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kenny blankenship

(15,689 posts)
18. Lots of proof. (How the heck did you miss this, back then)
Sat Mar 31, 2012, 03:25 PM
Mar 2012
http://blog.littlesis.org/2009/09/01/chief-health-aide-to-baucus-is-former-wellpoint-executive/

[h2]Chief health aide to Baucus is former Wellpoint executive[/h2]

Senator Max Baucus’s chief health adviser, Elizabeth Fowler, has been called the “chief operating officer” of the healthcare reform process by Politico — the staffer who sets legislative deadlines, coordinates with the White House on policy, and is understood to speak for Baucus on health policy issues. Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein has called her the most influential health staffer in the Senate.

Fowler, as it turns out, is also fresh off a lucrative stint working for the insurance industry: from 2006 to 2008, she was VP of public policy for Wellpoint, the insurance giant.


That’s right, an insurance industry hack is the quiet name directing the healthcare reform process on Capitol Hill.

It gets worse. Baucus’s chief health advisor prior to Fowler, Michelle Easton, currently lobbies for Wellpoint as a principal at Tarplin, Downs, & Young.



The article goes on about Fowler and Easton, and you should read it all. But don't stop there! Research the web of connections between Senate Finance Committee Staffers and the Insurance and Pharmaceutical Industries at Sunlight.org:

Senate Finance Committee Health Care Influence Cluster: The Democrats
http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2009/06/29/senate-finance-committee-health-care-influence-cluster-the-democrats/

Senate Finance Committee Health Care Influence Cluster: The Democrats
Paul Blumenthal
June 29, 2009, 3:09 p.m.

Last week, I took a look at the circle of former staffers turned health care lobbyists that surround Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus. The Senate Finance Committee is one of the two central committees in the Senate charged with formulating health care reform legislation. Knowing the connections to the health care lobby of all committee members provides us with a glimpse into whom may have access to shape the forthcoming legislation. In continuing with mapping Baucus' connections, below you'll find a map of all the committee Democrats and their connections, through former staffers turned health care lobbyists, to various health care lobbies:

The map shows only ten of the thirteen committee Democrats, as OpenSecrets.org does not report any staffers turned health care lobbyists for Sens. Jay Rockefeller, Jeff Bingaman or Bill Nelson. These ten Democrats are connected to a total of 20 former staffers turned health care lobbyists. Sen. Baucus leads all of the committee Democrats with five health care lobbyist connections and Sen. Chuck Schumer and Tom Carper both have three connections.

These 20 staffers represent approximately 91 different organizations, often overlapping in the clients they handle. The overlap usually occurs when the health care lobbyists are employed at the same firm. This can be seen clearly with David Castagnetti, Sen. Baucus' former chief of staff, and Kelly Bingel, Sen. Blanche Lincoln's former chief of staff. Both Castagnetti and Bingel work for Mehlmen Vogel Castagnetti Inc. and handle nearly all the same clients.


http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2009/07/10/senate-finance-committee-health-care-influence-cluster-the-republicans/

Senate Finance Committee Health Care Influence Cluster: The Republicans
Paul Blumenthal
July 10, 2009, 11:58 a.m.

Over the past few weeks, our designer Kerry and I have visualized the health care lobbyist connections of Senate Finance Committee members. The Senate Finance Committee has emerged as the key congressional committee in the debate over President Obama's promised health care reform legislation. The committee is also packed with members with tight ties to the health care industry. By revealing the former staffers of Finance Committee members who have become lobbyists for the health care industry, we can show how close these connections are. Previously, visualizations were created highlighting Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus and the Democrats on the committee. Below is a visualization of the Senate Finance Committee Republicans and their connections to the health care industry through former staffers turned lobbyists.

The map shows nine out of ten committee Republicans with former staffers turned health care lobbyists. OpenSecrets.org does not report any staffers turned health care lobbyists for Sen. John Cornyn. These nine Republicans are connected to 22 different health care lobbyists.

Both Sens. Charles Grassley and Orrin Hatch have four connections to former staffers. Both senators are in powerful positions on the committee, especially as it pertains to health care legislation. Grassley is the current ranking member on the full committee and Hatch is the ranking member on the Health subcommittee. Both are also top recipients of money from the health and insurance industries. Over his career, Grassley received $1,876,479 from the health industry and $858,224 from the insurance industry. Hatch, meanwhile, pulled in $2,311,744 from the health industry and $659,307 from the insurance industry over his career.


Practically everyone in the room including the stenographer is either on or soon to be on the Insurance Mafia Payroll. But the lead staffer, Liz Fowler, should have been asked to resign her position as she was barely a year before the VP of PROPAGANDA FOR WELLPOINT, and doubtlessly stuffed to the gills with stock options. Her job at Wellpoint would be devising the means by which to extract the most money from government policy and managing public perceptions. Even if she had divested all her stock and options, she is surely headed back to her first love of sticking sick people up for money after her sojourn as a mole in the government is over, just like the Chief Staffer whom she replaced did. If you are a political junkie like many people on this site are, you know that STAFFERS WRITE THE LEGISLATION. Hell they're only ones who even READ all the legislation, besides the lobbyists. And here is an insurance mafiosi underboss, sitting right at the center of the committee, speaking for the Chairman, coordinating with the White House, and she's spinning the web of favorable legislation, while her real employer chuckles in the shadows.

So, YOU'RE WELCOME.
If the court knocks it down we're never getting single payer. MrSlayer Mar 2012 #1
I respectfully disagree 99th_Monkey Mar 2012 #2
I can't see it. MrSlayer Mar 2012 #3
The owners Uncle Joe Mar 2012 #6
"The owners of the congress will never allow their minions to vote for it" Dokkie Mar 2012 #7
Congress' owners had better "have a little talk" then w/ SCOTUS, and SOON. 99th_Monkey Mar 2012 #10
I agree with your take on it. n/t Uncle Joe Mar 2012 #4
not if everyone is like you kenny blankenship Mar 2012 #8
Exactly libtodeath Mar 2012 #20
The purpose of the law is to secure the position of the existing profit centers TheKentuckian Mar 2012 #11
For fuck sakes, throw in the towel before you even know or try anything WTF! lonestarnot Mar 2012 #13
Reality is reality. MrSlayer Mar 2012 #19
That is what the rw wants us all to believe libtodeath Mar 2012 #21
A lot of ifs.....but the Republican plan is simple......... Historic NY Mar 2012 #5
Quietly encourage them to do nothing - the best policy for now kenny blankenship Mar 2012 #9
Oh yeah, an easy decade of "you gotta give it a chance" TheKentuckian Mar 2012 #12
"We're gonna regulate them!" kenny blankenship Mar 2012 #14
"but sometimes you have to take whatever laughs you can get." great white snark Mar 2012 #16
Lots of proof. (How the heck did you miss this, back then) kenny blankenship Mar 2012 #18
An ad like that plays to the Tea Party. Their votes aren't in play. DefenseLawyer Mar 2012 #15
and Obama can run ads about activist judges rewriting law Johonny Mar 2012 #17
How about: Whenthey go apeshit....say, Obama can't make law rustydog Mar 2012 #22
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