Digby points out that Sen. Kent Conrad (D-SD) is kind of acting like a dick towards people who are organizing in support of the president’s preferred health care plan. One thing I find particularly obnoxious is that Conrad says simultaneously that he doesn’t give a crap about listening to the people at Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and that he welcomes debate on health care.
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Wednesday that he is “frankly not terribly interested” in what the major health care reform coalition thinks and is pushing ahead with a proposal the group rejects.
“I am unaware that HCAN has any votes on the floor of the United States Senate,” said Conrad when told that the coalition Health Care for America Now opposed his plan to create regional health care co-ops instead of allowing consumers to have access to a public plan option.
“They have no votes on the floor of the United States Senate. And I am dealing with votes in the finance committee and the floor of the United States Senate. I am frankly not terribly interested in what these myriad groups all think. I am interested in what people who vote think,” he said, flailing his arms and knocking a Politico reporter’s recorder to the marble floor.
“I don’t even respond to that kind of thing. I think it is just chatter. What matters is results, legislative results at the end of the day,” he said…
…”The great thing about democracy is we get to debate. It’s healthy. It’s good to have a debate.”
If HCAN has no votes in the Senate, does that mean that the health insurance providers have no votes, either? The majority leader whip of the Senate says banks have votes:
“And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.”
Banks, insurance corporations, they have votes. The Democratic Base? No votes.
The Democratic Party has 59 votes in the Senate. Democratic voters? None.
Of course, that’s not true. It is only a handful of Democrats and nearly all the Republicans who are standing in the way of a public option in the health care bill. Rather than looking to appease them, we should be working to shame them. Kent Conrad can talk all he wants about facing reality and being pragmatic, but he could win more respect by fighting for the president’s agenda. Obama did campaign on this stuff, you know. And, it would be especially nice if Conrad would stop acting like kind of a dick.
