Concessions to the pharmaceutical industry were added to the reconciliation bill after the industry agreed to provide additional savings requested... View Article
Continue readingPfizer CEO Gets Raise for Behind Scenes Deals With White House
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Billy Tauzin was bounced from his perch as President and CEO of... View Article
Continue readingResearching and Writing the White House-PhRMA Deal
At the end of last year, the White House dropped a new pile of visitor log records into the public,... View Article
Continue readingThe Legacy of Billy Tauzin: The White House-PhRMA Deal
More than a million spectators gathered before the Capitol on a frosty January afternoon to witness the inauguration of Barack... View Article
Continue readingWhy Look At Former Staffers Turned Lobbyists?
Throughout this year I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking at the connections between powerful players in the health... View Article
Continue readingWhy read the final health care bill?
As noted below, the Baucus health care bill was finally released in legislative language (soon to be available on Open... View Article
Continue readingCalls and Calendars for Congress?
...the AP focuses on the results of an examination after they obtained Treasury Dept. records, but when it comes to transparency, the fact that the AP was able to obtain the records at all is perhaps even more important. In obtaining Geithners phone records through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the AP got a "behind-the-scenes glimpse at the continued influence of three companies..."
Continue readingTracking Lobbyists’ Real Influence
It's important we know lobbyists' REAL influence on the people we elect to represent us - and before today, that's not something we could really do. While yesterday you may have looked up a lobbyist online and seen only that the individual had contributed a couple hundred dollars to a senator, you can now see the entire 'bundle' of contributions around that lobbyist or company which can total in the tens of thousands.
Continue readingHidden ‘Bundles’ of Lobbyist Giving Show Full Court Press by Health Care Donors
Sunlight and the Center for Responsive Politics have teamed up on a collaborative investigative project that shows never-before-seen “contribution clusters”... View Article
Continue readingSenate Finance Committee Amendments
The mark-up of the Senate Finance Committee health care reform bill is currently underway. (You can watch the proceedings on... View Article
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