GOP senator Orrin Hatch's charity tied to massive pharmaceutical donations

[last_texas_dem]

Source: The Raw Story

>>>>A charity founded by a senior Republican lawmaker who was a key ally to the pharmaceutical industry received more than $170,000 in 2007 from drugmakers, far in excess of campaign finance rules had the money been donated to him directly, leaked documents show.
The senator, Orrin Hatch (R-UT), founded Utah Families Foundation, the recipient of the gifts, though he doesn't serve on the foundation's board. But his son is now the chief lobbyist for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the industry's lobbying group.

Hatch has received more money from the pharmaceutical industry than any other group, raking in $1.25 million since 1998. The latest sums, however, dwarf that of previous donations from individual corporations. In 2007, the foundation received $25,000 from Eli Lilly, $30,000 from Barr Pharmaceuticals, $25,000 from AstraZeneca and $40,000 from PhRMA.>>>>

snip

>>>>The same year Utah Families Foundation received massive gifts, Sen. Hatch voted on a bill relating to Medicare Part D. Hatch voted against a bill requiring that the government negotiate discounted prices from drugmakers, a measure the industry vehemently opposed. In 2005, Hatch also voted against a measure that would have allowed Medicare to negotiate bulk prices for prescription drugs.

"And if that weren't enough political intrigue, the tax-exempt charitable foundation, which the senator from Utah helped start in the 1990s and still vigorously supports, has been delinquent for nearly a decade in filing its required annual reports with Utah state officials," a Washington Times review by Jim McElhatton and Jerry Seper found, the reporters who revealed the documents.>>>>

Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/GOP_senator_Orrin_Hatchs_charity_tied_0302.html

[NoodleyAppendage]

1. Orrin Hatch...giving Mormons a bad name. It's about time LDS gets tough with his scumbag behavior.

...unless, of course, its o.k. to be a scumbag and ethically-challenged leader in the LDS faith.

J

[Sodbuster]

2. As long as he isn't gay then I'm sure whatever he does is okay

with the church. They have to draw the line somewhere.

[dysfunctional press]

6. let's see...they're all hard-core repukes...what do you think?

[ShockediSay]

9. Hi filutin old style politician rip off crook imho

whose mantra is what I can't do directly, I can do indirectly

NOW HERE'S an investigation worth pursuing

[Qutzupalotl]

3. Hatch blocked the decriminalization of mj in the 70s

so it's not surprising that he's a corporate healthcare shill.

[Supersedeas]

8. nope not surprised at all

[ooglymoogly]

4. But, but he is a Pug...arent they above the law.

According to O.

[UpInArms]

5. Sun Myung Moon honors Jerry Falwell, hosts GOP leaders at Washington event

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3944/is_200003/ai_n8887990

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and a phalanx of congressional rightwingers trooped to the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill Feb. 2 for a special reception honoring controversial Korean evangelist Sun Myung Moon.

The event, sponsored by The Washington Times Foundation, included an "American Century Awards" ceremony. Honorees included the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Charles and Frances Ballard, a Washington couple who frequently crusade for official school prayer, and Robert Woodson, an African American conservative and school voucher advocate.

Members of Congress who attended the event include Sens. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) as well as House members Hastert, Reps. Henry Hyde (R-111.), Floyd D. Spence (RS.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.), Anne M. Northup (R-Ky.), Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) and Dennis J. Kucinich (DOhio).

In addition, former Secretary of State Alexander Haig and ex-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger joined the festivities. According to The Washington Times, an ultra-conservative daily that Moon owns, Weinberger lauded Falwell and the other award recipients for "overcoming man's inhumanity to man."

The newspaper reported that Falwell was honored with the Foundation's Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for Freedom, Faith and Family.

Falwell has appeared at three previous Moon gatherings, including one in Uruguay in 1995, and he has relied on Moon's largess to bail him out of tight financial spots. In 1997, a Moon front group called the Women's Federation for World Peace funneled $3.5 million to a non-Moon group to alleviate financial problems at Falwell's Liberty University. In 1996, a Moon publishing group lent Falwell $400,000 for use at Liberty.

Falwell and allies of the Religious Right in Congress cozy up to Moon even though his theology is decidedly at odds with conventional Christianity. Moon teaches that he is the Messiah, sent to complete the failed mission of Jesus Christ. However, both Moon and Falwell share a taste for right-wing politicking and hostility toward the separation of church and state.

[DemWynner]

7. Wait a minute

What was Dennis K. doing there? it does not seem like his kind of crowd. :shrug: