The HuffingtonPost has a fascinating look at the Goldman Sachs analysis of the effect of health care reform on the private insurances companies. Their basic conclusion is that any reform, even under the weaker Baucus bill, would be bad for the insurance companies. Of course, they concluded that the Baucus bill would be dramatically less [...]

The Baucus bill was “authored” by a former WellPoint VP.  Tom Carper admits that PhRMA paid good money for advertising in support of the $80 billion deal they cut with the White House, so the Senate must honor it.  And now the overweening concern of Pat Roberts is for the rights of lobbyists.

Ben Smith gets a quote from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Gerry McEntee’s — er, “colorful” description of the Max Baucus bill:

“Gerry has much wisdom,” Trumka said in an interview today, referring to AFSCME President Gerald McEntee, who attacked the bill last week. “We don’t think that the way to provide benefits for everybody is to tax people’s benefits so they end up losing their benefits.”

McEntee, as you’ll recall, led the AFL-CIO convention in a chant of “bullshit” in response to the Baucus bill.  Which, I would concur, is the response of someone with “much wisdom.”