Insurance companies steal us blind with their premiums and then won’t reimburse us for our seeing-eye dogs.
And, if you wonder why Texas leads the nation in the number of uninsured, or why we pay the highest premium rates in the country for many types of insurance, here’s the answer. You will be stunned to learn that the insurance industry has given Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst big bags of money.
Enough money to make a guy secede, I guess. Now we know what Perry really means when he talks his Confederacy of Dunces talk: “I got mine, I got his’n, take it from me, I’ll pass secession.”
Below the fold are some links to followthemoney.org. The site details contributions from the kind of company you talked with on the phone just the other day, the one who told you no, that there’s actually some fine print in your policy that says the cost of an emergency appendectomy is reimbursed only if performed on Tuesdays when the Astros play at home. “But it was a Tuesday and the Astros were at home,” you said. “Sure, but consider the word “play,” said the anonymous voice from insurance company hell. “The Astros don’t really play baseball this year, do they?”
Campaigns cost money, and of course businesses and people give in hopes of protecting or advancing their interests. But insurance companies are handing out big bags of cash to Perry and Dewhurst, money that could have saved lives, money the companies collected in premiums from folks right before they canceled their policies because they got sick, money they’ve refused to pay to hurricane victims who are still out of their homes. Listen, they give some to Democrats, too, but most Democrats — notorious pro-insurance Lap Blue Dogs excepted — refuse to be their lackeys.
Rick Perry contributions from the insurance industry, PACs and individuals
1998, Lt. Gov race: $177,710
Followthemoney
2000: $80,105
Followthemoney
2002: $341,622
Followthemoney
2004: $271, 910
Followthemoney
2006: $427,335
Followthemoney.org
2008: $115,500
Followthemoney
Total: $1,164,182
David Dewhurst, contributions from the insurance industry, PACs and individuals
2008, $65,000
Followthemoney
2006: $223,900
Followthemoney.
2004: $193,770
Followthemoney
2002: $89,216
Followthemoney
total: $571,886
Note: There’s a lot more insurance money than this spent on Perry, Dewhurst et al. It comes through third party groups. Note also: Insurance backed groups like TLR love to condemn contributions from lawyers, lawyers who pursue cases for the people against insurance companies. I’ll be damned, what a coincidence. Of course Big Insurance winds up in court a lot. So does the Mafia. Also, insurance companies will squawk and say they don’t make campaign contributions with your premium dollars. No, they give your premium dollars as bonuses to employees who then give to PACs who then give to Perry, Dewhurst and others. It’s almost like they’re trying to hide something.
Related Articles:
About Glenn W. Smith
Glenn W. Smith has spent the past 30 years in journalism and politics, where he’s made a name for himself as a writer, campaign manager, activist, think tank analyst and, as Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas says, a “legendary political consultant and all-around good guy.” “There’s no one like him,” says author George Lakoff. CNN commentator Paul Begala says, “He has unmatched experience, a graceful pen (or pixel nowadays) and deep insight into the best and worst of us.” Novelist Sarah Bird speaks of his “lucid and lyrical” prose. And, she says, he’s fun. Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington says Glenn writes with “grace and abundant humor” and “uses his colorful experiences in Texas to enlighten us all.”
Smith led Ann Richards’ successful 1990 campaign for Governor of Texas. He worked for former Texas Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Earlier, Smith was a political reporter for the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post. He’s coordinated national campaigns for groups such as MoveOn.org. In 2004, he authored the highly acclaimed book, The Politics of Deceit: Saving Freedom and Democracy from Extinction. He also wrote Unfit Commander, a book that detailed George W. Bush’s mysterious disappearance from military service.
In 2004, Smith was featured in the film, Bush’s Brain, a documentary about Karl Rove. Smith provided commentary on Rove’s role as then-President Bush’s senior advisor. He has made numerous media appearances with Chris Mathews on Hardball, Joe Scarborough, Brit Hume, and many others. He writes a regularly for top national web sites, including FireDogLake and Huffington Post.
As a senior fellow at George Lakoff’s prestigious Rockridge Institute in Berkeley he studied, wrote and taught on the power of metaphor and narrative in political communications. He also lectured on religion and politics at the Starr King School for Ministry in Berkeley. As a sponsor and organizer, he has pulled together numerous national events with progressive religious leaders. He also organized a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King at Riverside Church in New York City as well as “Freedom and Faith” bus tours, which was a nationwide campaign for social justice and progressive values.
Smith’s play, Double Play, which explored American Western myths and legends, was held over to sold-out audiences. He’s even written and performed songs in the Americana tradition, such as his best-known song, “Helping Marty Robbins,” a tribute to his hometown, Houston.
Most recently, Smith is the creator of DogCanyon, a political and cultural web site covering state, national and global issues from a Texas perspective. DogCanyon is an exhilarating and unique site that gets the connections between politics and culture and explores both the personal side of politics and the ups, down, craziness and beauty of “life its ownself,” as humorist Dan Jenkins would say. DogCanyon offers heartfelt personal essays, hard-hitting political analysis, and, most importantly, laughs.
As Paul Begala said, Smith writes in “the finest, firmest, fearless tradition of Texas essayists like Molly Ivins.”
First of all, I want to point out that the majority of elected officials all cater to Big Business / Big Money. Not just Repub’s. Insurance, Utilities, Oil/Gas give the most to the ones who have shown them what they will do in return; they give the most to the ones who have the best chance of winning the election. This is the only reason the Dem’s don’t show as many deposits into their accounts. To imply that the Repub’s are the only ones who are stinky is just plain wrong; the entire lot turns their backs on commonbred constituents almost as soon as they hit Austin for the first time. They immediately start thinking about how to get re-elected and turn to the lobbyists knocking on their doors dangling the biggest carrots.