ObamaCare Funds May Have Been Used for Lobbyist Payday

Dems Gutted Medicare to Pay for ObamaCare’s Wastful Spending on Urban Gardening, Bike Clubs and Now Illegal Payments to Lobbyists

• According to the Obama HHS Inspector General, taxpayer dollars that paid for ObamaCare may have been used to illegally fund and encourage political lobbying.
• This is just the latest example of wasteful spending under a $1.76 trillion government takeover of healthcare that has already funded urban gardening and bike clubs.
• Even as Democrats continue to waste money implementing ObamaCare, they’re cutting money from Medicare to pay for their government takeover of healthcare.

According to the Obama HHS Inspector General, taxpayer dollars that paid for ObamaCare may have been used to illegally fund and encourage political lobbying:

“HHS INSPECTOR GENERAL: HEALTH GRANTS COULD HAVE ILLEGALLY FUNDED LOBBYING”: (Sam Baker, “HHS Inspector General Could Have Illegally Funded Lobbying,” The Hill, 7/10/2012)

OBAMACARE PROGRAM “MIGHT HAVE LED RECEIPIENTS TO BELIEVE LOBBYING WAS APPROPRIATE”: “Federal healthcare grants might have been illegally used for political lobbying, according to the Health and Human Services Department’s inspector general. The inspector general said grants administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) might have been used for lobbying efforts — and that the CDC might have led recipients to believe lobbying was appropriate, despite a federal ban on using grant money for political activism.” (Sam Baker, “HHS Inspector General Could Have Illegally Funded Lobbying,” The Hill, 7/10/2012)

MATERIALS PROVIDED UNDER OBAMACARE “COULD APPEAR TO ENCOURAGE LOBBYING” WITH TAXPAYER MONEY: “But the inspector general said that admonition is vague and incomplete, and that other materials provided by the CDC could appear to encourage lobbying. For example, a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ document said grantees should outline a ‘comprehensive plan to reduce tobacco use through legislative, regulatory and educational arenas.’ The CDC also outlined potential strategies for using the grant money, several of which would require legislative action, Levinson said.” (Sam Baker, “HHS Inspector General Could Have Illegally Funded Lobbying,” The Hill, 7/10/2012)

This is just the latest example of wasteful spending under a $1.76 trillion government takeover of healthcare that has already funded urban gardening and bike clubs:

CITY OF BOSTON GETS $1 MILLION TO SPEND ON “URBAN GARDENING”: (Press Release, “EXAM ROOM: ObamaCare Funnels Taxpayer Dollars to Grant Program that Funds Pet Neutering, Bike Clubs, and Lobbying Efforts to Increase Taxes,” House Energy and Commerce Committee, 5/2/2012) 

PITT COUNTY, NC GETS A GRANT TO PLACE “SIGNAGE TO PROMOTE RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING PUBLIC PARKS, BIKE LANES, AND MORE”: (Press Release, “EXAM ROOM: ObamaCare Funnels Taxpayer Dollars to Grant Program that Funds Pet Neutering, Bike Clubs, and Lobbying Efforts to Increase Taxes,” House Energy and Commerce Committee, 5/2/2012) 

WASHINGTON STATE BIKE CLUB GETS PART OF $3 MILLION GRANT TO IMPROVE “WALKING AND BIKING ENVIRONMENT”: (Press Release, “EXAM ROOM: ObamaCare Funnels Taxpayer Dollars to Grant Program that Funds Pet Neutering, Bike Clubs, and Lobbying Efforts to Increase Taxes,” House Energy and Commerce Committee, 5/2/2012) 

STUDY: “MORE THAN $20 BILLION SPENT ON HEALTHCARE INCENTIVES MAY BE WASTED”: (“More Than $20 Billion Spent on Healthcare Incentives May Be Wasted,”The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch Blog, 5/14/2012)

PHILADELPHIA HEALTH DEPARTMENT USED OBAMACARE GRANT TO PUSH FOR HIGHER EXCISE TAXES: (Press Release, “EXAM ROOM: ObamaCare Funnels Taxpayer Dollars to Grant Program that Funds Pet Neutering, Bike Clubs, and Lobbying Efforts to Increase Taxes,” House Energy and Commerce Committee, 5/2/2012) 

NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH USED $3 MILLION OBAMACARE GRANT TO PUSH FOR HIGHER TAXES ON SODA: (Press Release, “EXAM ROOM: ObamaCare Funnels Taxpayer Dollars to Grant Program that Funds Pet Neutering, Bike Clubs, and Lobbying Efforts to Increase Taxes,” House Energy and Commerce Committee, 5/2/2012)

$1.76 TRILLION COST TO GOVERNMENT OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS: (Phillip Klein, “CBO: ObamaCare to Cost $1.76 Trillion Over 10 Years,” The Washington Examiner, 3/13/2012)

Even as Democrats continue to waste money implementing ObamaCare, they’re cutting money from Medicare to pay for their government takeover of healthcare:

$500 BILLION CUT FROM MEDICARE SO DEMOCRATS COULD PAY FOR OBAMACARE: “It would cut an additional $60 billion from Medicare, bringing total cuts to the program to more than $500 billion over the next 10 years.” (Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery, “With Senate ‘Fixes’ Bill, GOP Sees Last Chance to Change Health-Care Reform,” The Washington Post, 3/24/2012)

PELOSI ADMITS “WE TOOK HALF A TRILLION DOLLARS OUT OF MEDICARE” WITH GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER: “You don’t have to have cuts in those initiatives in order to reduce cost there, and we have proven that we’re willing to make cuts in the cost to initiatives. We took half a trillion dollars out of Medicare in the Affordable Care Act, the health care bill, already, and there’s certainly more opportunities for savings in that respect.” (Remarks from Nancy Pelosi, CNBC’s “Closing Bell”, 10/29/2011)