THE AMA AND THE GOP

If you had asked me, I would've thought the AMA gave more of its donations to the Democrats than to the GOP. And I would be wrong again. Jonathan Singer of MyDD notes that the total from 1996 to 2006 overwhelmingly favored the GOP: "the AMA gave 67 percent, 76 percent, 60 percent, 53 percent, 70 percent, and 76 percent of their contributions to GOP candidates during the 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998 and 1996 cycles, .." In real amounts, 2006 was surprisingly lopsided according to Howie Klein at FireDogLake, "Republicans reaped $33,770,168 (62%) and Democrats got $20,186,251 (37%). " So far this year, the Democrats have a slight edge and the GOP push for Medicare cuts certainly won't help them with the doctors:

In states like Texas, Mississippi and New Hampshire, medical societies took aim at their incumbent senators. The Texas Medical Association made headlines when it withdrew its endorsement of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in retaliation for his “no” vote. If Cornyn holds on to his seat, he’s not going to forget that his state’s doctors turned their backs on him.

I suspect the AARP also isn't too pleased with these GOP Free Marketeers.