PELOSI: For me, it wasn't so much the Muslim thing, it was the socialist thing. Respectfully, I wanted to say to them, I live on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. I am on the winning side of capitalism. I work for HBO, corporate America. The Man has been good to me. You, on the other hand, are driving a truck that says, ‘Obama is a socialist idiot,’ and you're in a much lower tax bracket than most of the people in Manhattan that are voting for Obama.”
Pelosi the Younger also blames blogs for contributing to all the "hate" she saw on the campaign trail coming from conservatives.
Though the legislation says there is a “prohibition on sale of electronic health records or protected health information,” there are five pages of exceptions to the prohibition that include research, treatment of an individual, or a decision by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to wave the prohibition. (See Legislation, PDF pages 391-395.)
One exception listed in the legislation is if, “The purpose of the exchange is for public health activities.” Another exception is apparently to ensure the data – if sold – are not for commercial reasons, saying, “The purpose of the exchange is for research and the price charged reflects costs of preparation and transmittal of the data for such purpose.”
Another exception is rather broad saying, “The purpose of the exchange is otherwise determined by the secretary in regulations to be similarly necessary and appropriate” in accordance with the other exceptions.
Blagojevich asked he be paid a $250,000-$300,000 salary for the labor slot.
The SEIU official was later identified as Tom Balanoff, who acted as “an emissary” for Valerie Jarrett.
But now that Burris has revealed he discussed the appointment with Smith, that brings another labor leader into the mix, showing how closely labor was to Chicago’s “pay to play” politics.
Smith, president of union insurance provider ULLICO Inc., is one of three people associated with disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich that Burris suddenly “remembered” discussing his appointment with. Smith also serves as alderman of the 28th ward in Chicago.
Burris said he initiated the conversation by calling Smith. "I asked Smith whether I had any chance of to be appointed to the Senate seat," Burris said.
Weeks after being sworn in as a new U.S. senator, submitted an updated affidavit to the Illinois State House detailing these conversations. The other two people were the governor’s brother, Robert, who headed the governor’s fundraising arm and solicited Burris for hefty donations and John Harris, the governor’s former chief of staff, with whom Burris discussed a government job his nephew was pursuing.
Burris describes Smith "as a friend and supporter of the former governor's" but defensively says, “I do not consider Mr. Smith closely related to or a representative of Governor Blagojevich” in the new affidavit, but leading media outlets say otherwise.
The Chicago Tribune describes Smith as “a labor ally of the former governor.”