Is Hodes Double Dipping On Insider Campaign Cash?

Anyone who wants to believe Paul Hodes is a cleaner than the average candidate should spend some time looking at who donates to his campaign.  We already know Goldman Sachs—Rahm “the ATM” Emanuel’s former employer and major ATM to big left wing government—spends loads on Hodes, but a new contender invites fresh scrutiny. 

FMR Corp out of Boston and its Fidelity Investments PAC, has appeared as second only to Goldman when it comes to ‘Big Banks’ that love Paul Hodes, and FMR presents some interesting connections.  

Fidelity is one of the biggest holders of stock in a company called RehabCare, (Fidelity Advisors Small Cap T).  RehabCare has always hauled in truckloads of Medicare money, but it has recently diversified into buying up hospitals or buying companies that own hospitals as fast as it can.  (Fidelity has other holdings in the same fund that are in the Hospital/Real Estate business as well). 

Rehab Care’s president and CEO, John Short, is not shy about their relationship to the idea of Government run Health Care Reform.   

The company is watching health-care legislation to determine how to proceed. “We’re in the middle of health-reform mania,” Short said. “We’re waiting to see what the House and Senate does with the Health Care Reform bill.”

If the bill passes in its current form, RehabCare will look for a large acquisition that would add 10 to 12 hospitals “in one fell swoop” by the first quarter of 2010.

Now why do that I wonder?

RehabCare seems to be flush with cash and is looking for a sure bet.  Health Care reform in all its various guises just happens to include massive subsidies for hospitals. That’s a guaranteed taxpayer funded income, a mandated customer base, and a cozy big goverment-corporatist advantage; limited or no competition, a leg up on buying or inheriting hospitals that (somehow) can’t compete or “fail to meet one or another regulatory requirements”, and no more worrying about how to stay profitable.  Anyone who owned a lot of hospitals by the time the bill took affect would have the guarantee of easy money as would their investors and the firms making money off those investors. 

What did John Short say again? 

If the bill passes in its current form, RehabCare will look for a large acquisition that would add 10 to 12 hospitals “in one fell swoop” by the first quarter of 2010.

Hodes has already demonstrated his willingness to go the corporatist route on stimulus funding, cap and trade, TARP, and health care, and he’s about as go-along to get along as democrats come, so a Senator Hodes presents another guaranteed vote for Health care giants (see Jeanne Shaheen is also raking in campaign cash from FMR even now) who control the real estate that is health care; nursing homes, rehab centers, and hospitals.  That’s where RehabCare is headed.  And Fidelity has much to gain by helping Hodes get elected.

And Fidelity also has more than enough incentive to have two seats at the Obamanomics table when the winners are picked.  Banking, and Health Care related investments.  So another Senator (Hodes) who supports a corporatist take over of investment banking and health Care—gets to be part of the US banking cartel, while making money off the US health care cartel.  It’s almost like insider trading isn’t it? 

And I’m sure the eight different insurance companies that are donating to Hodes directly have no vested interest either.  Nor do the Unions who got that sweetheart deal on Cadillac plan tax breaks...Big Labor has dumped 160K into Hodes coffer already, so we know he’ll be supporting that fair and equal provision to protect the minute fraction of New Hampshire families actually in a union (most of them government employees.) 

Congressional PAC's love Hodes as well, and FMR Corp’s PAC—while I’m piling on--also does a good deal of cross PAC donating to a handful of democrat leadership PAC’s that just happen to have donated to Paul Hodes for Senate as well.  America Works, AmeriPAC (Steny Hoyer), Searchlight Leadership (Harry Reid), and We The People are just a few.  

So Mr. Hodes has insider deal making money rolling in from all over the place.   

But that's Mr. Reform for you.  Man of the people, if your people are big banks who stand to make a fortune off your Health care vote.