To list just some, the PhRMA-backed Blue Dogs: -demanded a vote first on industry-favored infrastructure bill in 2021, sinking Build Back Better Act -voted against prescription drug pricing reforms in committee that year -blocked a public healthcare option Center Forward is led by lobbyists:
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David Moore
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Your points are inaccurate. There were bundling programs in the 2020 prez primary. Some candidates like Buttigieg, Biden, Harris, etc. used them. It matters to be accurate. Generally we cover bundling in detail for campaign groups, and super PACs. Hope you’ll get our coverage of lobbyist influence:
Not sure if you mean "bundlers" by its technical definition, b/c Warren didn't have such a program in 2020. As for the super PAC backing her with $14M, yes I encourage folks to read Ryan Grim's book "The Squad" on the primary. What's more, we analyzed a large dataset covering first half of 2019:
good news, I wrote a 2019 post surveying two academic studies on how Buttigieg's argument was incorrect (plus more firsthand testimony from lifers). Campaign contributions from lobbyists, like Buttigieg's bundlers, leads to later legislative access and preferential policy outcomes. Free to read:
Haley Stevens was treated to a five-star trip to Portugal by PhRMA-funded Center Forward. Progressive rival Abdul El-Sayed champions Medicare for All. The father of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who endorsed Stevens, was former CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Story from 2018 by Alex Kotch:
Carville has been soaking up appearances on Fox News, Newsmax, and Beltway media by attacking the left and arguing Dems shouldn't seat democratic socialists. He hasn't mentioned he was senior adviser to a corporate lobbying firm that was paid at least half a million dollars by the crypto industry.
The Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act, intro'd August 2018, would have created an independent ethics agency w/ new subpoena powers that could investigate West Wing staff who participated in any "official act" quid-pro-quo. Other advisers covered too. Dems have never given the bill a hearing.
The narrower Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act (which doesn't cover all federal officials and senior legislative staff) was included in H.R. 1 (117th), but as expected the For the People Act was filibustered to death by Senate GOP. Different leaders might have carved-out ethics bills in rules.
Mona Charen and The Bulwark pretend to care about democracy as they rake in dough from liberals. The WI GOP she supported gerrymandered districts so egregiously that in 2018 when Dems won 53% of votes statewide, they got only 36% of Assembly seats. By one measure, the worst districts ever studied: