From the Fact Check Desk: Was President Obama NOT the Preferred Candidate of the Trial Lawyers?
EmailBefore today’s White House briefing, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced a program of $25 million in grants for demonstration programs to reduce the number of medical malpractice lawsuits. (Read more about that from my ABC News colleague Karen Travers HERE.)
Asking about the relative modesty of funds for the demonstration programs, my colleague, NBC’s Chuck Todd, asked, “how does somebody not interpret this as saying, ‘Well, you know what? Trial lawyers are a huge interest group of the Democratic Party, so that's why they're going slowly’?”
“Let me step in for one second,” Gibbs said. “I think you can recall from the presidential campaign, I don't recall us being the preferred candidate of the trial lawyers that you mentioned.”
“Yes you were,” I said. “You got more money than any other candidate when it came to trial lawyers.”
Gibbs then qualified his remarks to only mean the primary.
“I'd check your FEC figures on the primary,” he said.
“Check out opensecrets.org,” I said, referring to the excellent website of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics.
“Happy to do it,” Gibbs said.
I called Douglas Weber, a Senior Researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics. He said there’s no accurate way to distinguish trial lawyers from lawyers in general.
In the “presidential campaign” to which Gibbs referred, President Obama received $43,071,129 from lawyers and law firms.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., received $9,930,296 from lawyers and law firms.
Okay, but he quickly clarified that he’d meant the Democratic primary, when fellow trial lawyer and former Sen. John Edwards, D-NC, was in the race and was clearly the favorite of many top trial lawyers.
Edwards collected $7,588,701 from lawyers and law firms.
By January 30, the day Edwards dropped out of the race, “the Obama presidential campaign had raised $11,650,779 from lawyers and law firms,” Webber emails me.
Then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, dropped out of the race on June 7, 2008. She raised $15,497,787 from lawyers and law firms for her campaign.
By June 7, the Obama campaign had raised $19,133,487 from lawyers and law firms.
-jpt
Mitt Romney's Full Speech at CPAC 2012 
Romney Makes His Case to Conservatives at CPAC
Here’s something for the left-wing libs to munch on (hope & change indeed):
“Reuters reports an interesting nugget in the wake of President Barack Obama’s decision to grant Vladimir Putin his wish and kill the Eastern European missile shield:
“Shortly after the pullback on the shield programme was announced, Russia’s government said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would meet several U.S. executives on Friday from firms including General Electric, Morgan Stanley as well as TPG, one of the world’s largest private equity firms
“General Electric may be the company with the closest ties to the Obama administration (if not, GE is second only to Goldman Sachs), and here we see the company benefiting from an abrupt foreign policy change made by President Obama. But GE isn’t the only company benefiting.”
Posted by: Right Wing Nut Job | September 17, 2009, 6:10 pm 6:10 pm
Oh Bama…..
Seriously, Robert Gibbs is either dumb or a liar……….
Posted by: RegretMyVote | September 17, 2009, 6:10 pm 6:10 pm
Reuters paints the broader picture:
“”U.S. companies have arguably lost out to some European companies in joint ventures, and better diplomacy will likely improve the chances for investors in the strategic sectors of the Russian economy,” said Carlo Gallo, senior Russia analyst at London-based consultancy Control Risks.”
Well, it’s a good thing right? Of course. It’s not like the Obama administration is playing favorites or anything. (rolls eyes)
Posted by: Right Wing Nut Job | September 17, 2009, 6:12 pm 6:12 pm
“General Electric may be the company with the closest ties to the Obama administration (if not, GE is second only to Goldman Sachs), and here we see the company benefiting from an abrupt foreign policy change made by President Obama. But GE isn’t the only company benefiting.”
ROFLMAO!
That is the best right wing conspiracy theory about GE since the right wing insisted CFL bulbs recommendation by the Feds was a plot to help GE to push out incandescent bulbs manufactures because GE was the largest maker of CFL bulbs.
What the right wing media did not tell the parrots is that GE is also the world’s largest incandescent bulb mfr.
Posted by: Ryan C | September 17, 2009, 6:16 pm 6:16 pm
hmm.
Well, that’s not what Gibbs meant.
Posted by: MayBee | September 17, 2009, 6:28 pm 6:28 pm
all we want is a little honesty from these people that are supposedly working so hard for us. why is honesty so difficult for them. thanks jake.
Posted by: wow | September 17, 2009, 6:28 pm 6:28 pm
Why does Mr. Obama seek to enact California’s model 1975 tort reform (MICRA) into federal law?Howard Dean told us the answer: the Democrats are afraid to offend the trial lawyers.
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | September 17, 2009, 6:50 pm 6:50 pm
What excellent gotcha reporting. Eyeroll.
I did notice that the parameters that test initiatives must meet to get a grant–
• Put patient safety first and work to reduce preventable injuries;
• Foster better communication between doctors and their patients;
• Ensure that patients are compensated in a fair and timely manner for medical injuries, while also reducing the incidence of frivolous lawsuits; and
• Reduce liability premiums
are very reminiscent of the MEDiC bill Hillary and Barack wrote about in NEJM in 2006. The President has been interested in this type of thing for awhile.
Posted by: Alyson | September 17, 2009, 6:52 pm 6:52 pm
“Sebelius is a former lobbyist for trial lawyers. That’s who he appointed in charge of HHS. The people causing most of the problem.”
Insurance companies skyrocketing premiums are the primary problem not trial lawyers.
Posted by: Ryan C | September 17, 2009, 6:56 pm 6:56 pm
Was that before or after Todd sneezes all over Sebelius?
Posted by: joedoe | September 17, 2009, 6:59 pm 6:59 pm
And Emron, Halliburton had the closest ties to Bush and Cheney…so much they rob their employees of their pension, and Halliburton had the luxury of getting a NO-BID contract worth billions for unfinished work. So your point is…….
Posted by: sara | September 17, 2009, 7:07 pm 7:07 pm
When not even Sneezy is buying this farce you gotta wonder who is Dopey enough to buy it.
Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn | September 17, 2009, 7:11 pm 7:11 pm
I love how they step in it over and over and over. Howard Dean already told us the truth about tort reform and trial lawyers… wow, did I really just write the “when hell freezes over” words “Howard Dean / truth” together in a sentence without my computer exploding? Cool.
Posted by: BK | September 17, 2009, 7:18 pm 7:18 pm
“Halliburton had the luxury of getting a NO-BID contract worth billions for unfinished work.”
A contract from which Cheney derived zero financial benefit. You could have mentioned that, but that would have required telling the whole truth, wouldn’t it?
Paul Krugman was an Enron adviser. Neither Bush nor Cheney was.
Posted by: Fascist Hyena | September 17, 2009, 7:24 pm 7:24 pm
Gibbs is pathetic, trying to say Obama was not the favorite of the trial lawyers, and then when he tried to use fund raising as an example, Jake did a great job of nailing him to the floor with it. Either way, this $25 mil. proposal to do “trial runs” of malpractice reform is stupid and pointless. Just enact some commonsense reforms and save the $25 mil. Politicians make me sick.
Posted by: Jason | September 17, 2009, 7:35 pm 7:35 pm
“”Halliburton had the luxury of getting a NO-BID contract worth billions for unfinished work.”
A contract from which Cheney derived zero financial benefit. You could have mentioned that, but that would have required telling the whole truth, wouldn’t it?”
________________________________
“So while Cheney denied any relationship with Halliburton as vice president, he conveniently forgot to mention that he continues to receive from the company deferred salary of over $150,000 while maintaining 433,333 shares of unexercised stock options. Certainly, Cheney has a “financial interest in Halliburton” while working as vice president.
“When confronted with the proof of his ongoing financial ties with Halliburton, Cheney responded by claiming his deferred salary and stock options are not actually a “financial interest” as defined by federal ethics standards and therefore not a conflict of interest.”
Posted by: julieterra | September 17, 2009, 8:34 pm 8:34 pm
“Insurance companies skyrocketing premiums are the primary problem not trial lawyers.”
The skyrocketing costs of healthcare, which in turn drives skyrocketing premiums, are the primary problem. And adding 47 million subsidized people to the existing system is going to cause costs to skyrocket even more.
Posted by: Bridget | September 17, 2009, 8:48 pm 8:48 pm
“Was President Obama NOT the Preferred Candidate of the Trial Lawyers?”
NOT in the general election. oops.
NOT in the primaries. oops.
Not in the democratic primaries. oops
Priceless.
Posted by: Bridget | September 17, 2009, 8:52 pm 8:52 pm
“He said there’s no accurate way to distinguish trial lawyers from lawyers in general.”
Simple, they’re the ones who chase after ambulances and chum.
Posted by: Bridget | September 17, 2009, 8:55 pm 8:55 pm
$43 million? Can you imagine how much he would have collected if they like him??
LMAO
Posted by: drjohn | September 17, 2009, 9:30 pm 9:30 pm
GE owns NBC, no? Hmm.
Posted by: tanarg | September 17, 2009, 11:27 pm 11:27 pm
” adding 47 million subsidized people to the existing system is going to cause costs to skyrocket even more.”
___________________________________
Aren’t many of these people already receiving subsidized services but through the VERY expensive outlet of emergency wards at hospitals?
Also remember, currently the insurance companies skim off the cream of the system by insuring the young, the healthy and the employed – leaving the taxpayer to cover the burden of the sick, the old, the infirm and the injured (military).
Once both those inequities are addressed the costs are not so heavily weighted against the taxpayer.
Posted by: julieterra | September 18, 2009, 12:39 am 12:39 am
What the right wing media did not tell the parrots is that GE is also the world’s largest incandescent bulb mfr.
Posted by: Ryan C | Sep 17, 2009 6:16:00 PM
And what comrade ROFLMAO! does not understand is that a recommendation by the Feds for the public to REPLACE their incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs in an effort to “save the planet” would result in increased sales for GE. Doesn’t matter that they produce both types. What matters is that they are replacing perfectly good incandescent bulbs with new CFL bulbs – bulbs BTW that may or may not last longer than incandescent bulbs.
And what ROFLMAO! doesn’t get is the basics of limited government and the fairness of a free market system (why advertise when the govt does it for you) – where the government doesn’t peddle its influence for votes.
Keep it up comrade! You’re doing a great job!
Posted by: Right Wing Nut Job | September 18, 2009, 11:40 am 11:40 am
So your point is…….
Posted by: sara | Sep 17, 2009 7:07:14 PM
………Business as usual. You’ve been sold a bill of goods called Hope & Change.
Posted by: Right Wing Nut Job | September 18, 2009, 11:44 am 11:44 am
“And what comrade ROFLMAO! does not understand is that a recommendation by the Feds for the public to REPLACE their incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs in an effort to “save the planet” would result in increased sales for GE.”
ROFLMAO!
So GE loses sales in incandescent and gains sales in CFLs. Just like other bulb manufacturer.
“bulbs BTW that may or may not last longer than incandescent bulbs.”
Except that they do. Much longer while using much less power.
Its an easy way for everyone to conserve electricity.
Posted by: Ryan C | September 18, 2009, 1:47 pm 1:47 pm
A contract from which Cheney derived zero financial benefit.”
Cheney divested his stock options before the contract was handed out?
Didn’t you just a few weeks ago accuse Axelrod of benefiting from the healthcare plan based on a much flimsier circumstance?
How big a hypocrite are you?
Posted by: Ryan C | September 18, 2009, 1:48 pm 1:48 pm
“Paul Krugman was an Enron adviser. Neither Bush nor Cheney was.”
ROFLMAO!
So Bush did not reap any benefits from his very close friend Ken Lay?
Ken Lay didn’t become a “Pioneer” for the Bush campaign , raising huge amounts of money for it?
Posted by: Ryan C | September 18, 2009, 1:53 pm 1:53 pm