance Committee has jurisdiction over Obama’s health care bill.
Baucus is going around saying that we can do a universal health care plan without a public option, which is about the most business-friendly attitude it is possible to take. In effect, Baucus wants to give private health insurers a bit of a boon by forcing every uninsured American to become their customer. Needless to say, the public strongly disagrees with Baucus. But, the Finance Committee is filled with business-first Democrats.
This year the Finance Committee accepted two new members. Robert Menendez of New Jersey earned a spot because he agreed to run the DSCC for this cycle. The other slot went to Tom Carper of Delaware, who is the most unapologetically business-first Democrat in the country. Both Menendez and Carper represent states with lots of financial services workers, and that just makes them more likely to pander to their richest consituents’ needs.
One thing I’d like to see is for the few progressives we have in the Senate to start applying to get on the Finance Committee. I’d like to see Sherrod Brown or Bernie Sanders or Jeff Merkley sitting on that committee. At least have the committee be a reflection of the ideology of the party as a whole. The way it is now, it is totally lop-sided against the common folk, and I hate it.
