UnitedHealth Lobbyist Announces Pelosi Fundraiser As She Begins Backing Off Pub Option

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the first time yesterday suggested she may be backing off her support of the public option. According to CNN, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "said they would support any provision that increases competition and accessibility for health insurance - whether or not it is the public option favored by most Democrats." When "asked if inclusion of a public option was a non-negotiable demand -- as her previous statements had indicated Pelosi ruled out any non-negotiable positions," according to CNN. This was also corroborated by the Associated Press, and by Pelosi's own words, as quoted in those stories.

This announcement came just hours before Steve Elmendorf, a registered UnitedHealth lobbyist and the head of UnitedHealth's lobbying firm Elmendorf Strategies, blasted this email invitation throughout Washington, D.C. I just happened to get my hands on a copy of the invitation from a source - check out this OpenLeft exclusive:

From: Steve Elmendorf [mailto:[e-mail]] Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 8:31 AM Subject: event with Speaker Pelosi at my home

You are cordially invited to a reception with

Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi

Thursday, September 24, 2009
6:30pm ~ 8:00pm

At the home of
Steve Elmendorf
2301 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Apt. 7B
Washington, D.C.

$5,000 PAC
$2,400 Individual

To RSVP or for additional information please contact
Carmela Clendening at [phone] or [e-mail]

Steve Elmendorf
ELMENDORF STRATEGIES
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS SOLUTIONS
900 7th Street NW Suite 750 Washington DC 20001
[phone]

Again, Elmendorf is a registered lobbyist for UnitedHealth, and his firm's website brags about its work for UnitedHealth on its website (Elmendorf was also a chief of staff for Democratic Minority Leader Dick Gephardt).

The sequencing here is important: Pelosi makes her announcement and then just hours later, the fundraising invitation goes out. Coincidental? I'm guessing no -- these things rarely ever are.

I wrote a book a few years ago called Hostile Takeover whose premise was that corruption and legalized bribery has become so widespread that nobody in Washington even tries to hide it. This is about as good an example of that truism as I've ever seen.

Comments

[rollingdivision]

Industry uses congress to limit competition and write rules and regulations to their benefit. The answer isn't more government interference the answer is less. But, alas our politicians love the power they gain in these marriages of convenience.

[norepublicanleftbehind]

Clay Feet. Who is running against Nancy so I can vote for them?

[hellboundtrain]

Bought and sold.

Traitors all!

[getsit]

I am hoping this isn't true.

We can all vote Republican, fill up all the seats, and watch our country disintergrate into chaos. Imagine another 8 years of Bush and a Republican congress and republican states.

People starving because of no food stamps, people dying in the streets because of no healthcare, people dying in the streets because of no jobs, vouchers for school that only the rich can use, and so on. No care for the disabled and elderly (no Medicare or Social Security). No social programs at all.

We're on our way to a being a third world country if there are no honorable people running it. The middle class is falling behind, the poor are getting poorer, and the rich are running the country into the ground because you can never be rich enough.

[hellboundtrain]

The people running it honor the dollar, and nothing else,
to give service to their corporate johns.

[sixx]

Health care reform has been written by the industry lobby, both plan A & B. Pull down the curtains the show is over.

[Ventoi]

Home Depot...

[LaurenMarie984]

What a shocker! a corporation with an agenda "accidentally" allowed this potentially career ending email get in the hands of Sirota and you take it at face value?? Really?

Who's claiming to be better than the "ditto heads"? At least wait for a little corroboration before crucifying her...

[TheIndependenceParty]

Open Letter to Nancy Pelosi;

Dear Madame Speaker,

That you would not flatly refuse the upcoming fundraiser to be held by United Healthcare on your behalf, while moonwalking away from a Public Option for Healthcare of the uninsured takes me absolutely aback!

The Public Option you indicate to be dying, is a pale substitute for Single-Payer at this moment when 1 in 6 American Workers are without employment, and nearly 47 Million have no insurance coverage for medical care. It seems neither you, nor Senator Reid, nor President Obama care any more for the unfortunate, including our uninsured children, than did Bush and the Republicans.

Rest assured, Speaker Pelosi that I will not donate to a single Democratic candidate in the coming election campaigns as I did in the last, unless and until a Public Option to cover my neighbors and friends is approved by the Congress you control! My canvassing for Obama and the Democrats in 2008 will be the last time I will work on behalf of any Democratic candidate until you use the leverage of your overwhelming majority in THIS Congress, to do what you know the People want and you know is right.

[bluejean1951]

You should send it to her official site...that's what I did. If everyone would write directly to the politicians themselves instead of posting your displeasure here, where they aren't reading it, then maybe some good will come of our efforts.

[rcruss]

Amen, I second that. Miss Pelosi, we will use our money and energy just as we did to get the president elected for reform…We will defeat you if we don’t see a public option…..That is your responsibi­lity~!!!!!­!!!….”WE THE PEOPLE” not the few have spoken….That also goes for the rest of congress also.

[OhComeOnNow]

Totally concur. You put it much more eloquently that I would have.

[hellboundtrain]

All of them out, out, out, if they have not shown compassion
and concern to help those on Main St. instead of the
very rich corporations!

The corporate contributions are made from the profits that the public must pay for their goods, so it seems things could be cheaper if they weren't compelled to
pay for their people on Capitol Hill.

[totersmom]

I agree; please circulate a petition and I will gladly sign. Enough is enough. I have worked for a non-profit cancer hospital for 20 years and we have went from taking care of anyone regardless of the ability to pay to asking for insurance first because we cannot keep up with the amount of people who come hundreds; maybe thousands of miles for care. You can't turn away a family with a child with cancer who have come across several states cause they have no insurance. Money that could be used to find a cure instead has to go toward patient care because there are so many more who cannot pay today than I can remember.

[TheIndependenceParty]

(con't)

In short, Madame, your single despicable and untimely decision to allow United Health to buy your loyalty over and above the interests of the People of America was the last of many straws which has turned my back upon you and your party. Indeed the course of your conduct in coming weeks regarding the public option may convince me to donate to your opposition, both personally and at the National level.

Very Sincerely
TIP

[eahce]

The people get what they deserve.

[LucieLee]

She was for the public option before she was against it........!

[FreedomCorpse]

Corporatism.

[JiminNC]

Nancy, I defended you on the CIA crud but you need to answer for this.

[solarian]

nancy you can join the rest of un-employed ex congressman

[Steamboater]

Pelosi and Reid are always going back and forth and usually backward on their staged advocacy of an issue. It happend with their desire to end the war in Iraq and yet they constabtly voted to fund it and now this. The democratic party has long been run by a bunch of spineless politicians who have tried to scanmm democrats into believing their word is invaluable when their word means less than nothing.