Bush SOTU Health Care Distraction Tracks Abramoff Agenda

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Bush making health-care proposals a priority in 2006?

Bush previewed three domestic themes of his upcoming State of the Union address


Abramoff and Medicare
from John Holbo

He's reading Off Center. Here’s something from p. 87:

When the debate over prescription drug coverage picked up in the late Clinton years, the pharmaceutical lobbying group PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, pronounced “Farma”) went so far as to establish a faux grassroots organization that putatively represented the elderly: “Citizens for a Better Medicare.” Despite the lofty title, Citizens for a Better Medicare had few, if any, actual citizens on its rolls Its main activity was to spend millions of PhRMA dollars on slick ad campaigns supporting an industry-friendly drug plan. When Citizens for a Better Medicare came under fire, PhRMA switched its “grassroots” efforts over to the United Seniors Association, a conservative direct-mail organization that had cut its teeth with frightening scare letters to senior citizens. The United Seniors Association board included, among other GOP political operatives, Jack Abramoff …


from the Campaign Finance Institute:


Citizens for a Better Medicare reportedly spent about $50 million on television advertising during the 1999-2000 cycle. In the 75 media markets monitored by Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG), CBM spent $13.8 million on advertisements praising House Republicans between June 1 and Election Day. It spent more on House races than any other interest group. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, CBM's top race was in the 49th district of California, between Rep. Brian Bilbray (R) and Susan Davis (D). The Wall Street Journal reported that CBM spent close to $800,000 praising Bilbray, while CMAG estimated the spending at close to $1.5 million. CBM ran advertisements praising several other incumbents for their record on Medicare, including Reps. Jay Dickey (R-AR), Charles Bass (R-NH), George Nethercutt (R-WA), James Rogan (R-CA), Steve Kuykendall (R-CA), Don Sherwood (R-PA), Ernie Fletcher (R-KY), Anne Northup (R-KY), Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and Collin Peterson (D-MN). CBM ran advertisements criticizing Reps. Bill Luther (D-MN), Mark Udall (D-CO), Leonard Boswell (D-IA) and Darlene Hooley (D-OR). They also targeted Montana Senate candidate Brian Schweitzer, who had made the prescription drug issue central to his campaign.

CBM was originally created as a 527 political organization; after the passage of disclosure legislation this summer, it changed its status to a 501 (c) 4 social welfare organization. CBM stopped receiving contributions after the passage of the disclosure law, so its quarterly report submitted in October did not show any contributions. Alex Castellanos, CBM's media consultant, also worked for the George W. Bush campaign and for the Republican National Committee.


from Public Citizen:


United Seniors Association, which spent an estimated $13.6 million to influence at least 25 U.S. Senate and House races in 2002, has been active in at least 17 contests so far in 2004, including spending at least $370,500 to help Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) and at least $141,000 to assist Rep. Phil Crane (R-Ill.).

United Seniors Association (USA) burst onto the soft money scene in 2002, when it spent $18.6 million on advertising, according to its filing with the IRS.2 Some of its expenditures paid for issue advocacy communications in the summer of that year while Congress was debating a Medicare prescription drug bill, as chronicled in this Public Citizen report: United Seniors Association: Hired Guns for PhRMA and Other Corporate Interests. But USA reserved the majority of its advertising budget for the two months before Election Day.

USA was founded by Richard Viguerie, a conservative who pioneered the art of using direct mail pitches to solicit small political contributions.6 But the group has grown increasingly reliant on large donors in recent years. USA, which had 2001 revenue of $8.6 million, posted $25.4 million in revenue in 2002; of that $20.1 million came from a single donor, according USA's filing with the IRS.7 The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the trade association of the brand name pharmaceutical industry, said it gave "an unrestricted educational grant" to USA in 2002.8 9 Because most of USA's ads emphasized prescription drugs, it is likely that PhRMA was the $20.1 million contributor. In 2001, USA reported to the IRS that it received a $1.5 million contribution from PhRMA.10

USA's officers and consultants are steeped in Republican politics. Its president is Charles Jarvis, who served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. Members of its board of directors have included Jack Abramoff, who is among the foremost fundraisers for the Republican Party and a top fundraiser for President Bush, and Craig Shirley, a Republican operative whose involvement with soft money political spending dates back to at least 1988, when he played a leading role in creating the "Willie Horton" political ad. USA's lobbyist, David Keene, is chairman of the American Conservative Union, and previously worked for Vice President Spiro Agnew, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole.


Bush in July 2003:


"On a piece of legislation like this, it obviously attracts the attention of advocates, people who are willing to get involved in the process, people who work hard on behalf of the constituents they represent. Today we've got Jim Parkel and Bill Novelli. Jim is the president, Bill Novelli is the director and CEO of AARP. I'm honored you all are here. Thanks, thanks for providing such good leadership for all. (Applause.)

There's a group involved in the process called United Seniors Association. It's headed by Charlie Jarvis. He's the chairman and CEO, and Charlie is with us today. Thank you for coming, Charlie. (Applause.)"



As he signs Medicare legislation Bush cites the 'hard work' done by Charlie Jarvis, the Chairman and CEO of United Seniors Association:


"Charlie Jarvis, the Chairman and CEO of United Seniors Association, worked hard. Mike Maves, the Executive Vice President and CEO of the AMA, worked hard on this piece of legislation. (Applause.) Mary Martin, the Chairman of the Board of The Seniors Coalition, worked hard. The truth of the matter is, a lot of good people worked hard to get this important legislation done, and I thank you for your work. (Applause.)"

[Fridays Child]

1. Why, Jack is one of George's hardest working little elves, isn't he?

That little munchkin is all over the map! And George has the gall to thank the lobbyists who influenced the vote. Sickening.

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2. Charlie Jarvis

Bauer's Former Campaign Manager On Board of United Seniors With Abramoff.

Lionel Van Deerlin pointed out in a Copley News Service Op-Ed the right-wing connections within the United Seniors Association: Charles W. Jarvis, who managed Gary Bauer's presidential campaign, joined Abramoff on the board of United Seniors Association. The group has supported pharmaceutical company positions on prescription drugs and oil companies' positions in the fight over the energy bill. It also contributed to the "Swift Boat" veteran's anti-Kerry campaign. (Copley News Service, 3/3/2005)


From American Prospect:

United Seniors Association CEO Viguerie has since moved on, but United Seniors continues under the leadership of one Charlie Jarvis, a religious-right activist and former Reagan administration official. Unlike his predecessor, who kept a low profile for decades, Jarvis enjoys press attention and sometimes talks more than he should. In a brief interview with The New York Times Magazine, he agreed that he saw his mission as “dismantling Social Security.” United Seniors’ counsel is another former Reagan official named Curtis J. Herge, whose previous legal clients include a phony Holocaust survivors group and a bogus anti-gambling organization that once fronted for casino mogul Donald Trump -- all of which qualified him to represent an organization that maintains the business ethic established by its founder.

In August 2003, the federal government fined United Seniors more than $500,000 for sending out “misleading” mail designed to look like “some sort of official mailing containing information from the Social Security Administration.” (Until 2002, the directors of USA Next also included the ubiquitous Abramoff.) That penalty was upheld in late August by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. While Jarvis likes to boast that United Seniors has more than a million members, very few of them seem to pay dues, according to the organization’s tax returns. Of the more than $25 million in revenues reported for 2003, less than $2 million was attributed to membership dues. In recent years, most of its budget has been subsidized by the pharmaceutical industry, which essentially uses United Seniors to launder support to Republican members of Congress. The Washington Monthly reported that during the 2002 midterm elections, United Seniors spent about $14 million in “unrestricted educational grants” from drug companies on advertising “defending” GOP incumbents for voting in favor of Bush’s Medicare bill.

Not long after the president commenced his privatization campaign, Jarvis launched his latest blitz against AARP. The cause was new, but the rhetoric was tiresomely familiar. United Seniors had attacked AARP many times, invariably accusing the giant nonpartisan group of “liberalism.” The only notable innovation -- which attracted immediate media coverage -- came when Jarvis announced that he had hired the same political consultants who produced the “Swift Boat” commercials that defamed John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign. These character assassins, he vowed, would “dynamite” AARP.

In a demonstration of the firepower they threatened to use, Jarvis posted an ad on the Web site of The American Spectator magazine. It insinuated that the utterly mainstream and traditional AARP disdains American soldiers and advocates gay marriage. Few AARP members were likely to believe such sensational lies, but the ad provided a momentary media impact. (It also sparked a lawsuit by the gay married couple whose wedding photo appeared in the ad without their permission.)

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3. hello

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4. USA Next is a Republican front group, but you wouldn't know it

from watching the news: http://mediamatters.org/items/200503020006

"Charles W. Jarvis, president and CEO of the right-wing lobbying organization USA Next, has been ubiquitous on TV news in recent days attacking the AARP and lobbying for President Bush's plan to partially privatize Social Security. These appearances have generally left the impression that USA Next is a grassroots, issue-based advocacy organization representing seniors. In fact, USA Next is something quite different: a Republican front group. Since its founding in 1991, the only common thread discernable in the group's diverse lobbying activities is aggressive, unconditional support for the Republican Party. The group has supported Republicans and attacked Democrats on issues as varied and seemingly distant from traditional seniors' issues as conservative judicial nominees, drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and abortion. Moreover, much of the group's funding comes from pharmaceutical companies, not individual seniors.

ABC's World News Tonight reported on USA Next's attacks against the AARP on February 28. While the report noted that the group had recently hired media consultants who orchestrated the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth smear campaign against Sen. John Kerry, it did not mention that this is only the most recent event in the group's history of pro-Republican activism.

Such history was also unaddressed during Jarvis's February 25 appearance on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight; his February 23 appearances on CNN's Inside Politics and MSNBC's Hardball; and appearances on Fox News by Jarvis and USA Next national chairman Art Linkletter on February 7, 16, 17, 18, and 28. CNN identified USA Next as a "conservative lobbying group," and MSNBC introduced it as "a lobbying group that supports President Bush's Social Security plan," but Fox News, which has featured several interviews with representatives of the group, has consistently failed to identify USA Next as conservative, let alone partisan.

USA Next's recently launched $10 million advertising campaign against AARP follows the group's $4 million ad campaign in support of the Bush administration's prescription drug bill in 2002 and its $2 million ad campaign in support of President Bush's tax cuts in 2001 under its former name, the United Seniors Association (USA).

Beyond Social Security, USA Next has supported a range of initiatives with no apparent connection to seniors and little connection to one another beyond their place on a list of GOP priorities. Press releases on a wide range of other policy issues chronicle the group's support for Republicans and antagonism towards Democrats (the press releases are no longer available on USA's website):

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5. Another group leading the privatization charge is USANext.

which is actually the United Seniors Association. (USA) is member of the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security and COMPASS in addition to another pro-privatization group, the Alliance for Worker Prosperity. As USA, it spent millions of drug company dollars, creating the appearance of grassroots support for the industry-sponsored version of the 2003 Medicare bill that eventually passed.


In February, the New York Times reported that USANext had launched a campaign "to spend as much as $10 million on commercials and other tactics assailing AARP, the powerhouse lobby opposing private investment accounts." To oversee the operation, USANext hired
Chris LaCivita, recently of the Republican 527 groups Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and Progress for America Voter Fund and an employee of the DCI Group, a well connected Republican firm specializing in astroturf. USANext's opening salvo was an internet ad that briefly appeared on the American Spectator's website. It equated the AARP with hating the military and loving gay marriage - sure signs of liberal decadence. The ad generated enormous online and print media attention for USANext and a lawsuit from the gay couple whose photograph was used in the ad without their permission. Despite being sued, USANext's campaign to steal AARP members and undermine its efforts to protect Social Security was off to a good start.


Collaborating with COMPASS and USANext in their aggressive push for privatization is Progress for America (PFA), a group closely tied to the White House. The PFA Voter Fund spent nearly $30 million on Bush's reelection. As part of its $20 million Social Security reform campaign, PFA announced it had recruited Texas A&M University economics professor Thomas R. Saving as an advisor and spokesman. Saving, however, was appointed by Bush as one of seven trustees for the U.S. Social Security Administration. The trustees issue reports on the current and projected financial status of the program, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest between his advocacy work at PFA and his role as a trustee.


http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2005Q1/ssfix.html

[salin]

6. important stuff to keep our eye on

thanks for compiling this...

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7. .

;-)