Senator Max Baucus has systematically excluded progressive voices from his secretive health care negotiations. Instead of bringing everyone together, and ensuring that everyone’s voices are heard, Baucus has created a closed door group of six Senators to "reform" health insurance. But this approach failed yesterday when two members of the "Secretive Six" walked out of Baucus’ mysterious negotiations.

West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller is the second ranking Democratic member of the Finance Committee, and the Chairman of its health subcommittee. Yet Baucus hasn’t allowed Rockefeller into his secretive, closed-door negotiations. Rockefeller has good ideas–ike creating a strong public option that would keep the insurance companies honest. Rockefeller told a home-state paper that the reason he supported this policy was that too many West Virginians were being excluded from insurance plans by their pre-existing conditions:

"I can’t stand the idea of a West Virginian who needs health care, but doesn’t have it because they can’t afford it or because they’re being excluded," Rockefeller said."Nobody would be forced to take this, but it creates a public plan with no need to make a profit and no need to pick out one group over another," he said. "It takes in everybody."

But this idea was immediately vetoed by one of those Baucus let into the secretive negotiations. Chuck Grassley opposes a public plan because he thinks a farmer struggling to get health insurance an just "go work for the federal government," to get quality, affordable health care. Grassley has also parroted talking points created by the largest for-profit insurance company in the country. The insurance industry has handsomely rewarded Grassley for carrying its water; since 2003, Grassley has received $2 million in donations from health insurance interests.

For keeping representatives of the 66 percent of Americans who want a strong public option to be signed into law by the President out, and for letting insurance industry cronies like Grassley in, Baucus has been handsomely rewarded by the insurance industry as well. The Washington Post reported about Baucus’ shindigs with health insurance industry executives:

"As liberal protesters marched outside, Sen. Max Baucus sat down inside a San Francisco mansion for a dinner of chicken cordon bleu and a discussion of landmark health-care legislation under consideration by his Senate Finance Committee.

At the table on May 26 were about 20 donors willing to fork over $10,000 or more to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, including executives of major insurance companies, hospitals and other health-care firms."Most people there had an agenda; they wanted the ear of a senator, and they got it," said Aaron Roland, a San Francisco health-care activist who paid half price to attend the gathering.

"Money gets you in the door. The only thing the other side can do is march around and protest outside."

Senate liberals have had enough of Baucus’ "leadership" on this issue. They’ve had enough of being excluded in favor of health industry CEOs who make a fortune off of denying care to the sick. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin decided to pressure Baucus by advocating that the Senate add a check to its seniority system: Harkin believes a vote on whether to allow Committee Chairs to keep their Chairmanships should happen every two years. Harkin believes that this would force Committee Chairs to include caucus members in the legislative process.

Harkin’s proposal sparked outrage from an anonymous Senator, who is undoubtedly Baucus. The Source told the Hill newspaper that Harkin was naive:

"A Senate source argued that critics do not have a realistic view of what it takes to enact an overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system.“Those members who want everything they’ve ever dreamed of and want it now don’t have a plan — or the votes — to get it,” said the source. “This bipartisan Finance group isn’t focusing on politics or partisanship; it’s focused on results — delivering real healthcare reform, the president’s top priority this year.”

What is naive is to expect people to agree to a process where their ideas are shut out. It’s even more naive for members of a secretive group which has systematically excluded outside ideas to demand complete fealty to their legislative demands; that happened yesterday when Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi, a spokesperson for the Secretive Six, claimed the right to dictate legislation.

It is not naive for people to expect that their voices will be heard. It is not naive to understand that people who have systematically been excluded from debates over an issue they care passionately about are upset. And it is not naive to think that having $10,000 dinners with insurance executives isn’t the "right way" to reform health care in this country. Is asking for a seat at the table really too much, Senator Baucus? I guess it is in your mind…unless we grease the skids with donations to your almighty campaign fund.