The Blue Dog caucus is his largest contributor at $10,000. The second largest donation number comes from health care professionals -- with $6,500 in PAC money and $2,400 in individual contributions totaling $8,900. Not record-breaking but enough to scare away the competition, I'd say.
The PAC stuff is SOP in our nation's capital. WalMart gave him $5,000. If they could outsource their greeters to China I'm sure they would. Medibanc does EMS billing, they gave $4,800. Is EMS billing a major issue in John's district? The National Association of Retail Druggists gave $4,000. There's more, go look.
We all know where (most of) the Blue Dogs stand on the various health care reform bills that are making their way through congress. We know what those corporate and PAC donations are mostly paying for. We know what Labor wants, but Democratic politicians in Colorado love to play against their labor base. Can Blue Dog Democrats pay other Democrats to vote against Democrats? Or their own constituents? Or their district?
Further, will Jon Salazar take the time to look at the uncovered and poor in his district, the procedures denied, the bankruptcies caused by unplanned visits to the emergency room in Pueblo, Gunnison, Durango, or Grand Junction? Will those with the most money to donate get most of his attention? Is a donation to a congressional campaign committee the most cost effective investment a corporation can cut make?
The moment of truth is coming soon. We'll see how much influence is bought by a campaign check and how much conscience is left in our representatives once those campaign checks clear.
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