Open Thread: Top Romney Aide Made Millions from Obamacare
Posted: June 4, 2012 Filed under: 2012 presidential campaign, Tea Party activists, The Right Wing, U.S. Politics, Voter Ignorance | Tags: Affordable Care Act, Department of Health and Human Services, Health care, Mike Leavitt, Mitt Romney, Obamacare, Rep. Jason Chaffetz 24 Comments
Best buds Mike and Mitt
Lots of corporate news sources were buzzing over the weekend about Romney’s appointment of former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt to head up his transition team. It’s also assumed that Leavitt would have the inside track to get the plum role of Chief of Staff in a Romney administration. Leavitt is also the guy who hired Romney to turn around the scandal-plagued Winter Olympics in 2002.
According to Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Romney adviser, Leavitt is “the ideal candidate” for the transition job because of:
his three terms as Utah governor as well as serving as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush.
“Mike Leavitt checks every box. It’s a combination of experience and personal relationship,” Chaffetz said. “He can help outline the parameters of what a transition would look like.”
Leavitt has been on board with the Romney campaign throughout the primaries; he has his own office at the Boston headquarters. He and Romney are close, says Politico, and they’re “a lot alike.”
One Romneyland figure said Leavitt’s influence is derived from the fact that he is a spoke in many of the concentric circles around the candidate. Leavitt is part of Romney’s orbit of Mormon associates, but he also sits in the realm of the policy gurus, political counselors, fellow governors and veterans of the Salt Lake Olympics.
So with little fanfare, he has become one of the most influential advisers to the candidate this election cycle. He has an office at the Boston headquarters, travels with Romney at times, has been summoned to rally donors and is tight enough with the high command that he scored an invite to campaign manager Matt Rhoades’s engagement party last month.
He’s also a surrogate and has headlined health care policy discussions at $10,000 per-person Beltway fundraisers for Romney.
Romney officials say Leavitt is often circumspect but has an E.F. Hutton-like effect when he does speak up; many in Boston believe he offers much of his advice directly to Romney — something Leavitt suggests is accurate.
Mike Leavitt
Although it happened following Leavitt’s tenure, Utah was the second state after Massachusetts to institute universal health care. And Leavitt is the health care business–and he’s made millions in profits from Obamacare. At Salon, Alex Seitz-Wald writes:
Leavitt, who served as Health and Human Services secretary under George W. Bush, leads a firm that has positioned itself as a leading consultancy to help implement the Affordable Care Act (PDF), and it’s already won contracts to do so.
Just two weeks ago, the company was awarded a $1 million contract with the state of New Mexico to help it build its exchanges, and Politico reported that the “size of his firm, Leavitt Partners, doubled in the year after the bill was signed as they won contracts to help states set up the exchanges funded by the legislation.”
On its web site, Leavitt Partners features prominently its “Health Insurance Exchange Intelligence Team,” an entire section of the business that advises clients on how to implement and respond to the health insurance exchanges created by Obamacare.
“The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) altered many of the fundamentals of healthcare coverage and financing,” the company’s website states. “Our team has a deep background and understanding of exchanges, from the policy side to the technical requirements and infrastructure necessary to operate an exchange. Our team members have unique experience in building exchanges and analyzing health insurance markets.”
Today, the right wingers have suddenly awakened from the collective trance that followed their reluctant recognition that Romney’s their guy now. And they are not happy about the Leavitt appointment. From TPM:
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Leavitt “strenuously backed the core piece of President Barack Obama’s health-care law and urged the states to move forward together in adopting health insurance exchanges.” And his stance hasn’t changed: “We believe that the exchanges are the solution to small business insurance market and that’s gotten us sideways with some conservatives,” Leavitt’s top aide Rich McKeown told Politico.
“We’re troubled by it,” Dean Clancy, who runs health care advocacy for the Dick Armey-led conservative group FreedomWorks, told TPM Monday via email. “We’re very concerned. The tea party grassroots have always feared that Gov. Romney would be a weak standard bearer because of RomneyCare. This choice only reinforces those doubts. Tapping a high-profile ObamaCare profiteer is disturbing, there’s no way around it. … The tea party has been fighting exchanges in state after state.”
Michael Cannon, who directs health policy for the libertarian Cato Institute, reacted to the Leavitt choice in a blog post he penned: “Romney’s appointment of Leavitt is a first step toward flip-flopping — or Etch-a-Sketching, or Romneying(TM), or whatever — on ObamaCare repeal.”
The right wing blogs are in a tizzy too. Time to break out the popcorn!
peej
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Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
I keep saying this but here it is again …
The more I hear about his man the more I really really dislike and distrust him.
I’m also assuming this dude is a Morman Man insider too who is just waiting for his multiple wife opportunity when he dies and goes to the home planet with Jesus.
Yup, he’s one of the Mormon Mafia.
Me too! I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. Thank you BB for keeping up the fire on Romney.
It’s a labor of love.
I agree with JJ.
BB, you have done a fantastic job uncovering the real Romney. Before you started doing your posts about him, I thought MItt was just a bland, moderate Republican from MA. Now I know he is so much worse than that. Keep up the good work.
Great post! If the Republicans end up sitting on their hands like they did with McCain, and chances are they will, who do they turn to next? It pretty much has to be a real firebreathing true believer that the base can get behind…
The one thing I can guarantee that Romney will try to do is lower his own taxes: Mitt Romney would save $5 million per year with his tax plan.
Here’s another quote from the TPM story, really funny:
Leavitt replaced Christy Todd Whitman at EPA. Although the rewriting of the climate report of EPA scientists took place while Whitman was there (and behind her back) here’s a link to remind ya’ll: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2003/sep/21/usnews.georgewbush
Leavitt was at the EPA for just over a year. He started the work on Bush’s Clear Skies (a greenwashing name for “let them pollute”) before leaving for HHS. I think you might find this article interesting: http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/epa-love-it-or-leavitt/ Then there is this: http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2487505
Granted it’s old news, but aren’t we simply reliving history? At least Bill Murray learned from his mistakes in Groundhog Day.
Good links, Connie. Thanks.
Thanks, Connie. I didn’t remember he was at EPA too.
From commenter Roy Webb at Pierce’s place.
Wow. I’ve actually been meaning to read that book. Now I definitely will! Thanks, Ralph.
Walker leads Barrett by 3 points in the latest PPP poll, but Barrett seems to have the momentum.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/06/walker-leads-by-3-points.html
It’s also important to note that Walker has been at around 50% for months despite all the money coming into the state to support him. Turnout is going to be crucial!!
That’s a good ad. Obama needs to put out a rather big plan for the economy going forward. No matter that congress won’t pass it, just tell people what he wants to do with no hedging.
Chris Matthews had a major rant on his show about that tonight. Obama needs to really attack the Republicans for their obvious desire to prevent the economy from improving before the election.
Maybe I better rethink it? 😉
No, I think he will have to do that before the Fall. Or maybe let Bill Clinton go negative since there’s a headline on memeorandum now “Bill Clinton: Romney Presidency Would Be Calamitous For The World”.
This should help Elizabeth Warren.
Senator Brown sought to loosen bank rules
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/06/03/senator-brown-sought-loosen-bank-rules/C3sK6VHdNizS1TlShg1XSO/story.html
From ‘This Week’ is nine minutes of Eric Fehrnstrom getting his head handed to him on the economy.
Always About the Feelings
Just an FYI: Krugman was on Market Place (NPR) this evening and Joseph Stiglitz will be on Fresh Air with Terry Gross tomorrow.
The Fresh Air interview should be really good.
I haven’t had time to look at the link on Krugman, but is it different than this one: Paul Krugman: ‘I’m sick of being Cassandra. I’d like to win for once’ | Business | The Guardian