Six Lobbyists Per Lawmaker Work to Shape Health-Care Overhaul

[deminks]

Source: Bloomberg

Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- If there is any doubt that President Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul U.S. health care is the hottest topic in Congress, just ask the 3,300 lobbyists who have lined up to work on the issue.

That’s six lobbyists for each of the 535 members of the House and Senate, according to Senate records, and three times the number of people registered to lobby on defense. More than 1,500 organizations have health-care lobbyists, and about three more are signing up each day. Every one of the 10 biggest lobbying firms by revenue is involved in an effort that could affect 17 percent of the U.S. economy.

(snip)

Lobbying by Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology company, is intended to “effectively shape health-care policy,” said Kelley Davenport, a spokeswoman. Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, is “dedicated to insuring that our voice is heard,” said spokesman Ray Kerins.

The Washington-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business lobby, is opposing efforts to offer government-run health insurance to compete with private companies. The chamber spent $26 million in the first six months of 2009 to lobby, more than any other group.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aqMce51JoZWw

[nightrain]

1. sickening. we need election reform badly.

[pattmarty]

2. We need a lot more than just election reform (although we do need it badly)........

.............Here is just some of the reforms needed: Healthcare, education, election, environmental, prison, judicial, we need to overhaul almost everything in this country. If we keep going in the direction we have been going the last 30 yrs we will be the richest 3rd world country in the world. Three hundred million people with 3 million living in "gated" communities protected by Blackwater (XE) and 200 million give or take living in apartments and small "manufactured" homes, the rest living in shacks or the fucking street. We're looking at the "American version" of Fascism.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

3. All of those are f'd up because of outside influence.

Most, not all, of lobbyist influence would disappear with election reform. The quid becomes disconnected from the quo.

[avaistheone1]

7. Yes, it is.

I would be much happier if we had election reform, and there were zero lobbyists in Washington.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

12. Zero is on the hopeful side.

Slashed by half would be realistic.

[saigon68]

11. It will be MEXICO

Just look south for a model

[stillcool]

4. that's okay..

I'm sure 'we the people' are lobbying just as hard..calling them, showing up at their Town Hall's..surely that will help. Oh..wait..that's the other side. Ah..it's only Congress. They have nothing to do with it. It's Obama's bill to pass or fail. What's on tv?

[avaistheone1]

8. Well if the people had a much control of the media has the vested corporate interests those meetings

would be packed with people supporting not only the public option but single payer.

Please you are not buying into these phony ginned up crowds as the true heartbeat of this country on health care reform. Are you?

[stillcool]

13. regardless of how phony..

they are organized. Congress gets more calls against reform, than for. It's too bad.

[avaistheone1]

14. I don't believe for a moment Congress is getting more calls against health care reform than for it.

All the polling shows not only do people want health car reform, most of us want single-payer.

[dflprincess]

10. Even if we are lobbying as hard

we're not writing huge campaign "donation" checks and we can't make any promises about a well paying lobbying job should the elected official decide to leave Congress.

[fascisthunter]

5. pure fascism

[BlueIdaho]

6. Forget the shrieking hoards

This is the real threat to health care reform.

[truedelphi]

9. The lobbyist-corporatists and the influence they peddle

Has been given a lot of cover lately. The RW teabaggers have allowed this Adminstration and Congress to get all jiggy with industry, while the media focuses our attention on the organized hate groups.

Had we one leader among the many in Congresss, or had we a President who was really for the middle incomed and the poor, perhaps the huge advantages of Universal Single Payer would be pushed heavily on the M$M.

Instead we have Big Health Insurance "Providers" and Big Pharma cooking up legislation to favor their profits. With the present Administration and Congress just lapping that up.

While the RW works itself into a frenzy, not over the truly scurrilous provisions of what is going down (Though sometimes they manage to object to the 1,000 plus pages of this) but rather no, their main objection is that somewhere someone might get something for free and thus avoid dying years before the actuarial tables suggest. And this objection is presented with the same vitriol that a rabid dog might shower upon its victim right before sinking the teeth to the carotid artery, and draining the person of their life.

So this vitriol pulls more people, who are in the center and to the left, to support WHATEVER offal we are offered,because that way we will show those crazed lunies that they cannot stop the Obama Administration.

In any other society on earth this whole process would propel someone with leadership abilities to come forward and lead the citizenry out of the miasma. But here it is just business as usual.