Obama Must Not Appoint Phil Bredesen as Daschle's Replacement
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x422544As governor of Tennessee, Bredesen is famous -- or infamous -- for gutting TennCare, the state's low income health care provider. To be sure, this was not entirely Bredesen's fault. Poor finances combined with a truculent legislature did not leave him a vast range of options. But there were many in his state who felt he didn't come near to exhausting the possible alternatives and, in any case, the fact remains that under Bredesen, more than 320,000 of Tennessee's needy were thrown off the health care rolls. (Among the most heartbreaking portions of Jon Cohn's excellent book Sick is his chapter following one of the affected families.) It's not exactly a record of success, and it's one that's left Tennessee's liberals -- and health care advocates more generally -- profoundly skeptical of Bredesen.
And nor is Bredesen free from the nexus of money and influence that helped damn Daschle. The National Institute on Money in State Politics gives us this breakdown of his 2006 campaign contributors by industry. Insurers and the medical sector rank fairly high:
Total Raised to Date: $5,668,882.00
Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate: $448,260.00
Lawyers and Lobbyist: $337,683.00
Follow the Money / Bredesen:
http://www.followthemoney.org/database/Sta... Bredesen for Department of Health and Human Services or the White House Office of Health Reform - be afraid
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