Lobbyists can not only attempt to influence members of the deficit-cutting super committee by donating to their campaign, but they also have another tool: giving to good causes that honor them.
Companies, advocacy groups and their lobbyists have spent at least $715,000 to honor and cover meetings costs for the 12 members of the super committee during the first half of the year, according to lobbying disclosures filed this month with the Senate Office of Public Records. In some cases, these payments were made in honor of many members of Congress—not only those on the Super Committee.
The ...
Continue readingMedicare and the Super Committee: Can doctors afford to lose two percent of their payments?
Medicare and other health care services could see their funds drained in any number of ways as, over the next few months, the congressional Joint Committee on Debt Reduction--better known as the "super committee"--looks for ways to reduce the national debt.
Health care interests are well represented among the big donors to the committee's dozen members. Half those members--including Max Baucus, Fred Upton, Xavier Becerra and Chris Van Hollen--number health care concerns among their top ten career donors. Collectively, health care professionals ranked fourth among those career donors, giving $9.3 million, according to an analysis of ...
Shining a Bright New Light on an Old Game
Looking up cram down opponents in Party Time
This post is all research and no results -- that'll come later. I wanted to take a look at a vote my colleague Paul Blumenthal referred to with the title (quoting Sen. Richard Durbin) "They own the place." The "they" in question are financial sector firms, the place is Congress; at issue is a bill, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 -- or rather, an amendment to that bill -- that was voted down by a 51-45 margin.
The Durbin amendment, also known as the cram down bill, would have removed the mortgage exemption from bankruptcy proceedings, allowing bankruptcy ...
Continue readingFinancial Bailout: Deal hammered out?
That's what a series of members are saying on a press conference I happened to tune into a few moments ago -- there's an agreement, but details have to be worked out (including getting it all down on paper).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., cited Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., as being critical to the negotiations, along with Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chair of the Senate Finance Committee.
The House Republican negotiator, Rep. Roy Blunt, on now, cited Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio and Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.
Dodd ...
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