Nancy's Bad Day

After the day she's had, Speaker Pelosi must be at least 3 martinis deep right now. In an apparent attempt to divert attention from the ObamaCare debacle, she decided to pick a "villain" and mercilessly blame it for her complete inability to shepherd the Dems' healthcare bill through the House.

Boy, did she ever pick wrong.

First, she tells a news conference that she adamantly supports a "public option" (i.e., a government insurance provider) in order to enhance "competition" in the private insurance market:

"The idea of having a strong public option was to have stiffer competition for the insurance companies."

"Competition." Just so we're all on the same page, here's a definition of that word: "a business relation in which two parties compete to gain customers." (Emphasis mine.) Yep, competition. That's what she and her fellow progressive are after... except when they're admitting on camera that their real goal is to have the public option cause a competition-less "single payer" system where the FedGov is the only provider. Take it away, Barney Frank:



Oops!

But wait. There's more.

After her news conference, Nancy went absolutely ape on insurance companies, says MSNBC:

Later, off camera, while walking with reporters to her office, Pelosi took it a step further and questioned the morality of health insurance companies that oppose a public option. “It is somewhat immoral what they are doing. Of course, they have been immoral all along how they have treated the people that they insure.”

In a passionate tone, she continued, “They are the villains in this. They have been part of the problem in a major way. They have been doing everything in their power to stop a public option from happening. The public has to know that. They can describe their arguments any way they want, but the fact is they don’t want the competition. They don’t even want anti-trust laws. They have had a good thing going for a long time at the expense of the American people and the health of our country. Our members have to go out there ready to take on a big special interest that has not made our country healthier and have made our cost spiral upward and for whom that is coming to an end.” ...

Yes, insurance companies are "immoral villains." Dastardly, dastardly creatures with whom our fair Speaker would never be caught dead. She's fighting THEM for US! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?!?

Only one problem. According to Mary Katherine Hamm at the Weekly Standard, the top recipient of HMO money in 2008 was - no way! - Senator Barack Obama at a cool $1.41 MILLION. Second place was Senator Hillary Clinton at only about $615,000, and Sen. McCain was third with $426,000. Then-Senator Obama also received over $2 MILLION more from "insurance companies" (of all types, including health).

Double oops!

But wait, there's even more! Hamm adds another zinger:

Nancy Pelosi herself is in the top 20 House recipients of "insurance" contributions this cycle, and insurance companies are her 10th-most frequent contributor over the span of her career.

Triple oops!

And then, to add insult to injury, a representative from the immoral insurance villains that pay the Dems' campaign bills issued the following statement:

Health care reform is far too important to be dragged down by divisive political rhetoric from Washington, DC.

Health plans have been working in support of bipartisan health care reform for three years. Our community has proposed guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions, discontinuing rating based on a person’s health status or gender, and a personal coverage requirement to get everyone into the system. We have proposed far-reaching administrative reforms to slash paperwork, reduce medical errors, and ensure doctors and hospitals can focus on patient care.

Countless physicians, hospitals and employers, and millions of concerned citizens agree that a government-run health care plan will dismantle employer-based coverage, bankrupt local hospitals, and break the promise made to the American people that those who like their health plan can keep it.

Health plans remain committed to working constructively in support of bipartisan health care reform.

Thud. Nancy just can't catch a break. Poor thing.

Hopefully no one on her staff mentioned the brewing revolt in the Dems' Progressive Caucus because of the "conservative" Blue Dog compromise. She might never recover.