Republicans on Charade

Today I watched this MSNBC.com video of somber, "concerned" Republicans in the House of Representatives taking pot-shots at the Democrat's health care reform bill while trying to bolster support for the "Hey We Got One, Too!" Republican bill. They were unconvincing, to say the least.

Rep. Mike Pense tried his best to look gravely concerned. He was near tears as he described an upcoming meeting with WWII veterans, telling how he'd make sure to spend time shaking every hand and thank them for risking their lives for protecting our freedom. He tried to link that somehow to Democrats who might vote with Republicans. (I don't get the connection. And given their abysmal track record with veteran's affairs, I really don't think Republicans should be bringing up the subject.)

Rep John Boehner spent the most time talking. I was curious about his voting record on health issues and looked it up on Project Vote Smart :

2008 Supported the interests of the Academy of General Dentistry 0%

2007-2008 Supported the interests of the National Breast Cancer Coalition 25%

2007-2008 St. Joseph Health System gave Rep. Boehner a grade of 0.

2007-2008 Supported the interests of the The Children's Health Fund 20%

2007 Supported the interests of the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy 50%

2007 Supported the interests of the American Academy of Family Physicians 0%

2007 Supported the interests of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology 0%

2007 Supported the interests of the Assoc. of University Centers on Disabilities 0%

2007 Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance gave Rep. Boehner a rating of 50.

2007 Supported the interests of the League of Women Voters 0%

2007 On the votes that The Children's Health Fund considered to be the most important, Rep. Boehner voted their preferred position 0% of the time.

OpenSecrets.org reports that in this last election cycle Rep. Boehner received $445,000 from the health care industry-- 88% of it from Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. In fact, during this same period, Rep. Boehner was the #2 Top Recipient of Contributions from the Pharmaceutical Industry in the entire House of Representatives.

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor also chimed in, so I took a look at his voting record as well :

2008 Supported the interests of the Academy of General Dentistry 0%

2007-2008 Supported the interests of the National Breast Cancer Coalition 0%

2007-2008 St. Joseph Health System gave Rep. Cantor a grade of 8.

2007-2008 Supported the interests of the The Children's Health Fund 30%

2007 Supported the interests of the Academy of General Dentistry 0%

2007 Supported the interests of the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy 100%

2007 Supported the interests of the American Academy of Family Physicians 0%

2007 Supported the interests of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology 0%

2007 Supported the interests of the Assoc. of University Centers on Disabilities 0%

2007 Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance gave Rep. Cantor a rating of 50.

2007 Supported the interests of the League of Women Voters 20%

2007 On the votes that The Children's Health Fund considered to be the most important, Rep. Cantor voted their preferred position 0% of the time.

Rep. Cantor accepted $341,000 from the health insurance industry for his last election--the second largest industry to support his campaign.

At the end of the charade, when they had grown tired of feigning outrage and promising to protect Americans, Rep. Boehner said, "The American people do not want this." Rep. Boehner, you are absolutely right. We don't.