Lobbying

WorldNetDaily has the exclusive: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has joined five Republican members of Congress in demanding an investigation of the Council on American-Islamic Relation’s lobbying activities, to determine whether it should lose its non-profit status. Read Coburn’s letter after the jump.

The push is on to dilute the climate change bills moving through Congress, and it’s not coming only from conservatives. Mother Jones’ Kate Sheppard reports today that 14 Senate Democrats are urging their leadership to amend the proposal to grant more free polluting permits to the coal-burning utilities that emit the most greenhouse gases. In [...]

The collision between environmental protection and coal extraction is nothing new to the Appalachian states, which are home to some of the largest coal deposits in the world. But in the middle of an unemployment crisis — and with a new administration showing signs of cracking down harshly on the destructive practice of mountaintop removal [...]

As Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) marks his line of opposition to a public insurance plan in the Democrats’ health reform bill, it’s worth noting that no industry has given more to Nelson’s congressional career than the insurers. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign contributions, insurance companies have donated nearly $1.3 million to Nelson [...]

Over a complete Republican boycott, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed its climate bill last week by a vote of 11-1. The lone dissenter was Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) — a name you’ll be hearing a lot more if you’re keeping tabs on the climate debate. Baucus chairs the powerful Finance Committee and [...]

The American Association for Justice — the trial lawyers’ lobby group — has just released an astounding statistic:  medical malpractice insurance companies’ average profits are higher than those of 99 percent of Fortune 500 companies.
As the nation remains mired in a debate over health care reform and how to keep down the costs of expanding [...]

Alexandra pointed out here last week that Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), newly promoted to head the Senate Agriculture Committee, has been raking in the dollars from Big Ag this year, tallying at least $306,500 in the past eight months alone, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That figure puts her well above anyone else [...]

As I recount in this morning’s story, the first of three days of Tea Party events in D.C. consisted of a political rally followed by direct lobbying between Tea Party activists and members of Congress — more typically, their staffs. Here is some of the material Tea Party activists got when they showed up at [...]

Since its inception, the health insurance industry has fought doctors over payments, dropped patients when they’ve gotten sick and denied coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. The tactics make perfect sense: Insurance companies aren’t designed to make people well, they’re designed to reap profits for shareholders.
Which, as Washington Post columnist Michael Kinsley points out today, [...]

When the talk of health care reform was generic — and therefore unthreatening — the insurance lobby joined a number of other powerful voices in the health care industry to announce its support. But with the Democrats pushing ever-harder to ensure the inclusion of a public plan option, the push-back is beginning to emerge. From [...]