October 1, 2009 If you're having trouble viewing this e-mail, go here.

Health Care Lobbyists and Their Clients Produce Curious Web of Campaign Cash*Benefiting Key Lawmakers

A month-long collaborative investigation by the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics has uncovered webs of campaign contributions from outside lobbyists and their clients, who are all important players in the health care reform debate, to key members of Congress. The investigation identified outside lobbyists that donated to the same members of Congress as their clients, and strongly suggests that special interest giving is enhanced by the K Street contributors they hire. Sen. Max Baucus, (D-Mont.), chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee and author of the main health care reform bill now being debated in the Senate, was one of the biggest beneficiaries of this one-two punch from the lobbyists and their clients. From January 2007 through June 2009, Baucus collected contributions from 37 outside lobbyists representing PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry's chief trade association, and 36 lobbyists who listed drug maker Amgen Inc. as their client. Read More:

Capital Eye: Lawmakers get one-two punch of money
Database of lobbyist-client connections among health care interests
Max Baucus' client-lobbyist 'bundle' page
Amgen profile page

In Debt or Full of Hope, Politicos Maintain Presidential Fund-raising Committees

The fact that the next presidential election isn't until 2012 hasn't deterred lesser-known candidates from planning vigorously, hoping valiantly and mulling over how to increase their name recognition when they have little name recognition in the first place to attract cash. They join a host of others who still technically have an active presidential fund-raising committee. In all, 49 individuals currently have presidential candidate fund-raising committees open through the Federal Election Commission.*? Read More

Senate Democrats Opposing Public Option Get More Cash*From Insurers and Pharmaceutical Companies

This week the Senate Finance Committee knocked down two amendments that sought to add a government-sponsored health care plan to the committee's version of the massive health care legislation Congress has been considering. Lawmakers who sided with insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies in opposing such an option have collected more money from these industries, on average, than those who voted for these amendments, CRP has found.
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Campaign contributions from pharmaceutical and health product companies

Senate Finance Committee's fund-raising profile

Capital Eye's "Diagnosis: Reform" series

Useful health care tools on OpenSecrets.org

From Stephen Colbert to Politico to*the BBC, the Media*Love Our*OpenSecrets

On Tuesday, Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert discussed lawmakers' relationships with lobbyists and cited the Center for Responsive Politics. "Sen. [Pat] Roberts [R-Kan.] has broken the silence and admitted he's in a committed consensual relationship with the pharmaceutical and insurance industries," Colbert said, using our site to show how much money Roberts has collected from these industries. Numerous other media outlets mentioned CRP this week as well. Minnesota Public Radio interviewed CRP Executive Director Sheila Krumholz about the blitz of health care lobbying this year. CRP Communications Director Dave Levinthal talked about the health care reform debate with the BBC. Bloomberg reported on how the "New Democrats" are receiving notable amounts of campaign cash from private financial interests while playing a prominent role in shaping new financial regulations. Politico used our data to examine Wall Street's ties to*Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). (Hint: the finance industry has given the Senate nearly $11 million since the start of*this year*and Schumer has collected more than 15 percent of that.) And the Washington Post ran ProPublica's investigative report on leadership PACs, which uses CRP data to examine where leadership PACs get their money and how lawmakers are spending it.



OpenSecrets.org: Money in Politics -- See Who's Giving & Who's Getting
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Copyright 2009