14 health care groups and their lobbyists gave more than $500,000 to McConnell Page 1 of 3

Published on CREW's Most Corrupt Members of Congress (http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org)

14 health care groups and their lobbyists gave more than

$500,000 to McConnell
By James R. Carroll, The Courier-Journal

October 7, 2009

WASHINGTON — Since 2007, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has received more than
half a million dollars from 14 health-care organizations and their 127 outside lobbyists — more
than any other member of Congress except former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

That kind of concentrated bundling of donations is part of an unseen web of campaign giving,
according to a new study by the non-partisan Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive
Politics.

The two organizations said the grouping of contributions suggests that the impact of special
interests’ donations to lawmakers is amplified by the Washington lobbyists those interests employ.

“The bundles point to the people with the most juice,” said Larry Makinson, senior fellow at
Sunlight and a veteran analyst of campaign finance. McConnell is “a good example of one of the
oldest precepts in politics, which is: money follows power.”

McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who won his fifth term in the Senate last year, received
$276,050 in campaign contributions from 14 health care companies and organizations, either from
their political action committees or employees, according to the study. Their 127 outside lobbyists
donated an additional $237,722, it found.

McCain, R-Ariz., was his party’s nominee for president last year, losing to Democrat Barack
Obama. He ranked first among recipients with $427,530 in contributions from 22 health-care
organizations and an additional $473,400 from their 184 outside lobbyists.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and one of the authors of a
Democratic health care proposal, ranked third in donations both from health-care interests and their
lobbyists, with $252,750 from 11 organizations and $200,899 from their 109 outside lobbyists.

The study examined contributions to senators and House members involving companies and
organizations that had at least 10 outside lobbyists representing them in Washington who gave to
the same lawmakers as their clients did. Not included in the study were the many companies and
organizations with fewer than 10 outside lobbyists or firms with only in-house lobbyists.

The analysis covered the period starting Jan. 1, 2007 — the start of the 2008 election cycle —
through June 30, 2009.

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14 health care groups and their lobbyists gave more than $500,000 to McConnell Page 2 of 3

No other Kentucky or Indiana lawmakers were among the 61 lawmakers in the month-long
analysis, which Makinson said is the first to examine the contribution links among health care
interests and their lobbyists.

“It’s a one-two punch — that’s exactly what we’ve been seeing,” Makinson said. “You might say
this was a coincidence that all these lobbyists gave to these people. But the best definition of a
coincidence I have heard is, you weren’t watching the other half of what was going on.”

Makinson said Sunlight and the Center for Responsive Politics are assembling a larger database
that will show contribution links between all companies and lobbyists, regardless of the number of
outside lobbyists, and the amounts given to all lawmakers.

A study last month by the center found that McConnell received nearly $3.2 million from health
care interests between 1989 and 2008 — the largest amount for any area congressman or senator.

Responding to the latest study, McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer said in a statement that while
people may back the senator’s candidacy “it does not necessarily mean that he adopts their
positions.”

“Most organizations listed not only disapprove of Senator McConnell’s stance on the issue, but
they’re also running ads against his position,” Steurer said.

The Senate GOP leader has been a leading critic of the Obama administration and congressional
Democratic proposals for health care reform.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the Federation of
American Hospitals are two of the 14 organizations and companies and their lobbyists that gave to
McConnell. But those groups also are part of a coalition that is sponsoring a television ad in favor
of Obama’s health care plan.

PhRMA, the umbrella group for the pharmaceutical industry, contributed $19,200 to McConnell,
while the group’s 39 outside lobbyists gave $71,350, according to the Sunlight-CRP study.

“There’s no organized giving” involving lobbyists and the pharmaceutical group, President and
CEO Billy Tauzin, a former Republican House member from Louisiana, said in an interview.
“That’s not permitted, and we certainly don’t do that. We make our own private decisions.”

PhRMA has been supporting McConnell for a long time, Tauzin said of his former GOP colleague,
“because Mitch shares many of the principles that guide our work.”

“Our work is about maintaining a place in this world where we can continue to do our great
research and create some medicines that are great for patients in this country and around the
world,” Tauzin said.

The Federation of American Hospitals gave McConnell $11,500 and its 13 outside lobbyists gave
$22,850.

“It’s not about supporting a particular issue,” said Jeff Cohen, executive vice president of the
hospital group.

The federation has 23 hospitals in Kentucky, and that is a factor in donations to McConnell, he
said.

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14 health care groups and their lobbyists gave more than $500,000 to McConnell Page 3 of 3

“Another factor would be: does that particular member of Congress share our philosophy of the
role the free market has in health care?” Cohen said.

Amgen Inc., along with its lobbyists, was the biggest giver to McConnell, according to the study.

PhRMA was second, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield was third.

Amgen, a drug company, gave $37,000 to McConnell, while its 32 outside lobbyists contributed
$67,200. It did not respond to a request for comment.

Blue Cross, an insurance company, gave $51,000 to McConnell and its 11 outside lobbyists gave
$26,600, the study found.

Jeff Smokler, spokesman for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, said his organization
contributes to lawmakers in both political parties.

“McConnell being the Senate minority leader, we certainly have an interest in continuing to work
with him,” he said.

But Smokler added that Blue Cross does not monitor or coordinate contributions from its lobbyists.

“We have nothing to do with their contributions to anybody,” he said.

Louisville-based Humana Inc., a health insurance company, was not among those mentioned in the
study.

But Makinson said the larger database Sunlight and the CRP are assembling shows that Humana
has contributed $41,650 to McConnell since 2007, while the company’s seven outside lobbyists
have given an additional $12,100.

Humana spokesman Tom Noland said the company didn’t want to comment on the numbers in the
study until it could evaluate them.

But he said Humana does not coordinate its contributions with its outside lobbyists.

He added: “We have had a good relationship with Senator McConnell over many years.”

Reporter James R. Carroll can be reached at (202) 906-8141.

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