Has Obama ever received campaign money from Health Insurance?

just asking

The real dealmaking doesn't involve the donations that are part of public records. There's no real way we can ever know who made a promise to whom to bring how many people to which DNC fundraiser in exchange for access to which official.

What is a corporate contribution?

Seems fishy.

Under your definition he hasn't received money from Goldman Sachs either. :shrug:

But they are. They count the same as the person working in the gift shop at the hospital. That skews the numbers.

I don't ever remember seeing anything to the contrary.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/359/13/1313

"As of July, people affiliated with the health sector and political action committees (PACs) associated with the sector had contributed about $29 million to presidential candidates, including $8.8 million to Obama . . ."

that was from Sep 2008

sorry about that

"As of July, people affiliated with the health sector and political action committees (PACs) associated with the sector had contributed about $29 million to presidential candidates, including $8.8 million to Obama. . . ."

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/359/13/1313

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/08/09/pacs_and_lobbyists_aided_obamas_rise/

"In Obama's eight years in the Illinois Senate, from 1996 to 2004, almost two-thirds of the money he raised for his campaigns -- $296,000 of $461,000 -- came from PACs, corporate contributions, or unions, according to Illinois Board of Elections records. He tapped financial services firms, real estate developers, healthcare providers, oil companies, and many other corporate interests, the records show.

"Obama's US Senate campaign committee, starting with his successful run in 2004, has collected $128,000 from lobbyists and $1.3 million from PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics. His $1.3 million from PACs represents 8 percent of what he has raised overall. Clinton's Senate committee, by comparison, has raised $3 million from PACs, 4 percent of her total amount raised, the group said.

"In addition, Obama's own federal PAC, Hopefund, took in $115,000 from 56 PACs in the 2005-2006 election cycle out of $4.4 million the PAC raised, according to CQ MoneyLine, which collects Federal Election Commission data. Obama then used those PAC contributions -- including thousands from defense contractors, law firms, and the securities and insurance industries -- to build support for his presidential run by making donations to Democratic Party organizations and candidates around the country."

1. These are instances before the presidential run
2. as for Hopefund, that money (according to the article) didn't even go to his campaign. It went to DNC and other democratic candidates.

He did. He would not have become president if he hadn't, since he wouldn't have become Senator, and maybe even not state senator.

As for Hopefund, he used Hopefund to donate to candidates who then endorsed him in the primaries. He gave heavily to candidates in Iowa and other key primary states, and these candidates then supported and endorse him, giving him some of his earliest boosts. So, the corporate money he took in for his PAC was used to promote his campaign, even if he didn't directly spend it on campaign expenses. It helped his campaign, and he may not have won without that money.

And I'm not saying that to criticize him. That's the way politics works--all successful candidates play similar games. Newcomers to political awareness get caught up in who is taking money from whom, as though it mattered. They all take money from everyone. Money is a red herring--the real question is what they do, not where the money comes from. I don't believe Obama is influenced by the health care or health insurance industry any more than any other candidate would be.

Thanks for your thorough answer. :)

and he filled in their name when asked who is employer was
on the contribution sheet.
So Does he count? :shrug:

balance between the two that varies.

"Individual contributions are generally categorized based on the donor's occupation/employer"

So if I were a nurse or a doctor I shouldn't donate?

what do you say?

Though that might be illegal.

and what you are saying is that if the greeter at Wal Mart contributed, that Wal Mart actually contributed.

no. that is not the definition and it's not the legal definition either.

If someone at Walmart contributes, Walmart contributes. That's the way these things are interpreted. It's not like the old days when there were direct contributions. Feel free to dig up a "legal definition."

care to?

I'm pretty sure I remember this being an issue.

Most are legally able to contribute their own money.

Insurance CEOs, nurses, Pfizer lab techs and hospital staff all count as "health."

A janitor at a hospital is no different than a doctor in this case.

Thanks.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/indus.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638

It's a small sum, relatively speaking.

:)

from the healthcare lobbyists?

That's about 1% of his entire amount.

Yup, he's in the pocket of the health insurance and drug companies! :eyes:

About 1% of it came from people in the healthcare industry.

be doctors, nurses, lab techs, and other hospital staff.

The problem is that our congresspeople are very much for sale and they are pretty cheap too.

They have the inclination and opportunity to stand in the way of real healthcare reform.