This looks good

There is some slight consternation over the Senate race in Massachusetts to replace Ted Kennedy's open seat. With the election coming up on the 19th, polls have the Democratic candidate Martha Coakley anywhere from holding a double digit lead to a narrow 1-2 point lead against Republican challenger Scott Brown. Unfortunately for her, there are a few too many polls showing a 1-2 point lead, so everyone is in panic. Mostly because Brown has run on the "I'll filibuster health care, no reform, do nothing, down with the Union!" platform that so encapsulates the modern GOP and unless the House and Senate get off their asses and decide on a reconciliation bill, Brown would be able to join a filibuster of it.

That's troubling to people who would like to see some attempt to make health care more available and cheaper, even if the bill is intensely mediocre. The only recourse left would be for the House to pass the Senate bill ass is, which would be difficult. So, in an attempt to prop Coakley up and make sure she keeps that winning margin and makes sure health care will pass, groups of concerned citizens have rushed to her aid.

With Democrat Martha Coakley in trouble in the Massachusetts special election to fill Ted Kennedy's seat, Democrats could lose vote No. 60 for President Obama's health-care bill. In response, an army of lobbyists for drug companies, health insurance companies, and hospitals has teamed up to throw a high-dollar Capitol Hill fundraiser for Coakley next Tuesday night. The invitation is here.

Of the 22 names on the host committee--meaning they raised $10,000 or more for Coakley--17 are federally registered lobbyists, 15 of whom have health-care clients. Of the other five hosts, one is married to a lobbyist, one was a lobbyist in Pennsylvania, another is a lawyer at a lobbying firm, and another is a corporate CEO. Oh, and of course, there's also the political action commitee for Boston Scientific Corporation.

All the leading drug companies have lobbyists on Coakley's host committee: Pfizer, Merck, Amgen, Sanofi-Aventis, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Astra-Zeneca, and more. On the insurance side of things, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cigna, Humana, HealthSouth, and United Health all are represented on the host committee.

Doesn't that just warm the cockles of your heart? Health reform hits a hurdle and who rushes to lift it up? Not regular people, not our elected betters, not health advocacy groups or public policy organizations, not health care unions, but big pharma's biggest and baddest lobbyists with fat stacks of cash at the ready. Gee, it's almost as if the health reform bills currently being reconciled include massive billion dollar giveaways and guarantees to pharmaceutical and insurance companies.

So just in case you were wondering whether or not the reconciliation process was going to lead to some better deals or an attempt to cut prescription drug prices so that we can at least pay something closer to what every other country on the earth pays or that the new Democratic Senator from Massachusetts might be as big a fighter for health care as Sweaty Teddy was, think again. Big Pharma is trying to bail Democrats out and give them what they want, so it can get what it wants; free money. Makes you feel good about all that the health reform bill does, doesn't it? Just be happy for the crumbs you got.