HHS to Healthcare Companies: We Need Your "Donations" to Fund Obamacare

[red states rule]

Here is another Obamacare thread the Obama supporters will ignore.

However there is a HUGE conflict of interest and is this fundraising taking place in her office?





This story dropped late on Friday, perhaps because HHS sources hoped it would slip through the cracks over the weekend and disappear. In light of the swirling Benghazi developments (http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/05/12/benghazi-victims-mother-on-hillary-she-has-her-child-i-dont-have-mine-because-of-her-n1593377) and the burgeoning IRS scandal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324715704578478851998004528.html), this wasn't a bad bet. But this stunner (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/10/budget-request-denied-sebelius-turns-to-health-executives-to-finance-obamacare/) from the Washington Post is too important to allow to simply glide past unexamined:

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has gone, hat in hand, to health industry officials, asking them to make large financial donations to help with the effort to implement President Obama’s landmark health-care law, two people familiar with the outreach said. Her unusual fundraising push comes after Congress repeatedly rejected the Obama administration’s requests for additional funds to set up the Affordable Care Act, leaving HHS to implement the president’s signature legislative accomplishment on what officials have described as a shoestring budget.



This has all the hallmarks of a shakedown. DrewM at Ace of Spades snarkily summarizes (http://minx.cc/?post=339866): "Hi I'm HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. You may recall I have tremendous discretionary power over your company and entire industry. Would you like to donate to my favorite cause? You would? Thank you so much." Obamacare vests Sebelius with an enormous amount (http://spectator.org/archives/2010/06/04/the-empress-of-obamacare) of regulatory power; she has the ability to make life exceedingly difficult for any company that crosses her (recall her "zero tolerance" quote). "Friendly" requests for "voluntary" donations may not seem optional for companies who sense the HHS Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. Administration spokesmen are predictably shrugging off accusations of extortion and insisting there's "nothing improper (http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/299191-hhs-defends-sebelius-obamacare-fundraising)" to see here. Senior Republicans have a different take (http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/299183-sen-alexander-sebelius-fundraising-may-be-illegal):

Tennessee Republican [Sen. Lamar Alexander] compared the HHS secretary's requests for donations from insurance companies to the Iran-Contra scandal. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius might have broken the law by asking insurance companies to donate to outside groups promoting President Obama's healthcare law, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Saturday. Alexander compared the fundraising to the Iran-Contra scandal. "Secretary Sebelius’s fundraising for and coordinating with private entities helping to implement the new health care law may be illegal, should cease immediately and should be fully investigated by Congress," Alexander said in a statement.


http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/05/13/hhs-to-healthcare-companies-we-need-your-donations-to-fund-obamacare-n1593421

[red states rule]

Rush nailed it as usual




In recent weeks, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has been busy raising money in the private sector, for Obamacare. Sebelius has hit up doctors, business leaders, charitable foundations, and even churches. She’s demanding, or (ahem) “requesting,” that they give money to selected nonprofit organizations that will help implement Obamacare.


When the story broke, HHS spokesman Jason Young was sent out to do damage control. He says there’s a special section in the Public Health Services Act that allows Sebelius to raise money for this.


He also claimed Sebilus is careful about who she demands, excuse me, solicits, money from. Spokes-guy Jason said Sebelius hasn’t asked for funds from entities the
HHS regulates, such as drug companies, hospitals, or insurers. Which misses the point.


Let’s say the spokes-guy is right, and there is a loophole that allows Kathleen Sebelius to raise money from the private sector for Obamacare. Does that justify this obvious conflict of interest? Some Republicans are seeking “more information” to determine if laws were broken, or bent.


But put yourself in the shoes of the doctor or business executive who answers the phone, and finds Sebelius on the other end, asking for money for her favorite non-profit groups. What are they going to say? No? And find their name on the IRS list of individuals or businesses hostile to Obama? This kind of fundraising has a name. It’s called extortion.

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/05/14/morning_update_extortion

[aboutime]

Up till now. Obama, his cabinet, liberals, democrats, progressives, and Obama lovers everywhere have been ABUSING every law, and ignoring the Constitution. BECAUSE the Uneducated, Untrained, Uncaring, Illiterate, Ignorant, Partisan, Hate filled Americans who voted for Obama refuse to STOP THEM.

[red states rule]

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