Too Much Money

Can there be such a thing as too much money? Apparently. There can be situations where the amount becomes an embarrassment.

That point of embarrassment may come when you are among the very top recipients of bribes from the healthcare industry. A little blush in the cheeks does not quell the desire for financial rewards, however.

All that is necessary to keep the money coming in is to find another pathway. Last night, some time after publishing my last post, I was relaxing, watching the news. There it was.

Or rather, there he was. Up on my large flat screen was, large as life, a picture of a smiling Bart Gordon. It was much like a fluffy campaign spot. But last night wasn’t open season on voters, was it?

The spot was a paean to Bart, trumpeting his heroic bipartisanship, his concern for hard working Americans (is there any other kind in the land of McPolitics?), his incessant exertions on behalf of our healthcare needs, his sacrifices for saving the taxpayer from all of those unAmerican Congressmen.

The ad urged everyone to contact Bart to thank him for his epic efforts on our behalf. At the bottom of the screen, before the spot faded from the pixels, was the clue. It was paid for by al-PhARMA. Wow! A stroke of genius. Bart gets the benefit of a campaign donation without having to get his fingerprints on any of that filthy lucre.

In looking up the amounts of bribes Bart and his cohorts have taken (the above will not be included in the official bribery reports), I discovered that he has received more from labor unions than from the health industry. His position on healthcare reform is antithetical to the aims of labor.

This can be partially explained by the fact that he gets about three times as much from business interests, in toto, as from labor. I say that explains it in part. It fails to explain why the unions give him any money.

I was explaining this to my wife this morning as we were driving to Micky D’s for breakfast but she was confused. It turns out she was wondering why farmers were paying for the television spot.

If any of you out there in blogland have an actual Representative, one who represents your interests, treasure him or her. They are obviously a rare and endangered species. Most have been lost to polluted money.

p.s. I find it interesting that my posts on Bart have engendered so much curiosity from Blackberry users. There were a handful of hits this morning on the Stupid and Useless post from last night. Some of these hits were from a couple of Blackberry users, 6 minutes apart, in the Nashville area. Shortly thereafter my site received several hits from Blackberry users coming from .gov hosts.

Hello out there in Blackberryland. Let me know how you like my takes on Bart. As a former journalist, I still abide by the rules of the game. I can always use another source.

Tagged as: bart gordon, bipartisan, bribe, business, congress, donation, farmer, health care, healthcare, labor union, lobbyist, money, pharma