Lobbying

Industry Cash-Roots Have Turned Health Reform into Taxpayer Ripoff

by John Stauber — August 24, 2009 - 10:31am

The Los Angeles Times reports that the health insurance industry has "rallied its lobbying and grassroots resources so successfully in the early stages of the healthcare overhaul deliberations that it is poised to reap a financial windfall.

Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, August 24, 2009.

Wendell Potter Warns: Co-op Kool-Aid Is Bad for Your Health

by Wendell Potter — August 21, 2009 - 2:24pm
  • Topics: U.S. Congress, Health, Lobbying

    • I'm beginning to think that the Kool-Aid being served at meetings of the Senate Finance Committee's soon-to-be infamous Gang of Six is coming from either fantasy land or the health insurance industry.

    For those of you who might not be following the sorry machinations of health care reform in the Senate Finance Committee, the Gang of Six is a group of three Democrats and three Republicans hand-picked by Committee Chair Max Baucus, who is one of the three Democrats. The gang meets often, supposedly drafting a bipartisan bill. In reality, if such a bill emerges, it will be a gift to the insurance industry because the gang includes some of the industry's best friends on Capitol Hill.

    Elmendorf Strategies and the Carbon Lobby

    by Bob Burton — August 17, 2009 - 3:12pm
  • Topics: Global Warming, Lobbying, U.S. Government

    • Lobbyists will often argue that a major reason clients hire them is because of their deep personal connections with decision makers.

    Steve Elmendorf, who founded Elmendorf Strategies in 2007, was an adviser to various Democratic Party campaigns and politicians for over 25 years. So his connections with Democratic Party movers and shakers seem beyond dispute.

    British Spinners Queuing Up for Parliament

    by Bob Burton — August 13, 2009 - 4:09am

    After a year in which numerous British politicians have resigned or been publicly embarrassed by revelations over expense claims, the major UK political parties are promising new faces for the next election. However, Marie Woolf notes that "more than 50 prospective candidates chosen by the main parties are already working as lobbyists and public relations executives and are deeply enmeshed in the world of spin and politics. ...

    Main Source: 
    The Times (UK), August 9, 2009

    Chamber Sees Reform as an Attack on Free Enterprise

    by Diane Farsetta — August 12, 2009 - 10:13am

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce "has emerged as a multitasking, multimillion-dollar defender of the private sector against presidential initiatives," reports Associated Press. It's launched a $2 million campaign to oppose a "public option" in the healthcare reform plan, but -- to further the interests of the insurance industry -- wants "to work with the White House to mandate coverage for all." It's slamming the public insurance option in "newspaper and online ads ...

    Main Source: 
    Associated Press, August 9, 2009

    Lobbying for "Economic Stability" and the Coup

    by Diane Farsetta — August 4, 2009 - 2:10pm

    "Trade associations and companies both inside and outside of Honduras have stepped up their lobbying efforts in Washington," reports The Hill. U.S.

    Main Source: 
    The Hill (Washington, DC), July 28, 2009

    DCI: From Smokers' Rights to Patients' Rights

    by Diane Farsetta — July 29, 2009 - 3:03pm

    The DCI Group, a lobbying and public relations firm known for creating front groups for industry clients and Republican campaigns, is behind a new anti-health reform front group, the Coalition to Protect Patients' Rights (CPPR). "CPPR has been organizing lobbying efforts against health reform and publishing op-eds across the country with misinformation about the public option," reports Think Progress.

    Main Source: 
    Think Progress, July 28, 2009

    Shining a Light on U.S. Power Utility Lobbyists

    by Bob Burton — July 26, 2009 - 8:14pm

    With the Waxman-Markey climate change bill before the U.S. Senate, coal and energy utility lobbyists are out in force. While the legislation will only have direct effect in the United States, it will indirectly have a major influence on the negotiation of a replacement agreement to the Kyoto Protocol.

    Main Source: 
    SourceWatch

    Issue Ads on Health Care - Ain't Seen Nothing Yet!

    by John Stauber — July 20, 2009 - 1:46pm

    AdAge reports that those supporting Obama-style health care reform are "hoping to avoid a costly ad war they would stand a good chance of losing. 'The Democrats in Washington are clearly hoping for a short fight,' said Evan Tracey, president of the TNS Media's Campaign Media Analysis Group, in a blog post. ...

    Main Source: 
    AdAge, July 20, 2009

    CMD's Wendell Potter Interviewed by Amy Goodman

    by John Stauber — July 16, 2009 - 9:58am
  • Topics: Health, Lobbying

    • Wendell Potter is the former CIGNA health insurance executive who is now Senior Fellow on Health Care with the Center for Media and Democracy. He is blowing the whistle on his former industry's lobby and PR tactics and was interviewed July 16, 2009 for forty-five minutes by Amy Goodman of the radio and TV program Democracy Now! The entire interview can be viewed online. Here is a snippet:

    AMY GOODMAN: What is the game plan of the health insurance industry?

    WENDELL POTTER: Well, the game plan is based on scare tactics. And, of course, the thing they fear most is that the country will at some point gravitate toward a single-payer plan. That's the ultimate fear that they have. But they know that right now that is not something that's on the legislative table. And they've been very successful in making sure that it isn't. They fear even the public insurance option that's being proposed, that was part of President Obama's campaign platform, his healthcare platform. And they'll pull out all the stops they can to defeat that. And they'll be working with their ideological allies, with the business community, with conservative pundits and editorial writers, to try to scare people into thinking that embracing a public health insurance option would lead us down the slippery slope toward socialism and that you will be, in essence, putting a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor. That is—you know, they've used those talking points for years, and in years past they've always worked.

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