Deval "19% Approval" Patrick Appoints Paul Kirk to Replace Manslaughtering Drunkard

Breaking on WSJ.

He's a 71 year old retired lobbyist and lawyer with long and close ties to... Big Pharma.

The Kennedy-backed pick for interim senator - a Beltway insider who could enjoy a lifetime pass to the Senate floor - has deep ties to special interests, sitting on a board that oversees a health-insurance provider and having lobbied for the pharmaceutical industry, the Herald has learned.

“Obviously, this is a conflict of interest and raises serious concerns,” Craig Holman of the non-partisan watchdog Public Citizen, said of the potential appointment of Paul G. Kirk Jr. to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s seat. “It is distressing. There were many qualified people.”

… Kirk, 71, a retired lobbyist and lawyer who lives on Cape Cod, raked in a whopping $250,942 in salary and stock options as a board member for Hartford Financial Services, the umbrella for The Hartford, which sells health coverage to retirees.

Until a successor is elected in January, Kirk would wield a critical vote in health insurance and financial industry reforms, raising concerns about potential conflicts.

“Why in the world would they choose someone who has close ties to the insurance industry?” asked Wendell Potter, a former health insurance exec-turned-whistleblower. He noted the health insurance industry has much to gain in the current reform package, especially if coverage is mandated without competition from a government insurance option, as a bill now before the Senate finance committee proposes.

Yeah I wouldn't sweat that. I'm pretty sure he gets his main job is to vote for any health care bill any Democrat proposes.

Plus, PhRMA was paid off already by Obama to support this.

Thanks to PetiteDov.

posted by Ace at 11:52 AM

| Access Comments