Daschle, Dole Release Health Care Plan, Forget to Mention They Are Health Care Lobbyists

Crossposted at the Sunlight Foundation blog.

Today, former senators Tom Daschle and Bob Dole released a plan for health care reform that is being hailed as a bipartisan way forward. Headlines blare about the Daschle/Dole plan for health care. But were these two to not have had illustrious careers in the Senate, the headlines would tell a far different story: "Health Care Lobbyists Release Health Care Plan."

Both Daschle and Dole work for a major Washington, DC lobbying firm, Alston & Bird. Many of Alston & Bird's major clients are from the health care sector including the American Hospital Association, HealthSouth Corp, and pharmaceutical companies Abbott Laboratories, Bayer, Celgene, and Mylan Laboratories. In total, Alston & Bird is currently representing 31 clients from the health care sector. Of the $2,730,000 reported income received from clients, nearly 50% of that, $1,070,000, comes from these 31 health care clients.

This looks like another benefit of the revolving door. You can release a legislative proposal from outside of Congress and the first thing anyone thinks of is your previous job and not your current one.

The following 31 companies and organizations are listed as health care sector clients of Alston & Bird: