Americans on main street may have a bleak outlook on the Obama economy in 2014, but President Barack Obama’s Wall Street campaign donors and friends are scoring record profits off the Obamacare debacle–a reality that may further complicate Democrats’ “income inequality” message when voters head to the polls in November.
The most recent Gallup poll finds that 56% of Americans believe the economy is getting worse. For Obama’s big money backers, however, the Obamacare fiasco has generated massive profits and contracts. In 2008, the healthcare industry contributed an astounding $22,471,562 to Obama–a sum nearly three times greater than it donated to his Republican challenger. Their “investment” paid off in 2013, as the healthcare sector index gained 37.5%, making it the S&P 500’s best-performing sector.
That means big gains for Obama’s big donors, notes Government Accountability Institute President Peter Schweizer. For example:
- UnitedHealth Executive Vice President Anthony Welters raised over $500,000 for Obama in 2012. Wall Streeters expect UnitedHealth stock to rocket 40% over the next two years. UnitedHealth “also won big contracts to help implement the [Obamacare] rollout.”
- Obamacare winner Qualcomm has a subsidiary called Qualcomm Life that Schweizer says is “specifically designed to profit off Obamacare exchanges.” Qualcomm former Chairman Irwin Jacobs raised over $500,000 for Obama’s campaign in 2012.
- HBJ Investments chief Jay Snyder bundled over $500,000 for Obama’s campaign. HBJ invests in healthcare medical companies and pharmaceuticals and is “positioned to cash in on Obamacare.”
- Obama bundler David Friedman helped pump over $500,000 into Obama’s 2012 campaign coffers. Friedman, who founded Sandy River Health Systems, is “poised to do well” with Obamacare’s requirements that will boost his company’s nursing homes and long-term care businesses.
- Vice President Al Gore and his business partner David Blood’s Generational Investment Management has put over a quarter of its portfolio in healthcare investments. “Predictably, Blood bundled more than $500,000 for Obama in 2012.”
- Obama bundler Robert Pohlad bundled $500,000 for Obama’s 2012 election. His company, Pohlad Companies, which has a subsidiary called Arcadia Solutions, is a software company that is selling software to hospitals and doctors affected by Obamacare.
- Alexa Wesner bundled over $500,000 for Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign. Wesner works for Austin Ventures, which “has big stakes in Emerus Hospital Partners, which offers software to the health care industry. It also has holdings in Explorys, which “hopes to leverage big data in the health care sphere.”
Likewise, The Hill reports that over 30 former staffers, members of Congress, and White House officials with Obamacare experience are now working on K Street.
A few of those cashing in by walking through the revolving door are:
- Former Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), who served on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee where he oversaw healthcare and tax policies, signed up with Alston & Bird in 2011.
- Yvette Fontenot, former legislative adviser to Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), who joined Avenue Solutions, a four-woman Democratic lobbying firm that bags nearly $3 million a year.
- Dora Hughes, former senior counsel to Obama Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who signed up last year with Sidley Austin law firm to provide “strategic policy advice.”
- Chris Jennings, formerly of the Clinton administration, was picked up by the Obama White House last month to help with Obamacare implementation.
Whether Obama and Democrats can convince voters that his policies are serving main street interests over Wall Street and K Street interests remains to be seen.