Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) is one of the "conservative" Dems that has been - at best - luke-warm on health insurance reform. Here's why Bayh's reticence on these issues seems a little suspect:
When he was governor, Bayh's wife, Susan, was a lawyer for Lilly. After it became clear he was going to be a senator, she started stacking up memberships on the boards of health-care corporations.
Susan Bayh got paid a little over $2 million for her service between 2006 and 2008. Her husband had a good 2008 also, collecting more than $500,000 in campaign donations from the health-care industry.
There are scores of relatives of well-placed national lawmakers who are well-placed in enterprises seeking favors. To a man and woman, they would scoff at the notion of being influenced by anything but the burning desire to serve the commonweal.
Let's go on. Susan Bayh's largest reward for her impartial board deliberations came from WellPoint, another Indianapolis-based company that happens to be the nation's largest for-profit health insurer. WellPoint paid Director Bayh nearly $1 million over two years to exert no influence over Sen. Bayh.
WellPoint, of course, proudly notes that it was among industry folks "at the table" with President Barack Obama early on in the health-care "reform" process.
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