14 health care groups and their lobbyists gave more than $500,000 to McConnell

[cal04]

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20091006/NEWS0106/910060365/14+health+care+groups+and+their+lobbyists+gave+more+than+$500+000+to+McConnell


Since 2007, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has received more than half a million dollars from 14 health-care organizations and their 127 outside lobbyists — more than any other member of Congress except former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

That kind of concentrated bundling of donations is part of an unseen web of campaign giving, according to a new study by the non-partisan Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics.

The two organizations said the grouping of contributions suggests that the impact of special interests’ donations to lawmakers is amplified by the Washington lobbyists those interests employ.

“The bundles point to the people with the most juice,” said Larry Makinson, senior fellow at Sunlight and a veteran analyst of campaign finance. McConnell is “a good example of one of the oldest precepts in politics, which is: money follows power.”

(snip)
A study last month by the center found that McConnell received nearly $3.2 million from health care interests between 1989 and 2008 — the largest amount for any area congressman or senator.

(snip)
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the Federation of American Hospitals are two of the 14 organizations and companies and their lobbyists that gave to McConnell. But those groups also are part of a coalition that is sponsoring a television ad in favor of Obama’s health care plan

[valerief]

1. He's bought and paid for but good, ain't he? nt

[Sienna86]

2. When our elected representatives

vote on any measure regarding healthcare, they should have to wear a large button on their chests showing the amount of contributions they have received from the healthcare industry.