As mcjoan wrote earlier, during the second quarter alone, AHIP, the health insurance industry's political arm, has bankrolled anti-reform efforts to the tune of at least $133 million. To put the insurance industry's largesse in perspective, they spent about as much in the second quarter as the Bush-Kerry campaigns spent in the 2004 general election combined and 50% more than the Obama campaign's quarterly average.

To fight back, reform advocates are on the air with a tough new ad going after the health insurance industry, and the GOP for supporting it. Going after the GOP's ties to the health insurance industry is an important new front in the debate, and it was made possible in large part by the GOP itself, which gave Democrats a stationary target last week when its House leadership introduced a health care plan that amounts to a $700 billion giveaway to the health insurance industry.

With their legislation, Republicans have made it clear they are on the side of health insurance companies. Democrats are on the side of patients and health care providers.

You can expect reform allies to take advantage of the GOP's blunder in the coming days and weeks, because this really is about the health insurance industry vs. the people -- and that's not a debate AHIP or the Republicans will win.