EXCLUSIVE: Obama Received $20 Million of Healthcare Industry Money in 2008

In case you're wondering, that's a whole lot of cash. My latest for Raw Story:

While some sunlight has been shed on the hefty sums shoveled into congressional campaign coffers in an effort to influence the Democrats' massive healthcare bill, little attention has been focused on the far larger sums received by President Barack Obama while he was a candidate in 2008.

A new figure, based on an exclusive analysis created for Raw Story by the Center for Responsive Politics, shows that President Obama received a staggering $20,175,303 from the healthcare industry during the 2008 election cycle, nearly three times the amount of his presidential rival John McCain. McCain took in $7,758,289, the Center found.

The new figure, obtained by Raw Story through an independent custom research request performed by the Center for Responsive Politics -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics -- is the most comprehensive breakdown yet available of healthcare industry contributions to Obama during the 2008 election cycle. [...]

Gary Jacobson, a campaign finance expert and political science professor at the University of California, San Diego, says the healthcare industry saw the writing on the wall and sought to “protect their interests.”

“Contributors expect access,” Jacobson, author of Money in Congressional Elections, told Raw Story. The healthcare industry “anticipated an Obama victory and they wanted to be in the game.” [...]

Some experts who spoke with Raw Story also noted the rather stark evolution from candidate Obama, who once advocated for universal healthcare and was a vocal critic of mandated health insurance, to President Obama, who excluded single-payer advocates from White House healthcare summits and who has since strongly embraced mandates.

Historian and media critic Norman Solomon, who was also an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention, called the president’s transformation on healthcare since taking office “shameful.”

“Overall it’s been a very corporate friendly healthcare approach from Obama as president,” Solomon said in an interview with Raw Story. “Corporate friendly in a way that I believe is injurious to public health.”

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Comments

[Brad Jacobson]

EXCLUSIVE: Obama Received $20 Million of Healthcare Industry Money in 2008

[Master David Goodmen]

It is as The Who said: “Meet the new boss---same as the old boss.”

The Democrats have made a mess, thanks to the defective Democrats. The Republicans have provided zero useful ideas, in accordance with their lack of concern for everyday folks.

[Fish Oil for Kids]

$20 Million of Healthcare Industry Money?? Wow that's a big money..

[deputy claims]

That's really a big amount of money. Will help a lot.

[femmes seules]

Good stuff. I try and learn something new everyday. Thanks for this great information it really helps a lot for me.