FRIENDS IN WRONG PLACES…. Know who’s really impressed with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus’ (D-Mont.) work on “bipartisan” health care reform? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which, it so happens, opposes health care reform.
The big-business group, which has been highly critical of a number of the key components of the healthcare reform platform espoused by President Obama and most congressional Democrats, penned the letter to Baucus, Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and the other members of the committee to urge them to keep working for a deal. […]
“The Chamber applauds your commitment to develop a comprehensive plan that garners bipartisan support in the United States Senate. Restructuring one-sixth of the U.S. economy is too important to pursue on a one-party basis,” says the letter, signed by Bruce Josten, the Chamber’s chief lobbyist. […]
The business community has long thought that any bill born of Baucus’s committee would be the one they most likely could support.
In particular, the Chamber of Commerce seemed especially pleased that the Senate Finance Committee has moved away from a public option.
Generally, lawmakers seek praise from high-profile organizations. But when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce thinks your health care plan is on the right track, chances are pretty good that your health care plan is on the wrong track.
