Lobbying at High Speed ​​as Biden’s Agenda Balances


WASHINGTON — As centrist Democrats in Congress work to block or abolish key provisions of President Biden’s $3.5 trillion social safety net and climate plan, a series of online advertisements have popped up in their states and territories, praising them.

someone calls Arizona Senator Kyrsten CinemaEmerging as a leading stance on the measure, an “independent voice” and a “bipartisan leader”. Another says Oregon Representative Kurt Schrader pushed for the “Biden-Schrader” agenda, but was openly opposed to key parts of the president’s package. Third, she praises New York Representative Kathleen Rice for “fighting for our healthcare and our economy,” even as she subverts elements of Mr. Biden’s plan.

There’s one thing the ads don’t say so prominently: They’re paid for by drug industry-funded groups and lobbying business interests that are hard to kill or reshape key parts of the president’s plan.

As Democrats scramble to keep Mr Biden’s proposal on track in Congress amid deep internal divisions, a vigorous campaign of influence greets him at every turn. Business groups are working at breakneck speed to fight large segments, such as raising taxes on the rich and corporate; Expanding Medicare to include dental, hearing and vision services; and proposed taxes and fees to reduce carbon emissions.

This effort is less conspicuous than previous lobbying efforts; Pandemic restrictions have limited large lobbyist meetings in the Capitol, so the hallway outside the Senate Finance Committee office, long known as the “Gucci Gulch,” is no longer littered with shiny Italian shoes. But the campaign is busier as ever, through individual meetings, Zoom calls, fundraisers, and airwaves.

More than 4,000 lobbyists working on budget and spending issuesaccording to Open Secrets, a nonprofit watchdog group that monitors money in politics. The group said ten major industries have spent nearly $700 million on lobbying this year.

Lobbying to cut the bill due to tax increases, the US Chamber of Commerce has spent nearly $30 million on lobbyists this year. The pharmaceutical industry spent more than $15 million trying to frustrate a precautionary measure that would lower drug costs.

“Every group reaches out and asks for a meeting,” says Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is one of the main advocates of using the sweeping budget bill to increase taxes on the rich. “If they don’t get commitment at the first meeting, they want a second meeting – then a third and then a fourth. They are very interested.”

Impact campaigns cut both ways. Several political action committees and other influence groups are spending freely to expand the bill further and force it to become law.

The Better Building Coalition, formed to support the proposals, spent nearly $7 million on advertising this month, including an ad saying “CEOs and Big Pharma” are “lying” to voters about Mr. Biden’s plan. The Union of Conservation Voters, which spent nearly $6.7 million this month, is urging Congress to cut carbon pollution in half by 2030, one element of the package, and threatens to withhold campaign donations from Democrats who don’t support it.

Perhaps no aspect of the package has generated more lobbying than the proposal to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Authorizing Medicare to negotiate its costs. The drug lobby spends more than $1 million on television commercials to counter this. And according to Open Secrets, there are currently about 1,500 registered drug or health lobbyists in Congress working with lawmakers, about three for each member.

Ken Frazier, chairman of Merck’s board of directors, which helps fund the ads, acknowledged in a recent call with journalists that companies are fighting hard with the proposal because they believe it will cut revenue. But he portrayed the lobbying effort as altruistic, arguing that a drop in profits would lead to less money for research and development for new treatments and cures for diseases.

“We looked at what that would be,” said Mr. Frazier. “We’ve modeled it, and our ability to fund R&D within Merck will be cut by almost half.”

Trade group PhRMA, which represents pharmaceutical companies, launched its first ad against the package last month. In it, a woman named Sue looks at the camera with a melancholy tone in her voice and says the Democrats’ plan will “make it harder for people at Medicare to get the drugs we need.” Advertising is frequently broadcast on political news programs watched by policy makers.

The association accused this ad of wanting another politician to decide “what drugs you can and cannot take, no matter what your doctor says”. A print ad campaign followed, followed by an open letter from 30 pharmaceutical companies.

Same time, A group called Center Forward runs targeted digital ads that support centrist Democrats working to reduce the bill. According to tax records, the group receives about $1.5 million a year from PhRMA.

While Miss Cinema was in discussions with the White House about cutting some items from the president’s package, one of the ads said, “Thank Kirsten Cinema and tell her to continue fighting for Arizona as an independent voice.”

“We can always count on Scott Peters to deliver,” said another of Representative Scott Peters, targeting voters in the California area.

Pharmaceutical companies showered members of Congress with donations, but none more so than Mr. Peters, who received donations. more than $88,000 this year alone. He was one of the three Democrats. Oppose Mr Biden’s plan to lower the cost of prescription drugs On the Energy and Trade Committee.

PhRMA insists influence campaign isn’t trying to kill Mr. Biden’s multitrillion-dollar bill – they propose an alternative plan this would cost less for the industry – but the demise of the pack is the target of some other groups.

The US Chamber of Commerce, along with CEO Suzanne Clark, denounced the law, arguing that it would “significantly expand the size and scope of government through record inflationary spending and introduce massive tax increases that will halt America’s fragile economic recovery.”

“The Chamber will do everything we can to prevent this tax-raising, job-killing” bill from becoming law,” Ms Clark said.

No Labels, a business-funded organization with close ties to West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin III, is working to pass the House bipartisan Problem Solvers Meeting Mr. Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan, but provocative to kill the broader social policy plan.

When Mr Manchin called for a “pause” to Mr Biden’s $3.5 trillion social policy plan, No Labels ran an ad affirming his position as “common sense”.

The lobbying angered liberals, who accused corporate influence campaigns of standing before their party’s highest priorities.

“We see this on television every day,” said Pramila Jayapal, Washington Representative, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. described Intense lobbying by groups like No Labels trying to kill the plan. “It’s really sad, because that’s the president’s agenda.”

No Tags responded to a request for comment.

The American Dental Association mobilizes its members Opposing the expansion of Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision benefits, arguing that it would be too costly for dentists. The Independent Petroleum Association of America is battling new fees or taxes for energy companies, which they say will increase customers’ costs. Likewise, the American Petroleum Institute lobbied against a charge for methane emissions.

“While the stated purpose of this broad data collection is to expose tax evasion by the wealthy, this proposal is not remotely targeted at that or that population,” the organization said in a recent letter to key lawmakers. The association said it had “significant privacy concerns” about the provision and that it would “create an enormous liability for all affected parties”.

Supporters of Mr. Biden’s agenda have also taken the offensive.

The Working Families Party recently started targeting critical ads at the Bayan Cinema, which it now owns. received campaign contributions from business interests against the package.

One of the group’s advertisements for Bayan Cinema says “He prefers to protect the rich donors” and encourages supporters to make their opposition to him known.

Most centrist Democrats, who are the primary targets of lobbying, deny that they are driven by the campaign of influence.

Mr Peters said it should come as no surprise that he received strong donations from pharmaceutical companies, noting that many of them, including Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Takeda, have offices in San Diego. She and Mr. Schrader introduced them an alternative offer preferred by the industry.

“While carefully considering his input on different aspects of each issue, I vote on what I believe best serves Oregonians above all else—not private interests,” said Mr. Schrader.

Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who was a key architect of the social safety net plan as chair of the Budget Committee, said the lobbying effort was more active than he had ever seen.

“At a time when we are trying to pass an unprecedented law that benefits working families, we are seeing an unprecedented level of lobbying by powerful special interest groups who want to beat us,” said Mr Sanders.



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