January 28, 2016
By Mickey Friedman
Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters sang: “Well, I’ve learned my lesson and now I know/ The sun may shine and the winds may blow/ The women may come and the women may go/ But before I say I love you so/ I want/ Money, honey/ Money, honey/ Money, honey/ If you want to get along with me.”
White, black, male, female, those who pretend to lead often follow the money. Because Money is an equal opportunity employer. Let’s look at two leaders who told a populist tale then followed the Money.
In 2003 Howard Dean told us: “I believed that, by running for President, I could raise the issues of health care for every American and the need to focus on early childhood development … I heard people speak of a profound fear and distrust of multi-national corporations … Every where I go people are asking fundamental questions: Who can we trust? Is the media reporting the truth? What is happening to our country?”
Then there’s our former governor, Deval Patrick. His campaign issued this statement: “Born in 1956, Deval grew up in one of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods, living on welfare and sharing a single bedroom with his mother and sister. Public leadership and the power of possibility captured Deval’s imagination early on when his mother brought him to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in a South Side Chicago park. ‘I remember feeling connected to all these people who were like me – of limited means, but limitless hope. People build whole lives on hope.’”
The rhetoric is impressive, the promise intoxicating. Because the need for change is always so real. Two different liberals offering hope, inspiring many to believe change would come.
Howard offered healthcare for all, the universal single-payer Medicare-like national healthcare system Americans have yearned for since Truman.
And yet today, he lobbies for the healthcare industry warning people that Bernie Saunders’ support for just such a system will result in “chaos,” telling us that “trying to implement it would in fact undo people’s health care.”
Howard Dean says he‘s not a lobbyist, but rather a “senior advisor” at Dentons. Dentons promises its multinational clients it will “Drive your company forward using strategic and focused advice from government relations professionals who understand the political process. Through deep experience in both government and a variety of regulated industries, we view the issues through a balanced perspective … Leverage this insight to achieve your vision.” Sounds like lobbying to me.
Dentons isn’t Dean’s first foray into not-lobbying. In 2009, he was hired by McKenna, Long & Aldridge as “Strategic Advisor.” McKenna represented health care companies, insurance companies, and TransCanada which desperately wanted the controversial 1200 mile Keystone XL pipeline.
In April 2015, Dean publically criticized President Obama’s attempt to create a peaceful solution to Iran’s nuclear program. Echoing conservative talk show host Joe Scarborough’s suggestion the President was too eager for a deal. That he should walk away from the table. Dean agreed: “I actually think you’re right about this.” What Dean didn’t say is that he was lobbying, I mean advising, or rather got paid to speak to the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an Iranian exile group working to overthrow of the Iranian regime. A group regarded as a terrorist organization by the State Department. A group that certainly wouldn’t welcome peace between Iran and the US. Money honey.
As for Deval Patrick, the Boston Herald has suggested that our ex-Governor presided over a multi-million dollar slush fund taken from quasi-independent agencies like the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Massport and the Mass Tech Collaborative to pay for his foreign “trade trips.” Expenses hidden from the public include $535,558 for hotels, $332,193 for airfare, $305,976 for limos and more than $175,000 on other expenses.
On one trip he was accompanied by Steve Pagliuca. Out of office, according to Fortune magazine, Patrick was asked to be a global ambassador for the group trying to bring the Olympics to Boston. Reportedly he’d be paid $7,500 a day. The Boston 2024 Olympics Finance Committee was co-chaired by Steve Pagliuca, the managing director of Bain Capital. For some reason, Bostonians took offense at the notion. So Patrick dropped the paid-part of the job.
Then on April 13, 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported: “Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has joined Boston private-equity firm Bain Capital LLC to lead a new unit that will focus on investments aiming for financial returns as well as measurable social good.”
According to the Boston Globe: “The new fund is not philanthropy, Bain executives said. There will be significant pressure on Patrick to find strong investments, companies that can both address major social needs and produce profits, though not necessarily on the scale Bain typically expects of its multibillion-dollar private equity deals.”
It’s Money, honey and if you want to get ahead, you best sing this song. Howard and Deval know the tune.
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For more information:
http://www.4president.us/speeches/howarddean2004announcement.htm
https://www.democracyforamerica.com/campaigns/1222-deval-patrick-for-governor
http://watchdog.org/224069/deval-patricks-secret-travel-slush-fund/
http://fortune.com/2015/04/13/deval-patrick-bain-capital/
http://www.wsj.com/articles/massachusetts-ex-gov-patrick-to-run-new-bain-unit-1428973279
Money, Honey was originally published in the January 21, 2016 issue of The Berkshire Record.