Doubletalk from Gordon Smith, again.

Kari Chisholm

It's becoming almost a weekly refrain. Gordon Smith says one thing, and then does another. He plays moderate on TV, then votes right-wing wacko when he thinks no one is looking.

Well, Gordon, we are watching you.

Here's what happened... Senator Ron Wyden and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) offered up an amendment to the budget package that would have required the feds to negotiate wholesale deals with prescription drug companies. Wyden:

"What the federal government would be doing — unless the Congress steps in — is pretty much like somebody going to Costco and buying toilet paper one roll at a time," Wyden said on the Senate floor. "The federal government isn't using its bargaining power to hold down the costs of medicine. At a time when prescriptions are one of the fastest-growing forces in American health care, that just defies common sense."

Gordon Smith says he favors the change, but then he voted against it.

Spokesman Chris Matthews said Smith shared Wyden's concerns about drug prices, but opposed the amendment because he was concerned it could have helped prevent the underlying bill from passing.

And here's the best part:

Matthews said Smith, a leading GOP moderate, "had committed (to Senate leaders) to basically supporting the (overall) bill without any major changes."

That's right: Gordon Smith is ignoring his constituents AND his conscience - and is doing the bidding of the right-wing leadership. (Which, btw, is run by hospital industry scion Bill Frist.)

(Oh, and note the description: "Leading GOP Moderate". Seriously, when is the press going to give it up? He's not. And never was.)

Update: It's been brought to my attention that Senator Smith's claim that he only voted against Wyden's bill because he didn't want to undermine his Medicaid deal is, well, a wee little fib. He voted against Wyden's proposal on a straight up-or-down voteback in March.

By Kari Chisholm Nov. 07, 2005