It's The Money, Stupid!

John Roach, the late academic political scientist, said it succinctly: no-one can compromise on matters of principle. We fought the American Civil War, incurring massive losses of life, because neither side could compromise its principles. Some pro-life partisans are in prison for life, because they followed their principles and murdered physicians who performed abortions.

It's not matters of principle which shapes the health care reform debate, it's political money.

Do politicians have commitments to principle? When there is a hot contentious issue with enormous public interest, such as health care reform, politicians can play one side against the other and cash in through political contributions and other financial support. There is no issue of principle: there is only the issue of price. The more contentious the issue, the longer the process, the more money key politicians can garner for their coffers. It's not a party matter, it's money. It's not constituent interest, it's money. It's not principles, it's money. It's not ethics, it's money. It's not doing the right thing for the public, it's money in the treasuries of well-positioned political figures.

$127 million in lobbying by the health sector, which was well-represented in Senator Kennedy's closed office meetings, in the first quarter of 2009 is no small change. Senator Baucus brought in $3 million in the 5-year period ending in 2008 and according to the Kaiser Health News (click the blog title for the link) big contributors included major pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurers and a major pharmaceutical executive.

As you watch the political maneuvering, remember, it's not health care that key people in Congress worry about, it's their economic status and political bankroll. The issue isn't "where's the beef," its "where's the money"?