Blue Cross & Blue Shield Association said that they would stop donations to politicians who voted against certification, but they did not stop.
My other videos mentioned in this video:
Donald Trump Tried a Coup:
Why are pharmacies getting worse?
Resources mentioned in this video:
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Press Release
- The Republicans who voted against certification
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Association PAC Contributions
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Contributions
- Washington Post Coverage
- Politico Coverage
- The Hill Coverage
- CNN Coverage
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Transcript:
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:23:28 Bennett Tomlin Welcome back to my personal channel where we remember that the rich and powerful are to blame. On January 6th, 2021, there was an attempt to interfere with the orderly transition of democratic power. In order to keep a “rich” and powerful man child in power, we discussed Donald Trump's indictment for the activity leading up to this. But that's not what we're discussing today. 00:00:24:00 - 00:00:39:03 Bennett Tomlin After it occurred, some corporations came forward and announced that they would be cutting off financial support to politicians who voted against certification. Today, we're talking about one of those corporate nations, Blue Cross and Blue Shield. 00:00:39:09 - 00:00:55:16 Bennett Tomlin On January 8th, 2021, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association published a press release in which they announced in bold text Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Statement on Suspension of Contributions to Lawmakers Voting Against Accepting Electoral College Results. 00:00:55:16 - 00:01:19:24 Bennett Tomlin It continued in light of this week's violent, shocking assault on the United States Capitol and the votes of some members of Congress to subvert the results of November's election by challenging Electoral College results. BCBSA will suspend contributions to those lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy. Nice, simple, straightforward statement. Sure, we're just a corporation, but the least we can do is not pay to destroy democracy. 00:01:19:26 - 00:01:41:29 Bennett Tomlin The problem with this statement, of course, is that it was bullshit. The very next election cycle, the 2022 midterms saw a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association PAC make contributions to lawmakers who voted against certification. The Blue PAC associated with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association donated to Steve Scalise, Markwayne Mullin, Kat Cammack, Jim Banks, Greg Pence, Jackie Walorski, 00:01:41:29 - 00:02:06:18 Bennett Tomlin Jake Laturner, Mike Johnson, Jason Smith, Virginia Foxx, Richard Hudson, Bill Johnson, Kevin Hern, Mike Kelly, Guy Reschenthaler, Tim Burchett, Diana Harshbarger, Michael Burgess, August Pfluger, and Beth Van Duyne; all who voted against certification. Other Blue Cross Blue Shield PACs associated with individual state plans also donated to Kevin McCarthy, Tommy Tuberville, Greg Steube, John Kennedy, Robert Aderholt, Jerry Carl, Barry Moore, Gary Palmer, 00:02:06:18 - 00:02:30:02 Bennett Tomlin Mike Rogers, Debbie Lesko, David Schweikert, Jay Obernolte, Mario Diaz-Balart, Byron Donalds, Neall Dunn, Scott Franklin, Carlos Gimenez, Brian Mast, Ross Fulcher, Mike Bost, Jim Baird, Ron Estes, Tracey Mann, Clay Higgins, Sam Graves, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Dan Bishop, Ted Budd, Greg Murphy, Yvette Herrell, Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, Adrian Smith, Stephanie Bice, Tom Cole, Frank Lucas, Cliff Bentz, John Joyce, 00:02:30:02 - 00:02:55:25 Bennett Tomlin Dan Meuser, Lloyd Smucker, Glenn Thompson, Jeff Duncan, Tom Rice, William Timmons, Joe Wilson, Chuck Fleischmann, David Kustoff, John Rose, Jodey Arrington, John Carter, Pat Fallon, Lance Gooden, Pete Sessions, Ben Cline, Morgan Griffith, Rob Wittman, Carol Miller, Scott Fitzgerald, and Tom Tiffany; who all voted against certification. That's a lot of lawmakers who, as they said, voted to undermine our democracy but who they still decided to support. 00:02:55:28 - 00:03:02:24 Bennett Tomlin What makes me particularly upset about this bullshit is that it got a bunch of positive coverage. Here's Washington Post. 00:03:02:24 - 00:03:19:16 Bennett Tomlin Here's Politico. Here's The Hill. Here's CNN. But of course, Blue Cross and Blue Shield did not stop those donations. They donated to all of these politicians for the very next election cycle. They could not even sit out a single election cycle. 00:03:19:24 - 00:03:43:10 Bennett Tomlin So, presumably, of course, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association has another press release where the headline is. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Statement on Resumption of Contributions to Lawmakers Voting against Accepting Electoral College Results. But of course, there is not. They were totally willing to brag about holding them, but never mentioned resuming them and did not sit out even one election cycle. 00:03:43:12 - 00:04:03:07 Bennett Tomlin I have reached out to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association to see if they can point me to where they publicly announced this that I missed, but they have not responded with that or any other comment. Almost like it was all a lie. Corporations lie to you all the time. They will announce they're doing something and just never do it. 00:04:03:09 - 00:04:22:15 Bennett Tomlin And basically no one ever follows up. Well, except for those of us here on my personal channel who remember that the rich and powerful are to blame. So finally, let's wrap this episode up in the most direct way I can Fuck you. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. You lying piece of shit.
