Posts Tagged ‘Mike Ross’
Health Care Industry Top Donor to Rep. Ross
As I noted previously, Rep. Mike Ross (D-AZ), a Blue Dog Democrat, has received substantial contributions from the health care and insurance industries between 2006 and the most recent filing with the FEC (June).
Specifically, Ross received $33,750 thus far in the 2010 cycle, $292,325 in 2008, and $163,310 in 2006, yielding a grand total of $489,385. That’s not chump change for a Congressman.
As you can see in the detail listed below, Ross receives more from the health care industry, by far, than any other industry. So, does this effect Congressman Ross’s decisions in Washington? Ask him.
| 2010 Cycle | |
| Health Professionals | $21,000 |
| Democratic/Liberal | $10,000 |
| Agricultural Services/Products | $8,500 |
| TV/Movies/Music | $8,500 |
| Retail Sales | $8,000 |
| Electric Utilities | $7,500 |
| Defense Electronics | $7,000 |
| Air Transport | $6,500 |
| Finance/Credit Companies | $6,000 |
| Crop Production & Basic Processing | $6,000 |
| Oil & Gas | $5,500 |
| Pharmaceuticals/Health Products | $5,250 |
| Building Trade Unions | $5,000 |
| Lawyers/Law Firms | $4,500 |
| Commercial Banks | $4,500 |
| Telephone Utilities | $4,000 |
| Insurance | $4,000 |
| Hospitals/Nursing Homes | $3,500 |
| Securities & Investment | $3,000 |
| Defense Aerospace | $3,000 |
| Food & Beverage | $3,000 |
| Total 2010 (to date) | $134,250 |
| 2008 Cycle | |
| Health Professionals | $163,225 |
| Lawyers/Law Firms | $73,850 |
| Oil & Gas | $59,800 |
| Retail Sales | $56,050 |
| Electric Utilities | $54,943 |
| Pharmaceuticals/Health Products | $50,600 |
| Crop Production & Basic Processing | $49,350 |
| Commercial Banks | $46,850 |
| Telephone Utilities | $44,800 |
| Building Trade Unions | $44,500 |
| Insurance | $44,250 |
| Forestry & Forest Products | $42,750 |
| TV/Movies/Music | $42,000 |
| Hospitals/Nursing Homes | $34,250 |
| Food & Beverage | $32,216 |
| Public Sector Unions | $32,000 |
| Accountants | $29,500 |
| Industrial Unions | $29,000 |
| Lobbyists | $27,750 |
| Air Transport | $27,750 |
| Total 2008 | $985,434 |
| 2006 Cycle | |
| Health Professionals | $83,410 |
| Lawyers/Law Firms | $67,349 |
| Commercial Banks | $65,989 |
| Building Trade Unions | $52,000 |
| Forestry & Forest Products | $49,250 |
| Electric Utilities | $47,552 |
| Industrial Unions | $41,500 |
| Public Sector Unions | $39,500 |
| Retail Sales | $37,500 |
| Transportation Unions | $37,000 |
| Hospitals/Nursing Homes | $36,750 |
| Telephone Utilities | $29,250 |
| Crop Production & Basic Processing | $26,500 |
| Insurance | $25,050 |
| TV/Movies/Music | $25,000 |
| Real Estate | $22,900 |
| Oil & Gas | $21,550 |
| Pharmaceuticals/Health Products | $18,100 |
| Automotive | $17,300 |
| Democratic/Liberal | $17,000 |
| Accountants | $17,000 |
| Total 2006 | $777,450 |
Late Update: To put it in perspective, one out of every four dollars Rep. Ross receives in contributions comes straight from the health care and insurance industries.
More on Rep. Mike Ross
One does wonder what motivates people sometime and I find it interesting that Rep. Mike Ross’s (D-AR) largest contributor, by far, since 2006 has been the health care industry.
More on that shortly. . .
Blue Dog Dems Abandon Health Care Talks
Rep. Mike Ross
Hissy fits abound. First there was Mika Brzezinski and now we have Blue Dog Democrat Rep. Mike Ross (AR). Apparently he decided to pick up his toys and go home.
Closed-door negotiations over health care reform between House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and conservative Blue Dog Democrats broke down Friday afternoon and appeared dead.
A visibly angry Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), the Blue Dog health care task force chairman, said Waxman reneged on deals the two sides had previously agreed on: an independent Medicare commission and adopting Senate language on a public insurance option. He also said Waxman’s threats to bring the bill straight to the floor — and bypass a markup in Energy and Commerce — were not helpful.
“We are actually trying to save the bill and we are trying to save our party,” Ross said after the meeting ended. He said it’s his understanding that the two sides would not have any additional meetings.
“It’s my understanding that will be the last meeting we have,” Ross said.
What does this mean? It’s hard to tell. I was just listening to the White House press briefing and Robert Gibbs was asked about this development. He responded (I’m paraphrasing) that he felt sure “they” would continue to meet in the future. In other words, maybe cooler heads will prevail.
At minimum, surely Congressman Ross would not want to single-handedly bear the responsibility for causing health care reform to fail. Or does he? You can contact Congressman Ross here.
