Watchdogs: Health industry giving more to lawmaker than thought

A joint study by two political watchdog groups has found that Sen. Max Baucus -- the Montana Democrat who authored the principal health care reform bill being debated in the Senate -- was a major recipient of "contribution clusters" from lobbyists linked to health care groups.

The study, from the Center for Responsive Politics and the Sunlight Foundation, says members of Congress working on health care reform are receiving more money from the health industry than people realize.

This is because private lobbyists are donating to politicians who have already received donations from the groups those lobbyists represent, a practice the watchdogs describe as "contribution clusters."

The "never-before-seen" numbers, as the Sunlight Foundation describes them, show that Baucus collected contributions from 37 outside lobbyists representing PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry’s chief trade association, and 36 lobbyists who listed biotech firm Amgen as their client.

In all, 11 major health and insurance firms had their contributions to Baucus boosted through extra donations from 10 or more of their outside lobbyists.

On Tuesday night, the Senate Finance Committee, which Baucus heads, voted down two proposals for a government-run public option for health care.

Baucus is third on the list for "contribution clusters" from the health industry, behind Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), in second place, and Arizona Sen. John McCain, who came in first -- though, as the study noted, McCain's donations were likely inflated by his presidential campaign last year.
View the full donations list here.

Read on.