Catastrophe - Dick Morris [101]
And Alston & Bird is involved in high-stakes legislation. To get a sense of the kind of legislative activity the firm engages in, look at some of the health care “successes” it describes on its site:
Representing clients with public policy concerns demands firsthand knowledge of the policy-making process and those in the position of making policy decisions. Alston & Bird has a proven track record of achieving policy success, as well as protecting the interest of clients. The following are a few recent examples of ways in which we delivered successfully for our clients:
Secured authority for vaccine administration reimbursement for a Medicare Part D vaccine
Protected numerous at-risk clients from billions of dollars in proposed payment reductions in recent Medicare legislation
Developed strategy for a privately held company with annual revenues upward of $2 billion that sought new indications for approved medical imaging contrast agents and explored regulatory pathways for combination drug-device products that would deliver contrast agents
Secured increased payment of more than $400 million for certain clients that provide Medicare services to beneficiaries with chronic health conditions
Garnered positive legislative changes for two out of only three health care providers in a bill that extracted $50 billion in payment decreases to other health care providers349
These “successes” were no minor achievements. They involved highly complicated issues that required not just “policy advice” but knowledge, skill, and—most of all—connections. But wouldn’t any such assignment create a conflict of interest for Daschle?
Did the Obama people ignore this glaring potential conflict of interest, or did they just not get it? It’s hard to imagine that they failed to understand the problem.
To get a sense of just how pervasive the health care business is at the firm, here’s a breakdown of the lobbying fees paid to Alston & Bird in 2008:
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ALSTON & BIRD
2008 Total Lobbying Income: $8,080,000 Health Care Interests: $4,735,000
Source: Center for Responsive Politics and lobbying disclosure documents.
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Daschle’s nomination was quickly withdrawn—but not because of his stealth-lobbying experience. Rather, it was because of his failure to declare $182,000 in income. But his financial disclosure form does provide an interesting window into the lucrative world of stealth lobbyists. For a complete view of his disclosure, see http://pfds.opensecrets.org/N00004583_2008_Nom.pdf.
According to Daschle’s January 2009 report, during the previous two years he received $2.1 million in wages from Alston & Bird—for part-time work! And he sure must have delivered, because during the same time period he was also paid $2,108,760 by InterMedia, a private equity firm that supplied the $182,000 car and driver that caused his tax problems. It’s not clear what he did for InterMedia, but it certainly paid well.
But that’s not all. Daschle was a very busy man. In addition to the $4.2 million he collected in wages, bonuses, and consultant fees, during this period he made another $491,775 in director’s fees for firms such as the Freedom Forum, BP, and others. And he took in another $390,000 for speech making.
This was quite a change for Tom Daschle. In 2004, as majority leader, Daschle made around $165,000 a year. It sure pays to have “congressional leader” on your résumé!
Daschle still contends he’s not a lobbyist. But are we really supposed to believe that high-paying special interests paid millions to Daschle and Alston & Bird for civics lessons on the legislative process?
That seems doubtful. What such clients want—and what Alston & Bird explicitly offers—is access to power and decision makers. If what Daschle has been doing isn’t considered lobbying, it should be.
It’s time for the stealth lobbyists to stand up and be counted.
GEORGE MITCHELL, FRIEND OF DUBAI
The world of stealth lobbying has also been a professional home for another former Senate majority leader: George Mitchell. The man who’s become Barack