Rep. Mike Ross, Opponent of Public Option, Raises Eyebrows

[Joanne98]

By Marcus Stern, ProPublica
Posted on September 23, 2009, Printed on September 23, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/142825/

This story was co-published by ProPublica and Politico.

Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross -- a Blue Dog Democrat playing a key role in the health care debate -- sold a piece of commercial property in 2007 for substantially more than a county assessment <2> (PDF) and an independent appraisal <3> (PDF) say it was worth.

The buyer: an Arkansas-based pharmacy chain with a keen interest in how the debate plays out.

Ross sold the real estate in Prescott, Ark., to USA Drug for $420,000 -- an eye-popping number for real estate in the tiny train and lumber town about 100 miles southwest of Little Rock.

"You can buy half the town for $420,000," said Adam Guthrie, chairman of the county Board of Equalization and the only licensed real estate appraiser in Prescott.

But the $420,000 was just the beginning of what Ross and his pharmacist wife, Holly, made from the sale of Holly's Health Mart. The owner of USA Drug, Stephen L. LaFrance Sr., also paid the Rosses $500,000 to $1 million for the pharmacy's assets and paid Holly Ross another $100,001 to $250,000 for signing a non-compete agreement. Those numbers, which Ross listed on the financial disclosure reports he files as a member of Congress, bring the total value of the transaction to between $1 million and $1.67 million.

And that's not counting the $2,300 campaign contribution Ross received from LaFrance two weeks after the sale closed.

Holly Ross remains the pharmacist at Holly's Health Mart under USA Drug. Neither she nor her husband agreed to speak with ProPublica for this story.

At the time of the 2007 sale, the county assessor's office valued the pharmacy's building and the land on which it sits at $263,000 -- nearly $160,000 less than the Rosses got for it. Because assessors' valuations don't always reflect true market value, ProPublica hired Guthrie to appraise the property. He placed the current value of the lot and building at $198,000, substantially lower than the county's assessment, which was raised from $263,000 to $269,000 this year. Guthrie explained the difference between his appraisal and the county assessment by saying that county assessments have been running higher than actual market value.

Mike Ross frequently speaks for a coalition of House moderates known as the Blue Dog Democrats, a group that helped force changes to the version of the health care reform bill drafted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The role has lifted him to national prominence in recent months.

continued>>>
http://www.alternet.org/politics/142825/rep._mike_ross%2C_opponent_of_public_option%2C_raises_eyebrows_with_healthy_haul_from_pharmacy_chain

[napi21]

1. HMMMM....I wonder if the Ethics Committee could convince him

that the HC Bill just mighht be OK?

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Mike Ross claimed in yesterday's Arkansas Democrat Gazette (no longer available free online)

that he has never taken any money from health insurance companies and that he's just honoring the wishes of his constituents who really, really oppose a public option. I was on two of his phone town halls where there were votes on the public option and on both it was an almost dead tie of for and against.

Here's where he reversed his stand on the public option that I clearly heard him support back in August.


http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_09/019822.php

ROSS' REVERSAL ON A PUBLIC OPTION.... Just two weeks ago, Rep. Mike Ross (D) of Arkansas, the Blue Dog caucus' point-man on health care, drew a careful line in the sand. He said he would not vote for a plan that would "force government-run healthcare on anyone. Period." But he added that the House reform legislation contained a public plan that is "strictly ... an option."

Today, he's saying something different. Even if the option is optional -- I know, this is ridiculous -- Ross will oppose giving American consumers the choice.

Key Blue Dog Democratic Rep. Mike Ross (Ark.) pledged to oppose a public (or "government-run") insurance option in healthcare reform legislation as lawmakers return to Washington on Tuesday.

Ross, the chairman of the centrist Blue Dogs' healthcare task force, told constituents in a newsletter that he would oppose the controversial provision, one of the key sticking points in the healthcare reform debate.

"A government-run public option is the wrong direction for health reform in this country and I will oppose it in the U.S. Congress," he wrote.

Ross credited the August recess and his interactions with constituents with leading him to oppose the public plan, about which he had previously expressed a great deal of apprehension.

In case there were any lingering ambiguities, Ross added, "f House leadership presents a final bill that contains a government-run public option, I will oppose it." Apparently, what the conservative Democrat said two weeks ago is no longer operative.

Let's also not forget that in July, Ross personally struck a deal with Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in support of a compromise reform package that included a public option. Indeed, Ross already voted for a plan with a public option when the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill that sent reform to the House floor.

But that was before some right-wing activists yelled at him. Now, Ross' hard-fought negotiations and his public commitments have been cast aside.

[dgibby]

3. Rachel did a great expose on him ,

either Tues or Wed. She definitely ripped him. It was a thing of beauty!