Abramoff and Greenberg Traurig Law Firm Indicted in Guam
March 14, 2008 in Public Corruption by Solomon Wisenberg | No comments
They do things a little differently in Guam. Apparently without any advance notice to Greenberg Traurig LLP, the giant law firm was added to a Second Superseding Indictment in Guam, along with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who once worked for Greenberg Traurig. The ABA Journal story is here. Here is the Abramoff/Greenberg Traurig Indictment. The Pacific Daily News of Guam has coverage here. The charges were brought under Guam territorial law and essentially allege a conspiracy to evade the procedures and regulations, and misapproriate the funds of, the Superior Court of Guam, in an effort to hide lobbying activities undertaken by Abramoff and Greenberg Traurig on behalf of the Court. Greenberg Traurig has vowed to fight the Indictment, and has stated that it is a victim of Abramoff. From a quick view of the Second Superseding Indictment, it looks as if Greenberg Traurig may have simply been added because Abramoff worked for the firm at the time of the alleged events.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
The MOST Profitable investment is not metioned......
Does anyone know what I am referring to? Including this journalist....
Rainwater's 'Single Worst Investment'
Renowned investor Richard Rainwater saw 70% of the value drain out of his $100 million investment in Thornburg Mortgage
by Christopher Palmeri
Sometimes even billionaires make bone-headed moves. Richard Rainwater, the legendary Fort Worth investor, has seen a 70% decline in just two months on some $100 million he put into troubled home lender Thornburg Mortgage (TMA). Rainwater calls it the "the single worst investment of my career."
The 65-year-old-financier, with a fortune estimated at $3 billion by Forbes magazine, told BusinessWeek.com he was watching TV last year when he saw Thornburg's chief executive, Larry Goldstone, speaking about the mortgage crisis. "He seemed like a bright guy," Rainwater recalls. Rainwater says he then checked with some of his investment industry sources who said they considered Thornburg a "capable group."
Buying into the Jumbo Market
In January Rainwater plunked down about $100 million to buy roughly 5 million shares of the Santa Fe (N.M.) company's preferred stock. Rainwater bought shares both in a public offering that Thornburg had arranged and on the open market. He says his average cost was 21.45 a share. The preferred stock trades today at 6.25 per share; Thornburg common shares closed Mar. 13 at 2.26, down from 28 in May.
Filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission show that Rainwater and his wife, Darla Moore, own preferred stock convertible into 9.3 million shares of Thornburg's common stock, about 6% of the company's shares outstanding. By the time Rainwater invested, Thornburg was already in trouble. That was reflected in the fact that Thornburg was offering a dividend on the preferred shares of 10%. The company declined to comment on the issue.
Founded in 1993 by the current chairman, Garrett Thornburg, the company specializes in making "jumbo" single-family home loans to what it calls "superprime" customers. Those are individuals with credit scores of 744 or higher. Some 97% of its investments are in loans rated AA or higher by ratings agencies. Thornburg says just 0.4% of its loans are delinquent, compared to an industry average of more than 4%.
Rainwater says it was the high-end nature of Thornburg's business that attracted him to the company. "Housing values are suffering everywhere," he says. "But at the high end things are holding up better." On its Web site Thornburg is offering mortgage rates as low as 7.9%.
Crumbling Credit Markets
Last summer Thornburg averted greater financial difficulties by selling $20 billion of its assets. In recent weeks, though, its problems have escalated as lenders began requiring the company to put up more capital to back its mortgage investments. The company says it is presently negotiating with creditors who want $600 million in additional financing.
The problem, says Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) analyst Bose George, is that Thornburg has been funding its business with short-term loans. That worked when capital was easy to find. "They have one of the best balance sheets on the asset side," George says. "The problem is in the market—it's hard to borrow money." George says he sees the market shifting away from independent lenders such as Countrywide Financial (CFC) and Thornburg. In the future, "mortgage lending is going to be done by banks," he says. "Nonbanks have turned out to be extremely vulnerable to this kind of downturn."
Win Some, Lose Some (HMMMMMMM....WHAT IS MISSING?)
Rainwater is famous for scooping up assets in troubled companies. As a chief adviser to Fort Worth's billionaire Bass brothers in the 1980s, he directed the family to invest in then-floundering Walt Disney (DIS). That company went on to great success under Chief Executive Michael Eisner. In the 1990s, Rainwater plunged into oil and gas companies then struggling with low commodities prices. He invested in the Hunt brothers' bankrupt Penrod Drilling, since merged into Ensco International (ESV), and T. Boone Pickens' Mesa Petroleum, now a part of Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD). "Oil I understand," Rainwater says. "Interest rates…?"
Last August Rainwater sold Crescent Real Estate Equities to Morgan Stanley (MS) for $6.5 billion. Crescent was a big owner of office buildings. Rainwater sold at what now looks to have been the peak of the recent commercial real estate cycle. "It just seemed like the right time to do it," he says, with the prices paid for office property working out to yield just 4% to 5% for buyers.
Rainwater says his portfolio is still up for the year thanks to his energy holdings, which include blue chip oil and gas companies such as Chevron (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP).
Nonetheless, he says, the losses so far on Thornburg "still don't feel good."
Palmeri is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Los Angeles bureau .
Rainwater's 'Single Worst Investment'
Renowned investor Richard Rainwater saw 70% of the value drain out of his $100 million investment in Thornburg Mortgage
by Christopher Palmeri
Sometimes even billionaires make bone-headed moves. Richard Rainwater, the legendary Fort Worth investor, has seen a 70% decline in just two months on some $100 million he put into troubled home lender Thornburg Mortgage (TMA). Rainwater calls it the "the single worst investment of my career."
The 65-year-old-financier, with a fortune estimated at $3 billion by Forbes magazine, told BusinessWeek.com he was watching TV last year when he saw Thornburg's chief executive, Larry Goldstone, speaking about the mortgage crisis. "He seemed like a bright guy," Rainwater recalls. Rainwater says he then checked with some of his investment industry sources who said they considered Thornburg a "capable group."
Buying into the Jumbo Market
In January Rainwater plunked down about $100 million to buy roughly 5 million shares of the Santa Fe (N.M.) company's preferred stock. Rainwater bought shares both in a public offering that Thornburg had arranged and on the open market. He says his average cost was 21.45 a share. The preferred stock trades today at 6.25 per share; Thornburg common shares closed Mar. 13 at 2.26, down from 28 in May.
Filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission show that Rainwater and his wife, Darla Moore, own preferred stock convertible into 9.3 million shares of Thornburg's common stock, about 6% of the company's shares outstanding. By the time Rainwater invested, Thornburg was already in trouble. That was reflected in the fact that Thornburg was offering a dividend on the preferred shares of 10%. The company declined to comment on the issue.
Founded in 1993 by the current chairman, Garrett Thornburg, the company specializes in making "jumbo" single-family home loans to what it calls "superprime" customers. Those are individuals with credit scores of 744 or higher. Some 97% of its investments are in loans rated AA or higher by ratings agencies. Thornburg says just 0.4% of its loans are delinquent, compared to an industry average of more than 4%.
Rainwater says it was the high-end nature of Thornburg's business that attracted him to the company. "Housing values are suffering everywhere," he says. "But at the high end things are holding up better." On its Web site Thornburg is offering mortgage rates as low as 7.9%.
Crumbling Credit Markets
Last summer Thornburg averted greater financial difficulties by selling $20 billion of its assets. In recent weeks, though, its problems have escalated as lenders began requiring the company to put up more capital to back its mortgage investments. The company says it is presently negotiating with creditors who want $600 million in additional financing.
The problem, says Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) analyst Bose George, is that Thornburg has been funding its business with short-term loans. That worked when capital was easy to find. "They have one of the best balance sheets on the asset side," George says. "The problem is in the market—it's hard to borrow money." George says he sees the market shifting away from independent lenders such as Countrywide Financial (CFC) and Thornburg. In the future, "mortgage lending is going to be done by banks," he says. "Nonbanks have turned out to be extremely vulnerable to this kind of downturn."
Win Some, Lose Some (HMMMMMMM....WHAT IS MISSING?)
Rainwater is famous for scooping up assets in troubled companies. As a chief adviser to Fort Worth's billionaire Bass brothers in the 1980s, he directed the family to invest in then-floundering Walt Disney (DIS). That company went on to great success under Chief Executive Michael Eisner. In the 1990s, Rainwater plunged into oil and gas companies then struggling with low commodities prices. He invested in the Hunt brothers' bankrupt Penrod Drilling, since merged into Ensco International (ESV), and T. Boone Pickens' Mesa Petroleum, now a part of Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD). "Oil I understand," Rainwater says. "Interest rates…?"
Last August Rainwater sold Crescent Real Estate Equities to Morgan Stanley (MS) for $6.5 billion. Crescent was a big owner of office buildings. Rainwater sold at what now looks to have been the peak of the recent commercial real estate cycle. "It just seemed like the right time to do it," he says, with the prices paid for office property working out to yield just 4% to 5% for buyers.
Rainwater says his portfolio is still up for the year thanks to his energy holdings, which include blue chip oil and gas companies such as Chevron (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP).
Nonetheless, he says, the losses so far on Thornburg "still don't feel good."
Palmeri is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Los Angeles bureau .
Friday, March 7, 2008
Just another Bankruptcy....CORPORATE of course!
Thank goodness we can get rid of all our debt!
and thank GOD for the "Bankruptcy Queen!"
Thornburg Mortgage plunges on bankruptcy worryReuters, Monday March 3 2008 (Adds Deerfield, IndyMac, updates stock, paragraphs 4, 15-16)
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) - Thornburg Mortgage Inc said on Monday it has failed to meet a surge in margin calls, raising concern the jumbo mortgage lender might file for bankruptcy and causing its shares to fall by more than half.
Thornburg said it has faced $270 million of margin calls since Feb 27, on top of more than $300 million in the prior two weeks.
The company said it was able to meet the earlier calls but could not meet a "substantial majority" of the new calls because of "limited available liquidity." Margin calls force borrowers to pay back loans or post more collateral.
Shares of Thornburg fell $5.26, or 59 percent, to $3.64 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Thornburg said it is trying to sell securities, offer debt or raise capital to bolster liquidity. It also said its failure to meet a $28 million call caused one lender to declare a default, and that more failures could materially hurt its ability to operate normally.
"Thornburg will have to sell assets in a distressed market or raise equity capital to meet margin calls," wrote Donald Fandetti, an analyst at Citigroup Global Markets. "Failure to complete either of these two could put Thornburg at risk of bankruptcy."
Fandetti downgraded Thornburg to "sell" from "hold." He expects the company to suspend the quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share it reinstituted in December. Credit Suisse analyst Moshe Orenbuch downgraded Thornburg to "underperform" from "neutral."
Thornburg did not immediately return requests for comment.
In a statement, Chief Executive Larry Goldstone said, "Although this is a difficult time for the company, we are working diligently to satisfy all of our lenders as soon as possible and return to financial stability."
JUMBO TROUBLES
Thornburg has suffered as the housing slump and tight credit conditions caused investors to stop buying many securities they no longer consider safe, including the higher-rated mortgages above $417,000 in which Thornburg specializes.
The company said failure to meet further margin calls could lead to more defaults and liquidations, causing a "material adverse effect on the company's ability to continue its business in the current manner."
On Feb. 28, Thornburg said the earlier margin calls related to $2.9 billion of securities backed by below-prime "Alt-A" mortgages that fell quickly in value. It said these became less liquid after Swiss bank UBS AG on Feb. 14 announced a $2 billion write-down on $26.6 billion of Alt-A exposure.
Thornburg ended 2007 with $35.4 billion of adjustable-rate mortgages on its balance sheet. It lost $1.08 billion in last year's third quarter as it scrambled to sell $21.9 billion of home loans, but posted a $64.8 million fourth-quarter profit.
In January, Legg Mason Capital Management reported a 9.08 percent stake in Thornburg, while real estate and energy investor Richard Rainwater disclosed a 5.5 percent stake.
Shares of other mortgage companies also fell in afternoon trading.
IndyMac Bancorp Inc dropped nearly 20 percent after the lender said delinquencies and foreclosures rose in January while loan volume fell. Deerfield Capital Corp fell 52 percent after the investment company said it lost $152.9 million from the sale of $1.3 billion of "triple-A" rated residential mortgage-backed securities from Jan. 1 to Feb. 15. (Editing by Dave Zimmerman and John Wallace)
and thank GOD for the "Bankruptcy Queen!"
Thornburg Mortgage plunges on bankruptcy worryReuters, Monday March 3 2008 (Adds Deerfield, IndyMac, updates stock, paragraphs 4, 15-16)
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) - Thornburg Mortgage Inc said on Monday it has failed to meet a surge in margin calls, raising concern the jumbo mortgage lender might file for bankruptcy and causing its shares to fall by more than half.
Thornburg said it has faced $270 million of margin calls since Feb 27, on top of more than $300 million in the prior two weeks.
The company said it was able to meet the earlier calls but could not meet a "substantial majority" of the new calls because of "limited available liquidity." Margin calls force borrowers to pay back loans or post more collateral.
Shares of Thornburg fell $5.26, or 59 percent, to $3.64 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Thornburg said it is trying to sell securities, offer debt or raise capital to bolster liquidity. It also said its failure to meet a $28 million call caused one lender to declare a default, and that more failures could materially hurt its ability to operate normally.
"Thornburg will have to sell assets in a distressed market or raise equity capital to meet margin calls," wrote Donald Fandetti, an analyst at Citigroup Global Markets. "Failure to complete either of these two could put Thornburg at risk of bankruptcy."
Fandetti downgraded Thornburg to "sell" from "hold." He expects the company to suspend the quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share it reinstituted in December. Credit Suisse analyst Moshe Orenbuch downgraded Thornburg to "underperform" from "neutral."
Thornburg did not immediately return requests for comment.
In a statement, Chief Executive Larry Goldstone said, "Although this is a difficult time for the company, we are working diligently to satisfy all of our lenders as soon as possible and return to financial stability."
JUMBO TROUBLES
Thornburg has suffered as the housing slump and tight credit conditions caused investors to stop buying many securities they no longer consider safe, including the higher-rated mortgages above $417,000 in which Thornburg specializes.
The company said failure to meet further margin calls could lead to more defaults and liquidations, causing a "material adverse effect on the company's ability to continue its business in the current manner."
On Feb. 28, Thornburg said the earlier margin calls related to $2.9 billion of securities backed by below-prime "Alt-A" mortgages that fell quickly in value. It said these became less liquid after Swiss bank UBS AG on Feb. 14 announced a $2 billion write-down on $26.6 billion of Alt-A exposure.
Thornburg ended 2007 with $35.4 billion of adjustable-rate mortgages on its balance sheet. It lost $1.08 billion in last year's third quarter as it scrambled to sell $21.9 billion of home loans, but posted a $64.8 million fourth-quarter profit.
In January, Legg Mason Capital Management reported a 9.08 percent stake in Thornburg, while real estate and energy investor Richard Rainwater disclosed a 5.5 percent stake.
Shares of other mortgage companies also fell in afternoon trading.
IndyMac Bancorp Inc dropped nearly 20 percent after the lender said delinquencies and foreclosures rose in January while loan volume fell. Deerfield Capital Corp fell 52 percent after the investment company said it lost $152.9 million from the sale of $1.3 billion of "triple-A" rated residential mortgage-backed securities from Jan. 1 to Feb. 15. (Editing by Dave Zimmerman and John Wallace)
Monday, March 3, 2008
Nursing Home Lobbyists Had Access during Clinton Years!!!
Clinton vs McCain...Same old same old!!
Who is getting tough on what Lobbysists ?
Nursing Home Lobbyists Had Access
Monday, March 3, 2008
The New York Times
Published: April 23, 1997
Nursing home executives were lobbying the Clinton Administration to relax enforcement of rules affecting their industry even as they contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Democratic Party last year.
The executives attended coffees at the White House with President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. One slept in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House and has since become finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Several big contributors in the industry pressed their case in meetings with Donna E. Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Bruce C. Vladeck, who supervises Medicaid and Medicare as administrator of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration.
The executives were also fighting cuts in the two Federal health programs, for poor people and the elderly. They did not get everything they wanted, they say, but interviews with Federal officials and nursing home executives suggest that their contributions helped them gain more access than they would otherwise have had.
Nursing homes, which are extensively regulated by the Federal Government, derive more than half of their revenue from Medicaid and Medicare. Even small changes in rules or reimbursement can have enormous implications for them.
Alan D. Solomont was chief executive of the ADS Group, the largest nursing home company in Massachusetts, when he wrote to Mr. Vladeck complaining about ''serious problems and flaws'' in the enforcement of nursing home regulations last May. In his letter, he urged the Administration to limit the use of ''civil monetary penalties,'' or fines, imposed on nursing homes found to have violated Federal standards.
Fines for violating the regulations, covering almost every aspect of nursing home care, can range up to $10,000 a day.
When he wrote the letter, Mr. Solomont was chairman of the Democratic Business Council, which raised almost $20 million for the Democratic Party last year. On Jan. 22 of this year, he became finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
''I believe I was recommended for this job by the President and the Vice President,'' he said in an interview last week. Administration officials confirmed his statement.
The Democratic National Committee has been at the center of a furor over fund-raising, as investigators try to determine what, if anything, donors got for their contributions.
Mr. Solomont, a former president of the Massachusetts Federation of Nursing Homes, said he met with Federal officials last year not because he was a big donor, but because he was ''a credible, progressive voice'' for the industry. At the time, he said, he and Mr. Clinton were resisting Republican efforts to dismantle the Medicaid program and to roll back Federal standards for nursing homes.
''I wanted to get nursing home people solidly behind the President's plan to preserve Medicaid and to preserve Federal standards,'' Mr. Solomont said in the interview.
''I thought that the Administration would find more support for its stand if it listened to the legitimate concerns of health care providers. The average nursing home provider hates Government and feels burdened by Federal regulation. I wanted the providers and the Government to sit down and see how they could collaborate to elevate the quality of care.''
Mr. Clinton had already unveiled his own plan to reduce the growth of Medicaid, but it would not have saved as much or turned the program over to the states.
The Multicare Companies of Hackensack, N.J., bought Mr. Solomont's company for $60 million in December. He recently relinquished his position as vice chairman of Multicare, but remains a consultant.
In 1995 and 1996, Mr. Solomont, his company, his wife, his mother and his three brothers gave more than $187,000 to the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton-Gore campaign. Since becoming finance chairman of the Democratic Party in January, Mr. Solomont said, ''I have not engaged in any advocacy on matters related to nursing homes.''
Mr. Clinton has repeatedly asserted that big campaign contributors received no special favors from his Administration, and nursing home executives echo that view. Some of their requests were granted; some were denied. But the executives had exceptional access to top Administration officials.
Though money often buys access to power in Washington, the efforts of the nursing home industry are particularly well documented. Federal election laws limit donations to candidates to $1,000 from an individual and $5,000 from a political action committee. But there is no ceiling on contributions to political parties for party-building activities.
Paul R. Willging, executive vice president of the American Health Care Association, which represents more than 10,000 nursing homes, said he wanted the Government to take ''a more reasonable approach'' to enforcement of nursing home rules.
''I have never seen money tied to favors,'' said Mr. Willging, who was deputy administrator of the health care financing agency under President Ronald Reagan. ''But access is critical. There is no question that a willingness to participate in the electoral process, including financial participation, does help insure access.''
Bruce Yarwood, chief lobbyist for the American Health Care Association, attended coffees with Mr. Gore in May 1995 and March 1996, according to White House records. Records of the Federal Election Commission show that Mr. Yarwood donated $90,000 to the Democratic National Committee in those years. Mr. Willging said most of the money came from the trade association.
Mr. Vladeck came to Washington as a critic of the nursing home industry. In a 1980 book, ''Unloving Care,'' he documented mistreatment of nursing home residents. He served on a panel of the National Academy of Sciences that recommended tougher regulation of the industry in 1986. Most of the recommendations were incorporated in a 1987 law.
Howard J. Bedlin, vice president of the National Council on the Aging, a research and advocacy group, said: ''Bruce is probably the best H.C.F.A. administrator we've had. But in the last 18 months, there has been a clear pattern of the agency caving in to industry pressure to weaken the nursing home quality law, to the detriment of nursing home residents.''
Chris Jennings, a White House aide who coordinates health policy for the President, said he met with Mr. Solomont several times and knew he was a big contributor, but was not influenced by him any more than by the consumer advocates he met with. In any event, Mr. Jennings said, nursing home executives dislike many of the President's policies, because they believe the policies will reduce their revenues.
Another big contributor, Dr. Robert N. Elkins, chairman of Integrated Health Services of Owings Mills, Md., and his company gave $560,000 to the Democratic National Committee from December 1995 to November 1996. Two of the contributions, totaling $125,000, were made on Dec. 20, 1995, one day before Dr. Elkins attended a coffee with Mr. Clinton. White House records show that Dr. Elkins attended one coffee with Mr. Gore and three with Mr. Clinton in a six-week period in 1995-96.
Dr. Elkins's company operates nursing homes, home health care agencies, hospices and other medical services regulated and reimbursed by the Federal Government. Marc B. Levin, executive vice president of the company, said that neither he nor Dr. Elkins would discuss the campaign contributions.
Nursing home executives and Federal health officials were particularly active in July 1996, as the Presidential campaign heated up, though people on both sides now insist that the timing was just a coincidence.
Government records show that Dr. Elkins's company gave $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee on July 5 and $120,000 on July 24.
In a letter to the nursing home association on July 26, Dr. Vladeck said he had given the industry a draft policy statement describing the proper use of civil monetary penalties, and he added, ''My staff is available to discuss the language of this instruction before it is final.''
In the past, the Government had authorized the use of fines to correct minor violations. In the new policy issued in January, the Government said such penalties should be ''reserved for situations of serious noncompliance.''
Toby S. Edelman, a lawyer at the National Senior Citizens Law Center, a consumer group, said: ''Advocates for nursing home residents had far less access to senior Federal officials and much less opportunity to review the changes in policy on civil monetary penalties. Indeed, we saw no reason to change the policy.''
In October, the Administration came up with a proposal that would have scaled back inspections of many nursing homes. But in December, after the plan became public, the White House shelved it under a barrage of criticism from consumer groups and members of Congress.
Who is getting tough on what Lobbysists ?
Nursing Home Lobbyists Had Access
Monday, March 3, 2008
The New York Times
Published: April 23, 1997
Nursing home executives were lobbying the Clinton Administration to relax enforcement of rules affecting their industry even as they contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Democratic Party last year.
The executives attended coffees at the White House with President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. One slept in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House and has since become finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Several big contributors in the industry pressed their case in meetings with Donna E. Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Bruce C. Vladeck, who supervises Medicaid and Medicare as administrator of the Federal Health Care Financing Administration.
The executives were also fighting cuts in the two Federal health programs, for poor people and the elderly. They did not get everything they wanted, they say, but interviews with Federal officials and nursing home executives suggest that their contributions helped them gain more access than they would otherwise have had.
Nursing homes, which are extensively regulated by the Federal Government, derive more than half of their revenue from Medicaid and Medicare. Even small changes in rules or reimbursement can have enormous implications for them.
Alan D. Solomont was chief executive of the ADS Group, the largest nursing home company in Massachusetts, when he wrote to Mr. Vladeck complaining about ''serious problems and flaws'' in the enforcement of nursing home regulations last May. In his letter, he urged the Administration to limit the use of ''civil monetary penalties,'' or fines, imposed on nursing homes found to have violated Federal standards.
Fines for violating the regulations, covering almost every aspect of nursing home care, can range up to $10,000 a day.
When he wrote the letter, Mr. Solomont was chairman of the Democratic Business Council, which raised almost $20 million for the Democratic Party last year. On Jan. 22 of this year, he became finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
''I believe I was recommended for this job by the President and the Vice President,'' he said in an interview last week. Administration officials confirmed his statement.
The Democratic National Committee has been at the center of a furor over fund-raising, as investigators try to determine what, if anything, donors got for their contributions.
Mr. Solomont, a former president of the Massachusetts Federation of Nursing Homes, said he met with Federal officials last year not because he was a big donor, but because he was ''a credible, progressive voice'' for the industry. At the time, he said, he and Mr. Clinton were resisting Republican efforts to dismantle the Medicaid program and to roll back Federal standards for nursing homes.
''I wanted to get nursing home people solidly behind the President's plan to preserve Medicaid and to preserve Federal standards,'' Mr. Solomont said in the interview.
''I thought that the Administration would find more support for its stand if it listened to the legitimate concerns of health care providers. The average nursing home provider hates Government and feels burdened by Federal regulation. I wanted the providers and the Government to sit down and see how they could collaborate to elevate the quality of care.''
Mr. Clinton had already unveiled his own plan to reduce the growth of Medicaid, but it would not have saved as much or turned the program over to the states.
The Multicare Companies of Hackensack, N.J., bought Mr. Solomont's company for $60 million in December. He recently relinquished his position as vice chairman of Multicare, but remains a consultant.
In 1995 and 1996, Mr. Solomont, his company, his wife, his mother and his three brothers gave more than $187,000 to the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton-Gore campaign. Since becoming finance chairman of the Democratic Party in January, Mr. Solomont said, ''I have not engaged in any advocacy on matters related to nursing homes.''
Mr. Clinton has repeatedly asserted that big campaign contributors received no special favors from his Administration, and nursing home executives echo that view. Some of their requests were granted; some were denied. But the executives had exceptional access to top Administration officials.
Though money often buys access to power in Washington, the efforts of the nursing home industry are particularly well documented. Federal election laws limit donations to candidates to $1,000 from an individual and $5,000 from a political action committee. But there is no ceiling on contributions to political parties for party-building activities.
Paul R. Willging, executive vice president of the American Health Care Association, which represents more than 10,000 nursing homes, said he wanted the Government to take ''a more reasonable approach'' to enforcement of nursing home rules.
''I have never seen money tied to favors,'' said Mr. Willging, who was deputy administrator of the health care financing agency under President Ronald Reagan. ''But access is critical. There is no question that a willingness to participate in the electoral process, including financial participation, does help insure access.''
Bruce Yarwood, chief lobbyist for the American Health Care Association, attended coffees with Mr. Gore in May 1995 and March 1996, according to White House records. Records of the Federal Election Commission show that Mr. Yarwood donated $90,000 to the Democratic National Committee in those years. Mr. Willging said most of the money came from the trade association.
Mr. Vladeck came to Washington as a critic of the nursing home industry. In a 1980 book, ''Unloving Care,'' he documented mistreatment of nursing home residents. He served on a panel of the National Academy of Sciences that recommended tougher regulation of the industry in 1986. Most of the recommendations were incorporated in a 1987 law.
Howard J. Bedlin, vice president of the National Council on the Aging, a research and advocacy group, said: ''Bruce is probably the best H.C.F.A. administrator we've had. But in the last 18 months, there has been a clear pattern of the agency caving in to industry pressure to weaken the nursing home quality law, to the detriment of nursing home residents.''
Chris Jennings, a White House aide who coordinates health policy for the President, said he met with Mr. Solomont several times and knew he was a big contributor, but was not influenced by him any more than by the consumer advocates he met with. In any event, Mr. Jennings said, nursing home executives dislike many of the President's policies, because they believe the policies will reduce their revenues.
Another big contributor, Dr. Robert N. Elkins, chairman of Integrated Health Services of Owings Mills, Md., and his company gave $560,000 to the Democratic National Committee from December 1995 to November 1996. Two of the contributions, totaling $125,000, were made on Dec. 20, 1995, one day before Dr. Elkins attended a coffee with Mr. Clinton. White House records show that Dr. Elkins attended one coffee with Mr. Gore and three with Mr. Clinton in a six-week period in 1995-96.
Dr. Elkins's company operates nursing homes, home health care agencies, hospices and other medical services regulated and reimbursed by the Federal Government. Marc B. Levin, executive vice president of the company, said that neither he nor Dr. Elkins would discuss the campaign contributions.
Nursing home executives and Federal health officials were particularly active in July 1996, as the Presidential campaign heated up, though people on both sides now insist that the timing was just a coincidence.
Government records show that Dr. Elkins's company gave $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee on July 5 and $120,000 on July 24.
In a letter to the nursing home association on July 26, Dr. Vladeck said he had given the industry a draft policy statement describing the proper use of civil monetary penalties, and he added, ''My staff is available to discuss the language of this instruction before it is final.''
In the past, the Government had authorized the use of fines to correct minor violations. In the new policy issued in January, the Government said such penalties should be ''reserved for situations of serious noncompliance.''
Toby S. Edelman, a lawyer at the National Senior Citizens Law Center, a consumer group, said: ''Advocates for nursing home residents had far less access to senior Federal officials and much less opportunity to review the changes in policy on civil monetary penalties. Indeed, we saw no reason to change the policy.''
In October, the Administration came up with a proposal that would have scaled back inspections of many nursing homes. But in December, after the plan became public, the White House shelved it under a barrage of criticism from consumer groups and members of Congress.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)