Today’s Washington Post offers a rundown of the huge amounts of lobbyist and industry cash Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has raised recently by virtue of his key role in drafting health care legislation. Baucus raised some $3 million from the health and insurance sectors between 2003 and 2008, according to the Post. The Senator refused to comment for the article, but his spokesman, Tyler Matsdorf, offered up this gem:
[Sen. Baucus is] only driven by one thing: what is right for Montana and the country. And he will continue his open process of working together with the president, his colleagues in Congress, and groups and individuals from across the nation to get this legislation passed.
If members of Congress don’t like the public questioning what drives them, they could always set up a robust public financing system for elections and stop taking corporate and lobbyist money. Until then, people are going to wonder about what motivates them when they take millions of dollars from the industries that are most affected by their legislation.
