ObamaCare has become big business for an elite network of Washington lobbyists and consultants who helped shape the law from the inside.
More than 30 former administration officials, lawmakers and congressional staffers who worked on the healthcare law have set up shop on K Street since 2010.
Major lobbying firms such as Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock, The Glover Park Group, Alston & Bird, BGR Group and Akin Gump can all boast an ObamaCare insider on their lobbying roster — putting them in a prime position to land coveted clients.
“When [Vice President] Biden leaned over [during healthcare signing] and said to [President] Obama, ‘This is a big f'n deal,’” said Ivan Adler, a headhunter at the McCormick Group, “he was right.”
Veterans of the healthcare push are now lobbying for corporate giants such as Delta Airlines, UPS, BP America and Coca-Cola, and for healthcare companies including GlaxoSmithKline, UnitedHealth Group and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
Ultimately, the clients are after one thing: expert help in dealing with the most sweeping overhaul of the country’s healthcare system in decades.
"Healthcare lobbying on K Street is as strong as it ever was, and it's due to the fact that the Affordable Care Act seems to be ever-changing," Adler said. "What's at stake is huge. ... Whenever there's a lot of money at stake, there's a lot of lobbying going on."
The voracious need for lobbying help in dealing with ObamaCare has created a price premium for lobbyists who had first-hand experience in crafting or debating the law.
CONTINUE READING: ObamaCare's architects reap windfall as Washington lobbyists - The Hill - covering Congress, Politics, Political Campaigns and Capitol Hill | TheHill.com
Showing posts with label lobbying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lobbying. Show all posts
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Townhall Columnist:
Tim Carney: Government Electric
Editor’s Note: Considering President Obama’s recent decision to tap GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt to head a new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, we thought our readers might be interested to read a piece on General Electric’s cozy relationship with the Obama White House from the October 2009 issue of Townhall Magazine. To order Townhall Magazine, click here.
Barack Obama rose to office promising to take on the “special interests.” But there may be no “special interest” quite as special and quite as well connected as General Electric.
The company spends more on lobbying than any other corporation. GE’s CEO has a weekly phone call with a top economic policy official in Obama’s White House. GE, of course, also owns three television stations, including one -- MSNBC -- that has been famously supportive of Barack Obama.
READ THE ARTICLE: http://townhall.com/columnists/TimCarney/2011/01/25/government_electric
Editor’s Note: Considering President Obama’s recent decision to tap GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt to head a new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, we thought our readers might be interested to read a piece on General Electric’s cozy relationship with the Obama White House from the October 2009 issue of Townhall Magazine. To order Townhall Magazine, click here.
Barack Obama rose to office promising to take on the “special interests.” But there may be no “special interest” quite as special and quite as well connected as General Electric.
The company spends more on lobbying than any other corporation. GE’s CEO has a weekly phone call with a top economic policy official in Obama’s White House. GE, of course, also owns three television stations, including one -- MSNBC -- that has been famously supportive of Barack Obama.
READ THE ARTICLE: http://townhall.com/columnists/TimCarney/2011/01/25/government_electric
Friday, October 8, 2010
National Center for Public Policy Research
Obama Rewards Companies Pushing His Energy Policy
Posted on October 8, 2010 by Guest Writer
On Thursday, policy experts from the National Center for Public Policy Research are calling attention to corporate special interest groups receiving stimulus money that also are lobbying for Obama’s energy policy.
“It’s alarming that many of the remaining corporate members of the United States Climate Action Partnership – a cap-and-trade lobbying group – such as General Electric, Duke Energy, NextEra Energy, Exelon, and Honeywell all received economic stimulus funds. It seems pushing Obama’s agenda has financial rewards. The coordinated effort between big government and big business threatens our free enterprise system,” said Tom Borelli, Ph.D., director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project.
General Electric seems to be a chief beneficiary of stimulus funds, (and was a major contributor to Obama's campaign) with federal money being given to many of its businesses. As noted in a 2009 Wall Street Journal story, ‘General Electric Pursues Pot of Stimulus Gold,’ GE CEO Jeff Immelt geared up his lobbying army to exploit President Obama’s economic stimulus package.
“Immelt hit the jackpot with Obama’s stimulus funds. According to null, GE is the recipient of over $49 million in grants and contracts from a wide range of government departments including Energy, Defense, Justice, and Health and Human Services. Not only did GE get direct support, the company will likely benefit from the hundreds of millions of dollars that went to GE’s utility customers – Duke Energy, NextEra Energy and Exelon. Looting public funds for profit appears to be a primary business strategy adopted by Immelt,” added Tom Borelli.
A renewable energy mandate is the latest energy policy being proposed in Congress. Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Sam Brownback (R-KS) recently introduced a renewable energy standard bill in the Senate that mandates 15 percent of electricity must be derived from energy sources such as wind and solar power by 2021.
“With cap-and-trade apparently dead in the Senate, Obama and his big business allies may push a renewable energy standard as a fallback position during the lame-duck session in Congress. The renewable electricity mandate would be an incremental step towards Obama’s energy goals,” said Deneen Borelli, full-time fellow of the National Center-sponsored African-American leadership group Project 21.
“A renewable electricity requirement will benefit GE since it will force utilities to buy wind and solar power products that the company makes, but it will harm our economy. Electricity prices will increase, leading to a loss of manufacturing jobs,” added Deneen Borelli.
Visit the National Center for Public Policy Research‘s website at: www.NationalCenter.org.
http://floydreports.com/?p=2422
Posted on October 8, 2010 by Guest Writer
On Thursday, policy experts from the National Center for Public Policy Research are calling attention to corporate special interest groups receiving stimulus money that also are lobbying for Obama’s energy policy.
“It’s alarming that many of the remaining corporate members of the United States Climate Action Partnership – a cap-and-trade lobbying group – such as General Electric, Duke Energy, NextEra Energy, Exelon, and Honeywell all received economic stimulus funds. It seems pushing Obama’s agenda has financial rewards. The coordinated effort between big government and big business threatens our free enterprise system,” said Tom Borelli, Ph.D., director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project.
General Electric seems to be a chief beneficiary of stimulus funds, (and was a major contributor to Obama's campaign) with federal money being given to many of its businesses. As noted in a 2009 Wall Street Journal story, ‘General Electric Pursues Pot of Stimulus Gold,’ GE CEO Jeff Immelt geared up his lobbying army to exploit President Obama’s economic stimulus package.
“Immelt hit the jackpot with Obama’s stimulus funds. According to null, GE is the recipient of over $49 million in grants and contracts from a wide range of government departments including Energy, Defense, Justice, and Health and Human Services. Not only did GE get direct support, the company will likely benefit from the hundreds of millions of dollars that went to GE’s utility customers – Duke Energy, NextEra Energy and Exelon. Looting public funds for profit appears to be a primary business strategy adopted by Immelt,” added Tom Borelli.
A renewable energy mandate is the latest energy policy being proposed in Congress. Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Sam Brownback (R-KS) recently introduced a renewable energy standard bill in the Senate that mandates 15 percent of electricity must be derived from energy sources such as wind and solar power by 2021.
“With cap-and-trade apparently dead in the Senate, Obama and his big business allies may push a renewable energy standard as a fallback position during the lame-duck session in Congress. The renewable electricity mandate would be an incremental step towards Obama’s energy goals,” said Deneen Borelli, full-time fellow of the National Center-sponsored African-American leadership group Project 21.
“A renewable electricity requirement will benefit GE since it will force utilities to buy wind and solar power products that the company makes, but it will harm our economy. Electricity prices will increase, leading to a loss of manufacturing jobs,” added Deneen Borelli.
Visit the National Center for Public Policy Research‘s website at: www.NationalCenter.org.
http://floydreports.com/?p=2422
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