Charles Wilson Partied At Health Care Lobbyists’ Townhouse
U.S. Representative Charles Wilson counts himself as a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of right wing Democrats who maneuvered to significantly delay health care reform legislation earlier this year, enabling Republican attacks that resulted in a profoundly weakened bill that almost certainly won’t provide a public option. Insurance companies and other businesses in the health care industry stand to benefit significantly from the prevention of strong reform. Blue Dog Democrats have benefited as well – from money given to them by lobbyists working for the health care industry.
To see how this works, consider the role of the Strategic Health Care townhouse in congressional fundraising last year. Strategic Health Care is just one lobbying firm among a huge number that represented insurance companies, pharmaceuticals corporations, and other members of the health care industry, in 2009. But at the townhouse owned by Strategic Health Care at 230 2nd Street in Washington D.C., there were at least 36 fundraising events for members of Congress last year.
At one of these events, on the evening of December 10, Blue Dog Charlie Wilson went to the Strategic Health Care offices, and there met with people carrying checks for between $500 and $5,000. Indeed, Representative’s Wilson’s campaign representatives sent out messages telling people to come bringing money. An invitation “authorized by Friends of Charlie Wilson” specifically suggested that representatives of political action committees could have special status at the event by bringing $5,000 for Representative Wilson.
What did these people get for their money? According to the invitation, they got “Cocktails, Hors d’oeuvres, and discussion”. $500 for snacks? $5,000 for a drink? No, what attending lobbyists and representatives of political action committees were paying for was discussion – on the ideas their corporate clients can profit from, with Congressman Wilson and his aides. In general, they say that talk is cheap, but when the talk is with a member of Congress like Charles Wilson, it turns out to be very expensive.
Thanks again to the Sunlight Foundation for gathering the invitations that help to bring events like this into public view.
