NPR had a relatively objective and therefore devastating item on Max this afternoon. Covered his close ties with health industry lobbyists and the big bucks he gets from the industry. One point they made: only 13 percent of his campaign contributions come from inside his home state, Montana, more than 50 percent from special interests. Another point: Five of his former staffers, including two former chiefs of staff, are now lobbyists for the industry.
From the NPR report:
Paul Blumenthal, a writer for the nonpartisan watchdog the Sunlight Foundation, mapped Baucus' network of influence. (You can see the "Baucus influence map" at left).
"We have Max Baucus, who represents a single node, as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee," Blumenthal explains. On his computer screen, lines radiate from Baucus to five of his former Senate staffers. Two of them served as chief of staff to Baucus, the top job in his Senate office.
All five now lobby Congress for various interests. Among their clients: drugmakers Wyeth, Merck, Amgen and AstraZeneca, plus the third-largest corporation in the world, Wal-Mart.
They don't stop with Baucus. They use him as an example of Congress' conflicts of interest:
Backing up the access is money — and that puts Baucus at the heart of Congress' ethical conflict.
Baucus And Fundraising
Lawmakers have two constituencies: one, the voters back home; the other, the people and interests that finance much of their re-election campaigns. These donors often live out of state.
When Baucus ran for his sixth term last year, his campaign raised $11.6 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Nearly half of the funds came from out-of-state donors, including millions from health care and other industries overseen by Finance and Baucus' other committees.
Just 13 percent of Baucus' re-election funds came from Montana donors.
In all, it is great to listen to.
Listen here.
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=106655060&m=106894646
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