Baucus And White House Wooed Industry Groups For Support

Politico reports that the White House and Sen. Max Baucus helped create a corporate-backed health reform campaign by fostering a relationship with industry groups.

Baucus's chief of staff, Jon Selib, and Jim Messina, deputy White House chief of staff, spearheaded the effort to enlist traditional corporate opponents of health care reform -- cultivating a strong alliance between government and big business following the Obama campaign's harsh criticism of the Bush administration's close ties to the corporate world.

Politico reportss that an April 15 meeting at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's offices created two groups -- Americans for Stable Quality Care and the now-defunct Healthy Economy Now. Both groups have operated independently of the White House and Senate Democrats.

The Democratic officials made no overt demands. Rather, they brought together the players and laid the groundwork for the the creation of the coalition, and that was followed by more-direct solicitations from an outside Democratic consultant, Nick Baldick, retained by Healthy Economy Now, asking attendees at the meeting to join the coalition and contribute to its ad campaigns.

Meeting attendees included groups such as PhRMA, the American Medical Association, AARP, the American Cancer Society, the Business Round Table and Service Employees International Union. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and America's Health Insurance Plans attended the meeting but would not participate in the coalition.

Last week, Karen Ignangi, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, said the Senate Finance Committee's proposed health care bill would fail to make insurance more affordable for consumers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is topping health care advertising lists for the year as it pushes against reform.

"The consequences of this would be an upward spiral; rate shock to everyone who stays in," Ignangi said.

The Associated Press reported that PhRMA, an unlikely backer of health care reform, was spending $150 million to publicly support the President's plans for reform.

From the AP:

Additionally, the industry is the major contributor to Healthy Economy Now, which recently completed a $12 million round of advertising nationally and in several states. The ads were made by companies with close ties to Democrats and the White House and generally reflected the administration's changing rhetoric on health care.

Comments

[everychildsnana]

We needed to get proof of this via the press? The obvious and the all-too-late protect the President revelations.

[Thomas Reissmann]

I don't think it's as clear-cut as some of the comments make it out to be, let's remember it was the industry that shot down Clinton's Health Care efforts, so Obama learned from his mistakes and kept them at the table, seems fair enough, they are major stake-holders after all.

And given that the insurance industry recently launched ads against reform shows that they are obviously not that pleased with it all. So where is the Democratic­-corporate conspiracy? I'm not sure I see one. The truth is that drafting such wide-reaching reform that actually has a chance of passing is extremely tricky, not least because the GOP is merely interested in politics and shooting Obama down, they are not interested in reform. So what do you do? You try to form allegiances and compromise so that at least a first step is taking. Whatever will be passed is only the beginning of further changes towards a better Health Care system, but it is change and it is what Obama promised. Let's remember this is still the US and legislative process is built to be slow and deliberative.

[ImissBush]

bauchus

god
of
whine?

[escribacat]

These industry groups have been at the table since the very beginning. There was no secrecy about it, no conspiracy. Where's the news? Nowhere. Again, another obvious attempt to get the pitchforks going again...an­d it always works.

[jmpurser]

The fact that it's same old same old in the land of "change we can believe it" just makes the fact that corporations are writing our laws even more outrageous than it was.

[ahren]

it is no wonder then, all the stalling on the part of the Democrats themselves on the bill

[ahren]

something morally wrong about their actions.

[tbone99]

Lie down with dogs - get up with fleas.

Only Obama and Baucus didn't just get fleas , they also got donations while we're getting the the flea bitten remnants of what passes for healthcare reform

.Looks like the insurance company not only gets the meat , they get our bones as well , or what are those piles of dead bodies at their feet?

[jmpurser]

Well said.

[sposton]

...cultiva­ting a strong alliance between government and big business..­.

Big Bidness has owned both parties since the Civil War. We have a phantom democracy, a veneer of democracy with invisible puppeteers pulling strings from behind the curtain.

Big Bidness has its lobbyists and it is about time we have our own. We need a huge network of people's lobbyist organizations supporting politicians who promise not to take any corporate money. We need a critical mass of such politicians in order to start reforming our government. Millions of Americans should donate small amounts of money to such an effort. That would amount to considerable amounts of money, which if used wisely, could start electing the kinds of people we desperately need.

[ImissBush]

OH those rightwing repubs

theyre all
the
same

[ChelseaC]

Wake up and smell the coffee.
Corporate sell outs are Dems too.

[ImissBush]

oh missy scarlett
tells me its not true

[Rog49Thomas]

Yes, woo they did, but industry always invites the Republicans to the prom.

[Manx]

Obama hasn't been upfront about a public option. In his speech to a joint session of Congress, he referred to a very narrow version of a public option. In subsequent speeches, he has favored a "public option." This, although his sidekick, Rahm Emanuel, has said weeks ago that there would not be a public option. And it was reported in yesterday's NY Times that Obama will go along with Olympia Snowe, who doesn't want a public option but a "trigger," which is a gimmick for dropping the public option altogether. This is the very latest development according to two anonymous staffers of Obama quoted in the NY Times. They have a name for this. It's called duplicity.

[naschkatze]

Obama has been a very slippery eel over the whole health care reform business.

[ChelseaC]

Indeed.
I'm a liberal Dem and I agree with Manx and Naschkatze.

[TerrapinCB]

sodomy without even getting some manual stimulation on the front side

[Aerows]

Your comment, combined with your icon, if one looks just at the shell is an interesting juxtaposition. It would seem you are quite familiar with the concept.

[TerrapinCB]

um, ok. Thanks for sharing? Keep coming back? Did I stutter? Which word didn't you understand?

[mtracy9]

I just signed a petition demanding that the U.S. Congress allow a public option.

Click here to sign: http://bit.ly/1MOpFS

[gray375]

done

[wonketteRAWKS]

Which public option? There seems to be so many and none that are a ROBUST public option!

[ChelseaC]

Wonkettes,
Right again!
Notice the "public option" doesn't even have a name? Why isn't the "public option" an expansion of MEDICARE?
Why are they reinventing the wheel?
Does it make fiscal dsense to hve SCHIP, Mediciad, Medicare AND a "public option?"
Why not merge them into one to save on overhead admin costs? Right?
It's because there is no REAL "public option", it's a mirage for our consumption to make it look like they're doing something.
I believe there are some Dems who really want a public option--but the are not defining it.
I don't believe Obama wants a public option . When he wants something he fights for it--just as he did for the stimulus package, the bank bail outs and Sotomayer.
He's not fighting for a public option because he doesn't want it.
He mentioned it only as a way to get the carrot dangling.
If he comes out for a strong public option--expansion of cleaned up Medicare, I'll be in the state of utter shock (and happy).
But thus far, I'm not buying the dog and pony show.

[Maka]

Wait, didn't we know this already? They were trying to be "inclusive" and "bi-partisan" during the start of the reform process.

I'll start being p!ssed about that depending on what the final health care bill looks like.

[Samalabear]

Yep, we knew this already. As long as they weren't single-payer advocates they were included.

[Maka]

Actually, advocates of single payer were included in early negotiations:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/White-House-Forum-on-Health-Reform-Attendees-and-Breakout-Session-Participants/

It just was never going to happen in this first step towards reform, sadly.

[ChelseaC]

After they were arrested in May, the single payer advocates (mostly doctors) tried to meet with the President but he refused--those would be the madashell doctors ( http://www.madashelldoctors.com ) and the PNHP docs ( http://www.pnhp.org/ )
The PNHP doctors tried to get in with the President at the WH to discuss health care, but that was not to be as only "hand picked" AMA/OFA doctors were allowed entry--the PNHP doctors were locked out--literally--see the video:

http://www.commondreams.org/video/2009/10/07-0

Tell me this is not health insurance cartel corporatism at work......­..........­..........­......

[desktop]

The beginning of the end of the Obama administration is when he signs a so called health care reform bill without a strong public option. Under the Baucus bill the American middle class is going to get slaughtered more than ever. The health care profiteers are going to raise rates more than ever staring next year and there is not one agency, option, or person who is going to stop them, now or in three years. House democrats should vote NO on the Baucus bill and kill it.