Senator Evan Bayh – a wolf in sheep’s clothing

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Yesterday’s post here at The Policy Page described Senator Evan Bayh’s huge conflict of interest in the health care reform debate. As the Democratic Senator likely to represent the 60th procedural vote that could block a Republican filibuster of a reform bill, I discussed how profoundly disturbing it is that Senator’s Bayh’s wife, Susan, sits on the board of directors of WellPoint – the nation’s largest (by membership) for profit health insurance company. I also noted that Mrs. Bayh’s currently held stock options in the company – which would likely take a significant financial hit should a public option succeed – represent a significant percentage of the family’s net worth.

While the piece garnered some readers here at True/Slant, I continue to be surprised by how little coverage this matter is receiving from the national media. While the subject has popped up, from time to time, we now know just how important Sen. Bayh’s vote is likely to be and how much this clear conflict of interest could weigh on the result. Still, the mainstream media remains remarkably silent on this, including the more liberal skewing news organizations.

Why is Bayh getting a pass?

Is the silence due to a presumption that, as a finalist on the Obama vice-presidential short list, Bayh must be a progressive Democrat who should not be picked on? He ‘s not.

Is it the boyish  good looks that leads to a conclusion that a face like that could never be guilty of bad behavior? He is. (see the 1997 report, “Judicial Watch Files Complaint against Indiana Senator Evan Bayh with Senate Ethics Committee.”) This complaint involved Bayh’s failure to disclose his position as a director of his family foundation.

Maybe it’s the warm feelings progressives have for Bayh’s father, Senator Birch Bayh, who was responsible for some of our most important, progressive legislation including Title IX to the Higher Education Act, giving women equal opportunities in sports and education in public universities, and the hugely important Equal Rights Amendment, initially sponsored in the Senate by Birch Bayh.

Make no mistake – Evan Bayh is not his father…not even close.

If you are not clear on this, take a look the words Bayh spoke on the floor of the United States Senate on October 8, 2002, in support of President Bush’s rush into Iraq-

It is an honor and privilege for me to join today with my distinguished colleagues, Senator Warner, Senator McCain, and my good friend, Senator Lieberman, in support of this resolution granting the President of the United States the authority to defend our country.
I favor this resolution because in a world where we have rogue regimes possessing weapons of mass death, and suicidal terrorists who are all too eager to use them against us, weapons of that nature in the hands of a regime such as Saddam Hussein’s represents an unacceptable risk to the safety and well-being of the American people.
As much as I wish we could ignore this threat, it is my heartfelt conviction that in all conscience we cannot.
Finally, along with my colleagues, I support this resolution because I believe we must learn the terrible lessons from the tragedy of September 11, foremost among which is that we waited too long to address the gathering danger in Afghanistan. If we had acted sooner, perhaps–just perhaps–we could have saved 3,000 innocent lives: men, women, and children. We waited too long to act. Let us not make that mistake again.
Via Irregular Times

Later, on the same day, Bayh warned Americans that tens of thousands of mid-westerners could die from smallpox as a result of Iraq’s biological weapons of mass destruction if Bush were not given the go-ahead to invade.

Does that sound like a familiar tactic by a certain American political party? Scare the hell out of people in the effort to win their hearts and minds, even if it’s a big lie (there was no smallpox weapon of mass destruction in Iraq – at least not one we or anyone else could ever find.)

And there is so much more.

But I’m saving it. Until the national media begins reporting on Evan Bayh being the Senator with the most to personally gain from defeating a public option while holding the key vote in the success or failure of that effort, I plan to continue reporting on Bayh’s history as someone who actually makes Joe Lieberman look like a Democrat – and we all know how ridiculous a notion that is.