A Democratic congressman who resisted “Clintoncare” back in the 90’s but supports “Obamacare,” Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper feels he has seen this movie before: streams of lobbyists hitting the halls of Congress to try to influence democratic plans for health care reform.
Cooper puts it this way: "It is sort of a Super Bowl of lobbying for health care reform. The lobbyists are winning so far. But the game's not over yet."
The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that the health care sector has spent more than a quarter billion dollars on lobbying this one issue… so far this year.
Many of the lobbyists are former members of Congress or former staffers. They’re the Terrell Owens and Tom Brady of lobbying. And they’ve hit the field big time.