September 30, 2009 - The Senate Finance Committee voted on two amendments yesterday that would have added a public option to the health care bill currently under debate. The two votes fell largely along party lines but there were some Democrats that joined with Republicans to vote "No" to kill both amendments.
The three Senate Democrats voting "No" on the Schumer Amendment—Baucus (MT), Conrad (SD), and Lincoln (AR) —received an average of $68,017 in campaign contributions from health and accident insurers between January 2003 and June 2009, 118% more than the $31,226 received by the ten Democrats voting "Yes".
The five Democrats voting "No" on the Rockefeller Amendment—the three above plus Carper (DE) and Nelson (DE)—received an average of $55,738 in campaign contributions from health and accident insurers between January 2003 and June 2009, 88% more than the $29,703 received by the eight Democrats voting "Yes".
| Campaign Contributions from Accident and Health Insurance to Democrats in Senate Finance Committee | |||
| Senator | Vote on Rockefeller Amendment | Vote on Schumer Amendment | Contributions (1/2003-6/2009) |
| Max Baucus | No | No | $100,550 |
| Debbie Ann Stabenow | Yes | Yes | $75,950 |
| Blanche Lincoln | No | No | $60,500 |
| Kent Conrad | No | No | $43,000 |
| Thomas Carper | No | Yes | $42,690 |
| Ron Wyden | Yes | Yes | $38,400 |
| Bill Nelson | No | Yes | $31,950 |
| Robert Menéndez | Yes | Yes | $30,500 |
| Charles Schumer | Yes | Yes | $26,500 |
| John Rockefeller | Yes | Yes | $22,474 |
| Jeff Bingaman | Yes | Yes | $22,000 |
| John Kerry | Yes | Yes | $13,050 |
| Maria Cantwell | Yes | Yes | $8,750 |
| Rockefeller Amendment | |||
| Average received by Democrats voting "No" | $55,738 | ||
| Average received by Democrats voting "Yes" | $29,703 | ||
| Schumer Amendment | |||
| Average received by Democrats voting "No" | $68,017 | ||
| Average received by Democrats voting "Yes" | $31,226 | ||
Methodology:
Campaign contributions data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets Open Data. Date range of contributions is January 2003 through June 2009. Contributions to Sen. Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign are omitted. Votes are taken from coverage of the markup by the Prescriptions blog in the New York Times on September 29, 2009.
