Yay-Men, Indie!  And how about House Minority Whip Eric Cantor's Yea vote on the Democrat's bill to tax the AIG bonus babies? 

Upon learning of "Mr No's" vote, one bamboozled GOPher was overheard saying: "All the unconstitutional stuff aside, if you don’t believe in raising taxes, why would you vote to raise taxes?”

Well, DUH!  Yeah, change is coming! 

And, hey, what're we gonna do with those hundreds of thousands of unemployed desk jockeys in the insurance industry?

Change?

Not until this stops:

Washington Lobbying Grew to $3.2 Billion Last Year, Despite Economy

Interest groups spent $17.4 million for every day Congress was in session. Lobbying growth for finance sector and auto industry is smaller in tough times.

WASHINGTON--While companies across the board were losing record amounts of money and laying off employees last year, at least one industry seemed to weather the recession: lobbying. Special interests paid Washington lobbyists $3.2 billion in 2008, more than any other year on record and a 13.7 percent increase from 2007, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has found.

Analyzing 4th Quarter disclosure reports filed Jan. 20, the Center calculated that interest groups spent $17.4 million on lobbying for every day Congress was in session in 2008, or $32,523 per legislator per day.

"In this economy, most industries would have been elated to grow even half as much as the lobbying industry reported growing last year," Center for Responsive Politics Executive Director Sheila Krumholz said. "The federal government is handing out billions of dollars by the day, and that translates into job security for lobbyists who can help companies and industries get a piece of the payout."

Despite this increase in professional advocacy, the corporations that were most vocal on Capitol Hill about needing federal funds to stay afloat--namely those in the finance, insurance and real estate sector and the automotive industry--actually slowed or decreased their lobbying spending overall last year. Individual banks and carmakers appear to have saved a few pennies by relying instead on trade associations representing their industries to make their case.

Less Growth in Finance Sector's Lobbying

Finance, insurance and real estate companies have been competing to get a piece of the $700 billion bailout package Congress approved late last year. Yet this sector increased its spending on lobbying between 2007 and 2008 by only 8.7 percent, less than the rate of overall lobbying growth (13.7 percent) and less than the sector's increase between 2006 and 2007 (11.2 percent). And though the country's economic woes didn't start making headlines until the second half of the year, at which time Congress pulled together the bailout bill, the finance sector decreased its lobbying spending by 6.4 percent between the first half of '08 and the second half.

Not surprisingly, some of the companies that pulled back the most are those that declared bankruptcy or were essentially taken over by the federal government and had to cease their lobbying operations altogether. This group included mortgage giants Freddie Mac, which decreased its lobbying by 32 percent, from $8.5 million to $5.8 million; and Fannie Mae, which decreased the amount it spent on lobbying by 31 percent, from $5.6 million to $3.9 million.

Insurance company American International Group (AIG) announced that it would stop lobbying after the government took an 80 percent stake in the firm last fall, although it appears the company's advocacy activity merely slowed. In the fourth quarter, AIG still managed to spend $1.1 million on lobbying, a 41.7 percent decrease from the third quarter. Overall, AIG decreased lobbying spending 15 percent between '07 and '08, from $11.4 million to $9.7 million.

"Even though some financial, insurance and real estate interests pulled back last year, they still managed to spend more than $450 million as a sector to lobby policymakers. That can buy a lot of influence, and it's a fraction of what the financial sector is reaping in return through the government's bailout program," Krumholz said.

Other financial institutions were pushing hard for money from the government while putting less money into lobbying itself. Citigroup decreased spending by 10 percent between 2007 and 2008, from $8.5 million to $7.7 million; Wells Fargo spent 37 percent less, from $1.9 million to $1.2 million, and mortgage lender Countrywide Financial put in 47 percent less, from $1.3 million to $706,000. Instead of hiring lobbyists, many financial institutions seem to have been relying on their industry representatives to sway Congress for them.

Business and real estate associations and coalitions were among the organizations that ramped up their lobbying expenditures the most last year. The National Association of Realtors increased spending by 25 percent, from $13.9 million to $17.3 million. The American Bankers Association spent $9.1 million in 2008, a 47 percent increase from 2007. Other industry groups to spend more in 2008 include the Private Equity Council, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America and the Financial Services Roundtable.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce remained the #1 spender on lobbying in 2008, spending nearly $92 million--more than $350,000 every weekday, and a 73 percent increase over 2007--to advocate for its members' interests. Pro-business associations as a whole increased their lobbying 47 percent between '07 and '08.

"Entire industries are sinking right now," Krumholz said, "so companies seem to be leaning on the associations that represent them in Washington to push for rising-tide policies that will lift all their boats. In times like these, the companies whose dues support these industry groups are expecting results."

Automotive Put the Brakes on Lobbying

The already struggling automotive industry has been especially hard-hit in the last year, closing plants across the country and sending its executives to Capitol Hill pleading for some quick help. The industry's financial woes are apparent in its lobbying expenditures, too. Between 2007 and 2008, automotive companies decreased the amount they paid out to lobbyists by 7.6 percent, from $70.9 million to $65.5 million. This is a big change from prior years; auto manufacturers and dealers increased lobbying spending by 21 percent between 2006 and 2007. Ultimately, Congress rejected the automakers' request for help from the $700 billion bailout bill.

Unlike the finance sector, the main industry representative for automakers didn't appear to have the cash to increase its lobbying efforts, either. Between 2007 and 2008 the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which testified before Congress with Detroit's Big Three last year, decreased its reported lobbying by 43 percent, from $12.8 million to $7.3 million. Of the Big Three, only one company, Ford, increased its efforts, though not by much: from $7.1 million to $7.7 million, an 8 percent increase. General Motors decreased 3 percent, from $14.6 million to $14.1 million. And Chrysler (formerly DaimlerChrysler), spent the least of the three carmakers and decreased its spending the most, from $7.1 million to $5.8 million, an 18 percent decline. These totals represent only what the auto industry spent to hire professional advocates to contact government officials; the cost of the industry's extensive public relations and grassroots efforts last fall is not reported.

Foreign car companies, most notably Toyota, have insisted that they haven't lobbied against bailing out their American competitors. Instead, they seemed to support the loans because a hit to the domestic industry that supplies auto parts could hurt the industry worldwide. Compared to the Big Three, foreign manufacturers had the money to increase their influence-peddling operations on Capitol Hill, though they still didn't match the domestic companies' totals. Toyota increased its lobbying by 122 percent, from $2.4 million to $5.2 million, while Honda went from $1.8 million to $2.3 million, a 26 percent increase.

Pharmaceuticals and Electric Utilities Among Biggest Spenders

CRP, which tracks lobbying spending on its award-winning Web site, OpenSecrets.org, found that, for the third straight year, health interests spent more on federal lobbying than any other economic sector--$478.5 million. The finance, insurance and real estate sector was second at $453.5 million.

Looking more specifically within the larger sectors the Center tracks, the pharmaceuticals/health products industry again outspent all industries by shelling out $230.9 million for lobbying services, or a daily average of $1.3 million for the 184 days that the 110th Congress met in 2008. The drug industry, which will be trying to influence this year's debates on health care reform, has spent $1.6 billion on federal lobbying over the last 11 years, more than any other industry.

The second-biggest spender among industries in 2008 was electric utilities, which spent $156.7 million on lobbying, followed by insurance, which spent $153.2 million, and oil and gas, which paid lobbyists $133.2 million. Pro-Israel groups, food processing companies and the oil and gas industry increased their lobbying expenditures the most (as a percentage) between 2007 and 2008.

Drilling even further to look at particular corporations, trade associations, unions and other organizations, Exxon Mobil, which posted record earnings last year, was far behind the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in total spent, at $29 million. The oil and gas company was followed by the retirees association AARP ($27.9 million), utilities company PG&E ($27.3 million) and defense contractor Northrop Grumman ($20.7 million). Other big spenders on the top 20 list included the American Medical Association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the American Hospital Association and General Electric.

Among Washington's lobbying firms, Patton Boggs reported the highest revenue from registered lobbying for the sixth year in a row, $38.9 million, a decrease from 2007 of 8 percent. The firm's most lucrative clients included the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management (which owns Chrysler), the candy and pet food company Mars Inc., the pharmaceutical manufacturers Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche and the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America).

The Center for Responsive Politics calculated spending on lobbying as narrowly defined under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, because that is what is disclosed to the Senate Office of Public Records (SOPR) and House Legislative Resource Center. Spending by corporations, industry groups, unions and other interests that is not strictly for lobbying of covered government officials, but is still meant to influence public policy, is not reported--and may exceed what was spent on direct lobbying. Such activities include public relations, advertising and grassroots lobbying.

In 2008, spending on lobbying was reported to Congress quarterly. The year-end reports were due Jan. 20 to SOPR, which was the data source for the Center's analysis. The Center's Lobbying Database now includes approximately 18,086 reports from 2008 that were available electronically from SOPR on Jan. 26, 2009, in addition to data back to 1998. More reports will be incorporated into OpenSecrets.org's database as Congress makes them available.

OpenSecrets.org's searchable Lobbying Database is accessible at link:[www.opensecrets.org] . 

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS
The Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. For 25 years the nonpartisan, nonprofit Center has aimed to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more responsive government. CRP's award-winning website, OpenSecrets.org, is the most comprehensive resource for campaign contributions, lobbying data and analysis available anywhere. For other organizations and news media, CRP's exclusive data powers their online features tracking money in politics. CRP relies on support from a combination of foundation grants and individual contributions. The Center accepts no contributions from businesses, labor unions or trade associations.

link:[www.opensecrets.org]

Here is simpler take on this scam:

Check this out:

PNHP Co-founders Drs. Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein published this definitive study of the administrative costs of the U.S. health system in the August 21, 2003 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. After analyzing the costs of insurers, employers, doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and home-care agencies in both the U.S. and Canada, they found that administration consumes 31.0 percent of U.S. health spending, double the proportion of Canada (16.7 percent). Average overhead among private U.S. insurers was 11.7 percent, compared with 1.3 percent for Canada’s single-payer system and 3.6 percent for Medicare. Streamlined to Canadian levels, enough administrative waste could be saved to provide compressive health insurance to all Americans.

Read “Costs of Health Administration in the U.S. and Canada” (pdf)