ObamaCare backed by special interests

posted at 11:28 am on August 14, 2009 by Karl
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As Rich Lowry notes today:

Nancy Pelosi and Co. insist that the town-hall protesters are the tools of special interests. Not likely. Almost all of the special interests have been enticed or bullied into cooperating with Obamacare. The alphabet soup of major players on health-care policy is basically on board — PhRMA (the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America), the AMA (American Medical Association), the AHA (American Hospital Association), AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans), and the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons).

Indeed, as the Politico reported yesterday:

A new coalition on Thursday launched $12 million in television ads to support President Barack Obama’s health reform plan, in the opening wave of a planned tens of millions of dollars this fall.

The new group, funded largely by the pharmaceutical industry, is called Americans for Stable Quality Care. It includes some odd bedfellows: the American Medical Association, FamiliesUSA, the Federation of American Hospitals, PhRMA and SEIU, the service employees’ union.

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The group is likely to be the biggest spender in support of health reform. The campaign will serve as a counterweight to the critics at town meetings, which are getting saturation news coverage while Congress is out of town.

In a reversal from former President Bill Clinton’s 1993-94 health care debacle, the group’s campaign is likely to mean that White House supporters keep the upper hand on the airwaves.

Lefty Matt Yglesias touts this as “the fruits of compromise.” Yglesias blogs for Center for American Progress Action Fund, which — like Families USA, AFSCME, SEIU, and AARP — is a member of Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the Lefty astroturf operation conducting a joint ObamaCare campaign with Organizing for America (OFA), the Democratic National Committee-run vestiges of President Obama’s campaign.

For unions like SEIU, unionizing the healthcare system is a growth sector, and a more lucrative one if the healthcare system is dominated by the government, given the cozy relationship between Big Labor and Big Government. Seniors oppose ObamaCare, but AARP sees a lucative opportunity to expand its insurance business. Similarly, health insurers may not want unfair competition from a government-run insurance plan, but they would not mind a law requiring everyone to buy their product. PhRMA wouldn’t mind increased demand, either.

The Americans turning up to protest ObamaCare at Congressional town halls are not the tools of the special interests. They are opposing the special interests.

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