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UnitedHealth Lobbyist Announces Pelosi Fundraiser As She Begins Backing Off Public Option
Sep 12, 2009
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the first time yesterday suggested she may be backing off her support of the public option. According to CNN,
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "said they would support
any provision that increases competition and accessibility for health
insurance - whether or not it is the public option favored by most Democrats."
When "asked if inclusion of a public option was a non-negotiable demand
- as her previous statements had indicated Pelosi ruled out any
non-negotiable positions," according to CNN. This was also corroborated by the Associated Press, and by Pelosi's own words, as quoted in those stories.
This announcement came just hours before Steve Elmendorf, a registered UnitedHealth lobbyist
and the head of UnitedHealth's lobbying firm Elmendorf Strategies,
blasted this email invitation throughout Washington, D.C. I just
happened to get my hands on a copy of the invitation from a source -
check out this OpenLeft exclusive:
From: Steve Elmendorf [mailto:steve@elmendorfstrategies.com]
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 8:31 AM
Subject: event with Speaker Pelosi at my homeYou are cordially invited to a reception with
Speaker of the House
Nancy PelosiThursday, September 24, 2009
6:30pm ~ 8:00pmAt the home of
Steve Elmendorf
2301 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Apt. 7B
Washington, D.C.$5,000 PAC
$2,400 IndividualTo RSVP or for additional information please contact
Carmela Clendening at (202) 485-3508 or clendening@dccc.orgSteve Elmendorf
ELMENDORF STRATEGIES
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS SOLUTIONS
900 7th Street NW Suite 750 Washington DC 20001
(202) 737-1655
Again, Elmendorf is a registered lobbyist for UnitedHealth, and his firm's website brags about its work for UnitedHealth on its website (Elmendorf was also a chief of staff for Democratic Minority Leader Dick Gephardt).
The sequencing here is important: Pelosi makes her announcement
and then just hours later, the fundraising invitation goes out.
Coincidental? I'm guessing no - these things rarely ever are.
I wrote a book a few years ago called Hostile Takeover
whose premise was that corruption and legalized bribery has become so
widespread that nobody in Washington even tries to hide it. This is
about as good an example of that truism as I've ever seen.
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David Sirota
David Sirota is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author living in Denver, Colorado. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his work helping create the story for the film DON'T LOOK UP, which became one of the most widely viewed movies in Netflix's history. He is the founder and editor of The Daily Poster, an editor at large at Jacobin Magazine and a columnist at The Guardian. He served as Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign speechwriter in 2020. Sirota is the author of "Back to Our Future" and "Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government--And How We Take It Back". His website: www.davidsirota.com.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the first time yesterday suggested she may be backing off her support of the public option. According to CNN,
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "said they would support
any provision that increases competition and accessibility for health
insurance - whether or not it is the public option favored by most Democrats."
When "asked if inclusion of a public option was a non-negotiable demand
- as her previous statements had indicated Pelosi ruled out any
non-negotiable positions," according to CNN. This was also corroborated by the Associated Press, and by Pelosi's own words, as quoted in those stories.
This announcement came just hours before Steve Elmendorf, a registered UnitedHealth lobbyist
and the head of UnitedHealth's lobbying firm Elmendorf Strategies,
blasted this email invitation throughout Washington, D.C. I just
happened to get my hands on a copy of the invitation from a source -
check out this OpenLeft exclusive:
From: Steve Elmendorf [mailto:steve@elmendorfstrategies.com]
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 8:31 AM
Subject: event with Speaker Pelosi at my homeYou are cordially invited to a reception with
Speaker of the House
Nancy PelosiThursday, September 24, 2009
6:30pm ~ 8:00pmAt the home of
Steve Elmendorf
2301 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Apt. 7B
Washington, D.C.$5,000 PAC
$2,400 IndividualTo RSVP or for additional information please contact
Carmela Clendening at (202) 485-3508 or clendening@dccc.orgSteve Elmendorf
ELMENDORF STRATEGIES
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS SOLUTIONS
900 7th Street NW Suite 750 Washington DC 20001
(202) 737-1655
Again, Elmendorf is a registered lobbyist for UnitedHealth, and his firm's website brags about its work for UnitedHealth on its website (Elmendorf was also a chief of staff for Democratic Minority Leader Dick Gephardt).
The sequencing here is important: Pelosi makes her announcement
and then just hours later, the fundraising invitation goes out.
Coincidental? I'm guessing no - these things rarely ever are.
I wrote a book a few years ago called Hostile Takeover
whose premise was that corruption and legalized bribery has become so
widespread that nobody in Washington even tries to hide it. This is
about as good an example of that truism as I've ever seen.
David Sirota
David Sirota is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author living in Denver, Colorado. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his work helping create the story for the film DON'T LOOK UP, which became one of the most widely viewed movies in Netflix's history. He is the founder and editor of The Daily Poster, an editor at large at Jacobin Magazine and a columnist at The Guardian. He served as Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign speechwriter in 2020. Sirota is the author of "Back to Our Future" and "Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government--And How We Take It Back". His website: www.davidsirota.com.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the first time yesterday suggested she may be backing off her support of the public option. According to CNN,
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "said they would support
any provision that increases competition and accessibility for health
insurance - whether or not it is the public option favored by most Democrats."
When "asked if inclusion of a public option was a non-negotiable demand
- as her previous statements had indicated Pelosi ruled out any
non-negotiable positions," according to CNN. This was also corroborated by the Associated Press, and by Pelosi's own words, as quoted in those stories.
This announcement came just hours before Steve Elmendorf, a registered UnitedHealth lobbyist
and the head of UnitedHealth's lobbying firm Elmendorf Strategies,
blasted this email invitation throughout Washington, D.C. I just
happened to get my hands on a copy of the invitation from a source -
check out this OpenLeft exclusive:
From: Steve Elmendorf [mailto:steve@elmendorfstrategies.com]
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 8:31 AM
Subject: event with Speaker Pelosi at my homeYou are cordially invited to a reception with
Speaker of the House
Nancy PelosiThursday, September 24, 2009
6:30pm ~ 8:00pmAt the home of
Steve Elmendorf
2301 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Apt. 7B
Washington, D.C.$5,000 PAC
$2,400 IndividualTo RSVP or for additional information please contact
Carmela Clendening at (202) 485-3508 or clendening@dccc.orgSteve Elmendorf
ELMENDORF STRATEGIES
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS SOLUTIONS
900 7th Street NW Suite 750 Washington DC 20001
(202) 737-1655
Again, Elmendorf is a registered lobbyist for UnitedHealth, and his firm's website brags about its work for UnitedHealth on its website (Elmendorf was also a chief of staff for Democratic Minority Leader Dick Gephardt).
The sequencing here is important: Pelosi makes her announcement
and then just hours later, the fundraising invitation goes out.
Coincidental? I'm guessing no - these things rarely ever are.
I wrote a book a few years ago called Hostile Takeover
whose premise was that corruption and legalized bribery has become so
widespread that nobody in Washington even tries to hide it. This is
about as good an example of that truism as I've ever seen.
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