We Know About Carol. What About the Others?

The Silence is Deafening (0.00 / 0)

This question has been hanging out there a long time, unanswered.

Either no one knows the answer, or people know but don't want to say.

But don't the citizens deserve to know the answer?

Let's hear from some candidate committees. If they are taking insurance industry money, by all means tell us why we should not be concerned.  

No'm Sayn?

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by: BurtCohen @ Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 08:10:03 AM CST

Burt... (0.00 / 0)

Most likely no one knows, so why don't you pick up the phone and call them?  If this is an issue for you, wouldn't it be more productive to let the candidates know directly, as opposed to being grumpy about it here?  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 10:39:44 AM CST

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too long for acronym ? (0.00 / 0)

"wouldn't it be more productive to let the candidates know directly, as opposed to being grumpy about it here?"

wibmptltckdaotbgaih?

for transparency sake ~I represent Union print shops

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by: JonnyBBad @ Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 11:18:55 AM CST

[ Parent ]

How about... (4.00 / 1)

Burt, Ask Them Yourself?  BATY!



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 11:21:32 AM CST

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A good place to start (4.00 / 1)

The numbers are out there: http://www.opensecrets.org/rac...

Whack-a-mole, anyone?

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 11:02:27 AM CST

Or. . . (4.00 / 1)

www.fec.gov

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by: Dartmouth Dem @ Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 11:22:48 AM CST

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Tough to monitor (4.00 / 1)

Reminds me of a discussion back in the day of the 2008 NH presidential primary; Edwards and now President Obama refused to take federal lobbyist contributions, and Senator now Secretary Clinton did. However, both Edwards and President Obama accepted donations from people who worked for lobbying outfits - like lawyers at firms with lobbying practices - and also from folks who worked at large corporations that hire lobbyists (the financial industry, for example).

How many degrees of separation do you require? I appreciate the effort to dampen the influence of the industry (or any indsutry), but a lot of this turns into hair splitting. If the health insurance industry donates to any affiliated caucuses, does that mean the candidates can't accept help from those caucuses? If someone who works for say, Anthem, who believes in reform, donates to someone, does that have to be returned?  Or if the spouse of someone who works for an insurer?  

 



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 11:37:10 AM CST

Lobbyists are now banned (0.00 / 0)

In the Trans Pacific trade deal now in the early stages of development for the first time the Obama Administration has set new rules, which disallow the appointmebnt of lobbyists to study committees.

http://thehill.com/business-a-...
White House lobbying rules could hurt smaller trade groups, leaders say
By Kevin Bogardus - 10/01/09 05:01 PM ET

Leaders at smaller trade groups worry they could be particularly hurt by a new White House ban on lobbyists serving on advisory committees.

They argue that their organizations do not have the staff or the money to hire more employees to get around the new rule. Executives at these associations often do double duty, managing the trade group and lobbying on their industry's behalf.

but it is only a 'suggestion'

http://thehill.com/business-a-...
The president's memo is only guidance to agencies and, ultimately, it is the decision of the agency heads whether to follow it or not. But some agencies have begun to ask panel members to submit additional statements in writing to prove they are not lobbyists now and will not be during their participation on an advisory board. The outreach suggests the latest restriction on K Street has teeth.

for transparency sake ~I represent Union print shops

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by: JonnyBBad @ Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 11:47:14 AM CST

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Good Lobbyists (0.00 / 0)

I remember well. :v)

Twice in the debate, Sen. John Edwards challenged his fellow candidates to refuse to accept contributions from federal lobbyists. The second time he brought up this demand, the narrator, Matt Bai, asked Clinton whether she'd continue to take money from lobbyists.

"I will," she said.

"A lot of those lobbyists whether you like it not, represent real Americans," she said. "They represent nurses, social workers" -- here the audience began to boo -- "and yes, they represent corporations and they employ a lot of people." "I just... I just ask you to look at my record." Never, she said, in her 35 years of public service, had she bowed to the will of a lobbyist. But she would not change her mind.

From Paul Hodes:

Along with Democratic Reps. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and Tom Perriello of Virginia and Republican Reps. John Campbell of California and Jeff Flake of Arizona, I have introduced the CLEAR Act (Clean Law for Earmark Accountability Reform Act) to put my own personal policy into law. It would ban congressional campaigns from accepting contributions from any senior executive or registered lobbyist representing an entity for which the member of congress has requested earmarked federal funding in that election cycle.

This is a matter of right and wrong. It is wrong that legislators request earmarks for companies or organizations and then turn around and take campaign contributions from the very same entities. This legislation may not be the whole answer, but it is the right step to restore public trust in the system.

A thorough investigation of ties between campaign contributions and earmarks will allow Congress to start to reform these practices. But we should go further and sever the link for good. We need to restore the trust and bond between the people and their government.

Whack-a-mole, anyone?

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Tue Jan 05, 2010 at 11:50:27 AM CST

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