Karen Ignagni, CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, the advocay group for the majority of U.S. health insurers, has given $48,550 in campaign donations since the 1996 election cycle, according to a profile of her giving detailed by the Center for Responsive Politics today.
Though prior to AHIP Ignagni worked for Democrats and the AFL-CIO, the health association executive's giving leaned slightly more Republican. The Center says 55 percent of her donations went to GOP candidates and parties since the 1996 election cycle.
See the Center for Responsive Politics profile here.
See also my profile of Ignagni in National Journal's June 13 isse. Click here. (subscription)
(Photo courtesy of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee)
A few dozen banks, consumer finance companies, mortgage companies and other large lenders have been meeting under the auspices of the American Financial Services Association to discuss forming a coalition to fight an Obama administration proposal for creating a new consumer financial protection agency with a large regulatory mandate.
"I think everybody around the table understands the urgency of the challenge we face," said Bill Himpler, the top lobbyist for the AFSA which has about 350 members including a number of consumer finance companies that provide 50 percent of the nation's non-mortgage loans.
Himpler added that the groups stand "shoulder to shoulder in terms of wanting consumer protections, but this is not it." Some of the groups fear that the new agency's purview would be too sweeping and would also take away some regulatory powers that now reside with the Federal Reserve, the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The groups met again today at the offices of Toyota, which has a large finance arm, to try to develop a strategy that's likely going to include hiring outside consultants to craft their message and possibly run some advertising. Yesterday, the White House unveiled a 150- page proposal to create a new regulatory agency whose powers could include limiting or barring risky loans, enforcing new laws to protect credit card consumers and setting standards for mortgage lending. The new proposal has drawn considerable support from consumer organizations and liberal groups.
Continue reading Opposition Builds to Consumer Finance Agency.
From this morning's Earlybird:
• "The Laborers' International Union of North America on Tuesday announced plans to target Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) with a cable television spot in Des Moines even as it cut short ad buys in Montana and North Dakota at the request of Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.)," Roll Call (subscription) reports.
• "The pharmaceutical industry and one of the country's leading consumer health care groups on Tuesday launched a multimillion-dollar national television advertising campaign to urge lawmakers to pass quality, affordable health care reform," Politico reports.
In an effort to make civic engagement easier by leveraging technology, the Sunlight Foundation announced the creation of Transparency Corps today, a Web service that allows citizens to perform small tasks as part of a group effort to illuminate government data.
Sunlight encourages other organizations to use the open-source code behind Transparency Corps, "Sunlight and future partners can provide micro-tasks that when aggregated, help solve research and data analysis problems when computers alone cannot properly scrutinize government information," said Ellen Miller, executive director and co-founder of the organization.
Presently, Transparency Corps allows interested citizens to participate in two campaigns organized by Sunlight. One is simply to upload a photo of yourself with a sign showing your support for Congress to post bills online before consideration, a long-time goal of Sunlight's. The other campaign asks volunteers to read earmark requests and fill out a form with key information to contribute to the group's earmark database.
From this morning's Earlybird:
• "Kazakhstan refuses to let Borat have the last word on its image," The Hill reports. "The Central Asian republic's foreign affairs ministry inked a $1.5 million deal with a Washington lobbying firm, according to records recently filed with the Justice Department, with a partial goal of combating the image presented in the blockbuster film 'Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.'"
• "The intensifying health care debate is following Members of Congress home to their districts during this week's recess," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "A long list of industry and interest groups have taken out advertising spots, are activating grass-roots networks and are planning Member meetings outside the Beltway."
• "Horse trading in Washington is infamous. But it's rare to catch a glimpse of the horse in the midst of the trade in real time," Politico reports. "Friday was one of those rare exceptions when the powerful lobby for seniors, the AARP, sent a memo to Senate officials threatening to yank support for the chamber's health committee's version of reform if it didn't get what it wanted on another provision in the bill related to biogeneric drugs."
Lobbying stories in this week's National Journal: (subscription)
From this morning's Earlybird:
• "Despite House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson's farm and forestry amendment to the climate change bill, agriculture groups are all over the map in their views on the underlying bill that is expected on the House floor today," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.
Liberal and conservative groups are ramping up the pressure on Senate Democrats and Republicans on health care reform.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which supports the creation of a public plan option in health care reform, is running an ad juxtaposing polling numbers from a June 8th Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll--showing 76 percent support for a public health care plan option--with the seven-figure campaign contributions received by seven centrist Democrats reluctant to back such an option.
The group has been soliciting funds online and offering supporters a chance to have their names posted on the ad, to run on CNN, MSNBC and The Daily Show. In its first day, says spokesman Adam Green, the group's campaign has exceeded its original goal of raising $15,000--to allow 100 airings of the ad--by nearly $6,000, which Green said will allow a larger ad buy. Green says the group is now considering airing similar ads within the states of individual senators featured. See ad here.
Two senior foreign policy hands from the Clinton Administration are joining forces.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger to former President Clinton are merging their two consulting firms-Stonebridge International and the Albright Group-into one firm called Albright Stonebridge Group. Berger has had some other big names working with him at Stonebridge, such as former Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H. and former Citigroup CEO Charles Prince.
Stonebridge, which has also had a strategic partnership with Hogan & Hartson, is not a traditional lobbying firm. Instead, it provides consulting for companies looking to do businesses in China, Brazil, and other countries. The Albright Group has also employed Wendy Sherman, now listed as a vice chair at the newly merged firm. She's a former top State Department official under Albright and an ex-CEO of Fannie Mae Foundation. (For full disclosure, Sherman is also married to a National Journal employee)
(Photos courtesy of the U.S. government)
National Public Radio today launched a new investigative series on lobbying, money and politics in Washington called "Dollar Politics." (Click here to see report)
The series begins with a look at health care lobbyists. NPR's reporters Peter Overby and Andrea Seabrook attended a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing this month and took pictures of those lobbyists. The organization has posted photos on its website from the hearing and has asked the public to try to identify who the lobbyists are in the photos.
NPR also interviews Bill Vaughan, a health care lobbyist for Consumers Union, the nonprofit that publishes Consumer Reports magazine, who talks about why he was at the hearing.
"[They] have friendships with various members of Congress or staff and hope to be seen. It's a reminder that their interests are at play," Vaughan told NPR of the lobbyists at the hearing.
Many lobbyists in Washington have been feeling like a targets lately, so I wonder how some will feel about having their photo on NPR's website. In the 2008 campaign, the presidential candidates made lobbyists their favorite whipping posts and the Obama administration has since severely restricted lobbyists' ability to get jobs in his administration. On the other hand, lobbyists have told me that the scrutiny of their profession doesn't bother them because, as Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, "Sunshine is the best disinfectant."
Readers let me know what you think. Is this good for the public? Bad for the public? Does it matter? Email me here.
