The U.S. Chamber of Commerce astonished even the most jadedWashington-watchers last year when it reported spending nearly $150million on lobbying. The figure obliterated all previous records andcemented the chamber's reputation as Capitol Hill's most formidablelobbying force.
But it turns out that a lot of that money came from an injectionof funds from another lobbying powerhouse: America's HealthInsurance Plans.
The private insurers' group gave $86.2 million toward thechamber's media and lobbying blitz against President Obama's health-care legislation in 2009 even as it was pledging general support forthe idea of reform, according to tax records and sources familiarwith the gift.
The donation made AHIP the chamber's single largest funder in2009, accounting for about 40 percent of the business lobby's $205million in contributions that year, records show.
'These contributions supported the chamber's efforts to advance amarket-based health-care system and advocate for fundamental reformthat would improve access to quality care while lowering costs forall Americans,' chamber spokesman Tom Collamore said in a statement.'We did this through public opinion polling, nationwide grassroots,national advertising, events throughout the country and significantearned media outreach.'
The chamber, which is organized as a nonprofit group, reportedthe donation as part of its annual financial report to the InternalRevenue Service, which does not require public disclosure of thedonors. AHIP's identity as the donor, first reported by BloombergNews, was confirmed by sources familiar with the transaction.
It was always clear that AHIP and the chamber were united infighting against Obama's health-care plan, particularly a proposed'public insurance option' that would have competed with privateinsurers. But the new IRS filing illustrates the extent of thebusiness lobby's alliance with AHIP, whose members include insurancegiants such as UnitedHealthcare, Cigna and Aetna.
Christy Setzer of U.S. Chamber Watch, a labor-backed groupopposed to the chamber, said the business lobby 'has given up theright to call themselves the voice of American business; they arethe voice of the insurance industry.'
'Insurers gave the chamber 86 million reasons to lie to smallbusinesses about the benefits of health-care reform, and the chamberdidn't let their CEO friends down,' Setzer said.
AHIP spokesman Robert Zirkelbach declined to comment on spendingdetails but said the group opposed a public-insurance option becauseit would have hurt existing policy holders.
'With so much at stake, we, like other major stakeholders,invested in advocacy,' Zirkelbach said in a statement. 'We supporteda number of leading health-care advocacy organizations andcoalitions that shared our views.'
Times might be tough for most Americans but not for the well-heeled lawmakers in Congress.
The personal wealth of members of Congress collectively increasedby 16 percent between 2008 and 2009, even as the economic downturneliminated millions of jobs for ordinary Americans, according to astudy by the Center for Responsive Politics released Wednesday.
In the House, the study found, the median wealth was $765,010, upfrom $645,503 in 2008. In the Senate, median wealth grew from $2.27million in 2008 to $2.38 million in 2009.
The new data come as lawmakers consider whether to extend taxcuts for couples making $250,000 or more - a move that presumablywould benefit many of the members. The Obama administration wants toconfine the tax breaks to earnings under $250,000, although it hassignaled it might be open to a compromise with Republicans on theissue.
Lawmakers are required only to list ranges of wealth in thepersonal financial disclosures they file each May. The center usedaverages between the minimum and maximum numbers to estimate eachmember's holdings; it used a median measurement for each chamber asa whole.
The researchers at CRP also identified 251 millionaires inCongress, including eight lawmakers worth $10 million or more.
The top three on the list were Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), withholdings exceeding $303.5 million; Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), with$293.4 million; and Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) at $238.8 million.
'Few federal lawmakers must grapple with the financial ills -unemployment, loss of housing, wiped out savings - that havebefallen millions of Americans,' said Sheila Krumholz, the center'sexecutive director.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) recently got a boost from a well-known legal mind to help pay for expenses surrounding an ethicsinvestigation of her ties to a bank that employed her husband.
Charles Ogletree, a Harvard Law School professor and author, gave$1,000 to Waters's legal expense fund, according to a disclosureform filed with House ethics officials. Ogletree said he has been afriend of Waters's for decades and traveled with her on a fewoccasions, including a trip to monitor elections in Haiti in the1990s. 'I've just been a big fan of the work that she's done oncapital punishment and on behalf of Haitians,' he said.
The donation was the lone contribution listed on Waters'sdisclosure form, which covers only September. The first fundraiserfor the fund was held last month, when several dozen other peoplecontributed, a Waters spokesman said.
eggemd@washpost.com
