Baucus Message to Industry Lobbyists: 'Let the Process Work'
By John Amick
Roll Call reports that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) directed two aides to invite prominent health industry lobbyists to a private meeting on Monday with the goal of urging unity and deference to the process and warning against a campaign that could derail fragile reform discussion on Capitol Hill.
"Sources familiar with the lobbyist meeting described it as collegial, but they said Baucus’ aides made clear that any public opposition to the proposed financing of a reform package would be at their clients’ peril. The staffers’ message to K Street was clear: Tell your clients to let the process work and don’t torpedo it with advertisements, press releases and Web sites."
Twenty-five senior lobbyists were invited to the session, including former Baucus Chief of Staff Jeff Forbes of Cauthen Forbes & Williams, among others.
Another aspect of the current push for health care reform legislation is learning from past mistakes. In this particular case, it appears Baucus is, in part, looking back to 1993 and former first lady Hillary Clinton's attempt at such a overhaul of the American health care apparatus.
"The decision to proactively meet with the lobbyists isn’t being made in a vacuum. Baucus, Democratic Senate leaders and Obama are hoping to bring stakeholders in early to avoid a repeat of Clinton’s failed 1993 effort. Clinton, along with then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, was roundly criticized for negotiating a plan with a small group of insiders and expecting Congressional and downtown buy-in."
The meeting also included a rough timetable of the legislation. Sources said the aides aimed to mark up a proposal in June to meet an August floor deadline.
By
Paul Volpe
|
May 20, 2009; 11:46 AM ET
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Posted by: sauerkraut | May 20, 2009 3:17 PM | Report abuse
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The committee that Baucus chairs and, apparently, allows Grassley to co chair,has been more than fair to the same folks that torpedoed Clinton's and all other reform attempts. The hubris shown by Baucaus and others (claiming the necessity of an American solution,a transparent sop to those who would use the term Old Europe comfortably)is disturbing. Most of these people on the committee are either folks who have fought health care reform in the past or have a sclerotic view and opinions that have been rejected in the past. Worse, they have all been recipients of the insurance and pharmaceautical industries political election funding largesse. They don't have to reinvent the wheel. The health ministers of a half dozen countries that have successfully provided basic health care for half the cost of ours could give them more good advice in an afternoon than these advocates for the status quo in months. The people who have done it succuessfully know the pitfalls and the problems that implementation will cause and will be ongoing for they continue to struggle with fine tuning systems that provide more for less than ours do now. Relying on the same people who are at least partly responsible for the mess we are in is tatamount to the oft quoted definition of insanity. You know --- doing the same thing over and over and expecting--
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