Insurance Companies That Lobbied for PPACA

According to a study by “The Center for Public Policy”, a non-partisan public interest think tank in Washington D.C., it is estimated that a record $120 million was spent lobbying for health reform.  In addition to direct lobbying, some of the top firms also rewarded members of Congress with campaign contributions through political action committees and individual lobbyist donations.  The largest of these firms, Patton Boggs LLP, contributed more than $55,000 almost exclusively to Democrats.

Patton Boggs represents Bristol-Myers Squibb, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the nation and the eighth largest corporation in the United States.  The other top firms that participated (along with a list of the companies they represent) are as follows:

Capitol Hill Strategies:

Amgen—the nation’s largest biotechnology firm
BIO—a multi-million dollar biotechnology firm
Merck—the largest pharmaceutical company in the world
Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America [PHARMA] – a trade group representing pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies

Grover Park Group:

Blue Cross—a federation of 39 health insurance organizations
Pfizer—a pharmaceutical company, ranking number one in sales in the world
Duberstein Group:

Novartis—a pharmaceutical company ranking number one in revenues and three in sales
Sanofi-Aventis—a pharmaceutical company that ranks number four in sales worldwide

Mehlman, Vogel, Castagnetti:

Humana—the fourth largest health insurance company in the United States
Abbott Laboratories—a multi-billion dollar pharmaceuticals healthcare company
General Electric—multi-billion dollar corporation dealing in many health related sectors

Elmendorf strategies:

UnitedHealth Group—the nation’s largest health insurance company

Heather Podesta & Partners:

Cigna—the nation’s fifth largest health insurance company
Eli Lilly—a multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company that ranks tenth in sales

Of the over 17,000 lobbyists in Washington D.C., The Center for Public Integrity ranks Patton Boggs as numero uno.  In terms of healthcare reform, they are followed by Alston and Bird, who represent Aetna, the nation’s third largest health insurer.  Coming in at number three is Foley Hoag, who also represents Pfizer as well as Eli Lilly, Amgen and Merck.  Tied for fourth place are Podesta Group and Capitol partners.  Dutko Worldwide rounds out the top five and they also lobbied for UnitedHealth, PhRMA, and medical device firm Medtronic Inc.

Of those lobbying firms’ big name clients, Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America alone spent $26.1 million lobbying for Obamacare in 2009, making it the single most expensive lobbying effort in history.  During the week leading up to the vote on the legislation, PhRMA launched a multi-million dollar ad blitz in 43 districts of potential swing Democrats to help secure passage.  And in this election cycle, PhRMA has contributed $30,300 to Dem’s compared to $13,000 to Repub’s.  Overall, PhRMA has spent well over $100 million on ad campaigns promoting health care reform legislation.  According to his bio, PhRMA’s outgoing CEO Billy Tauzin ”was a key player in 2009 healthcare reform negotiations that produced pharmaceutical industry support for White House and Senate efforts. Reportedly, proposals for Medicare Part D cost reductions and permitting drug importation from Canada were dropped in favor of $80 billion in other savings.” He helped write the bill.

The largest health insurance providers in the nation are UnitedHealth Group, WellPoint, Aetna, Humana and Cigna.   Ever since the healthcare debate began over a year ago, shares of Cigna, UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint have been up an average of 120%. Upon passage of the bill, health insurer’s stocks soared with Aetna hitting a 52 week high.  The share price of Cigna surged 375% compared to 46% for the stock market overall (as measured by the S&P 500) since November 2008.   It should be noted that Aetna has been a major supporter and campaign contributor to the campaigns of Max Baucus (D-MT) of the Senate Finance Committee who received $56,250 in donations and Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) who received $110,000.   Todd M. Schoenberger, Managing Editor of  “Taipan’s Tipping Point Alert” wrote recently that “One day following a vote in favor of healthcare reform legislation, stocks turned higher led by the healthcare sector. Despite the concern of many Wall Street analysts, any negative sentiment surrounding the healthcare sector about higher taxes and pressure on bottom lines quickly subsided as everything from managed care to medical device stocks traded higher with heavy volume.”

Hospital shares also surged. The day after the House passed the bill, shares of Health Management Associates, Tenet Healthcare and Community Health Systems all jumped 11%, 9%, and 6% respectively.

It should be clear by now that the major players in the healthcare industry overwhelmingly lobbied in support of Obamacare and have and will continue to reap vast rewards.  So then you may ask who exactly is this great villain the Democrats have dubbed as the evil “health insurance industry”?  The name that consistently comes up is America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).  “America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) is a national political advocacy and trade association with about 1,300 member companies that sell health insurance coverage to more than 200 million Americans and is thereby funded by the premiums they pay.” AHIP representatives attended meetings at the White House and Congress and were instrumental in negotiating language in the bill.

This was an insurance company bill.

Black Leaders on the 2nd Amendment

As a life-long democrat, I can say this: It was the Democratic Party that was bent on maintaining slavery. It was the brand-spankin' new GOP who opposed slavery. They were pejoratively called, "Dixie-crats", not to say that all democrats supported slavery. View this and see what some black leaders say about the 2nd Amendment. Be assured, these folks are not just whistlin' Dixie--they may actually be informed, unlike most in my party:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RABZq5IoaQ

Are You Available?

Check out the meanings of a ring, fan, flowers, trinkets, etc. in our early history. I'll bet you did not know this. I know I did not. Maury Co., TN newspapers, provided by my cousin, Turner Matthews.

Bi-Partisanship at It's Best

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2014/feb/15/obama-and-boehner-congratulate-us-mens-hockey-3-2-/  Now that right there is some fine bi-partisanship. How can it be that it has taken this long :-)

Rules for the Non-Military

Rules for the Non-Military -- (Make sure you read #13 twice) 

Dear Civilians, we know that the current state of affairs in our great 
nation has many civilians up in arms and excited to join the military. 
For those of you who can't join, you can still lend a hand. Here are 
a few of the areas where we would like your assistance: 

1. The next time you see any adults talking (or wearing a hat) during 
the playing of the National Anthem - kick their ass. 

2. When you witness, firsthand, someone burning the American Flag in 
protest - kick their ass. 

3. Regardless of the rank they held while they served, pay the highest 
amount of respect to all veterans. If you see anyone doing otherwise, 
quietly pull them aside and explain how these veterans fought for the 
very freedom they bask in every second. Enlighten them on the many 
sacrifices these veterans made to make this Nation great. Then hold 
them down while a disabled veteran kicks their ass. 

4. If you were never in the military, DO NOT pretend that you were. 
Wearing battle dress uniforms (BDUs) or Jungle Fatigues, telling 
others that you used to be 'Special Forces'. Collecting GI Joe 
memorabilia might have been okay when you were seven years old, but 
now it will only make you look stupid and get your ass kicked. 

5. Next time you come across an Air Force member, do not ask them, 'Do 
you fly a jet? Not everyone in the Air Force is a pilot. Such 
ignorance deserves an ass-kicking (children are exempt). 

6. If you witness someone calling the Coast Guard 'non-military', 
inform them of their mistake - and kick their ass. 

7. Next time Old Glory (the US flag) prances by during a parade, get 
on your damn feet and pay homage to her by placing your hand over your 
heart. This includes arrogant politicians who think someone may be 
offended as they stand there with their hands folded over their 
crotch. Quietly thank the military member or veteran lucky enough to 
be carrying her - of course, failure to do either of those could earn 
you a severe ass-kicking. 

9. 'Your mama wears combat boots' never made sense to me - stop saying 
it! If she did, she would most likely be a vet and therefore would 
kick your ass! 

10. 'Flyboy' (Air Force), 'Jarhead' (Marines), 'Grunt' (Army), 'Squid' 
(Navy), 'Puddle Jumpers'(Coast Guard), Bubblehead (Subsailor), etc., 
are terms of endearment we use describing each other. Unless you are 
a service member or vet, you have not earned the right to use them. 
Using them could get your ass kicked. 

11. Last, but not least, whether or not you become a member of the 
military, support our troops and their families. Every Thanksgiving 
and religious holiday that you enjoy with family and friends, please 
remember that there are literally thousands of soldiers, sailors, 
marines and airmen far from home wishing they could be with their 
families. Thank God for our military and the sacrifices they make 
every day. Without them, our country would get its ass kicked. 

12. It's the Veteran, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom 
of the press. It's the Veteran, not the poet, who has given us the 
freedom of speech. It's the Veteran, not the community organizer, 
who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. 

It's the Military who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, 
and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to 
burn the flag. 

13. If you ever see anyone singing the national anthem in Spanish - 
KICK THEIR ASS.

Cracker

The term "Cracker" in this country is different than what we might think we know. The original "cowboys" in the USA were from Florida, following the Spanish introduction of cattle there. Their descendants still have huge cattle ranches today in northern and central Florida. In fact, the largest cattle ranch in the USA is in Florida today. The "cowboys" use dogs and a whip, aka cow whip. It is the "crack of the whip" sound that led to the term "Cracker". It may mean different things in different parts of the South but this is how it began. Now you know, Crackas :-)

Christ or Christmas in Greek - One of Our Root Languages

In Eastern Christianity [Orthodox], the most widely used “Christogram” is a four-letter abbreviation, ΙϹΧϹ — a traditional abbreviation of the Greek words for "Jesus Christ" (i.e., the first and last letters of each of the words ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ — written "ΙΗϹΟΥϹ ΧΡΙϹΤΟϹ" with the lunate sigma [Σ], "Ϲ", common in medieval Greek).

Those of you who were in a sorority or fraternity that really studied the Greek letters would be familiar with this, as I was.

I = Iota

H = Theta

Σ = Sigma

O = Omicron

Y = Upsilon

Σ = Sigma

X = Chi

P = Rho

I = Iota

Σ = Sigma

T = Tau

I became aware many years ago of the “XMAS” actually being a Greek derivation of Christmas, the “X” being the short abbreviation of “Christos”. It is seen often in Greek icons as “XC” = Chi Sigma, or “Christos”.

Such an abbreviation was never meant to offend, in my opinion. It is important to note that our language developed due to the various Biblical translations—Coelbren to Aramaic to Greek to Latin and finally, the King’s English [James]. Greek is our root language which devolved from Coelbren and Aramaic as did the very ancient Old Welsh.

In my study of my family history, I had to become very familiar with Old Welsh and had already been hammered with Greek, due to being a “Frat Rat”.