Soros sticks his two cents - and much more - into health care debate

What would a liberal advocacy campaign be without George "Moneybags" Soros supplying the funding?

Ed Morrissey of Hot Air reports that the billionaire is dropping some loose change into the coffers of reform groups - to the tune of $5 million:

In another sign of the urgency gripping the pro-health care reform camp, billionaire George Soros has pledged to sink $5 million into the fight, the group getting the money confirmed.

Soros - whose operation carefully guards the privacy of such donations - made the pledge to Health Care For America Now, the leading coalition of pro-reform groups, unions and providers, HCAN chief Richard Kirsch confirmed in an email that was forwarded to me. ...

The Soros pledge is noteworthy, because both sides will seize on it. The right will say it shows the real astroturfing is coming from the pro-reform side - billionaire bogeyman Soros is bankrolling this fight!

The left will cite the donation to demand that HCAN show real results. Some on the left, such as blogger Jane Hamsher, have been asking why heavily-bankrolled HCAN hasn't been able to secure more commitments from Dem members of Congress to stand firm behind a public option.

However, that group may run afoul of Rahm Emanuel and the White House.  Emanuel has demanded that HCAN and other advocacy groups focus their sights on Republicans and stop attacking vulnerable Democrats - which, in this case, would be those who have shown great reluctance to get on board with ObamaCare. 

Where Soros money goes, can the other Democratic billionaire donations be far behind? The bunch that supplied the initial bankroll for Obama's campaign - a group of industry titans that included Peter Lewis, founder of Progressive Insurance - generally follow his lead.

The next time Obama talks about how "special interests" are pouring money into defeating health care reform, perhaps some enterprising reporter should ask about Soros and his friends contributing money in support of it?

Hat Tip: Ed Lasky




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