Although it is now clear that Evan Bayh will not become Barack Obama’s Vice Presidential choice, it still amazes me that Barack Obama has such poor judgement in even placing Bayh on the short-list of potential Vice Presidential Candidates.
Standing Rules of the Senate (Rule XXXVII: Conflict of Interest) …
“4. No Member, officer, or employee shall knowingly use his official position to introduce or aid the progress or passage of legislation, a principal purpose of which is to further only his pecuniary interest, only the pecuniary interest of his immediate family, or only the pecuniary interest of a limited class of persons or enterprises, when he, or his immediate family, or enterprises controlled by them, are members of the affected class.”
According to published reports, Senator Bayh was instrumental in legislation involving both healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
Reported in Blogcritics, an on-line magazine…
“Susan Bayh is well compensated for her work: In fact, it is estimated that the Bayhs’ net worth is somewhere in the range of $2.9 million and $6.4 million. It is also estimated that 57% of their holdings are from investments in the health services industry, and 7% from the pharmaceutical/health products industry.”
”On January 31, 2006, Senator Bayh and Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) announced plans to introduce the Medicare Prescription Emergency Guarantee Act to guarantee prescriptions to seniors who may or may not qualify for the prescription drug plan.”
“On February 2, 2006, Congress passed the Senator Bayh-sponsored long-term care legislation that would make long-term medical care insurance available to more patients.”
On February 3, 2006, Susan Bayh exercised options on 20,001 shares of Wellpoint.
“On May 17, 2007, two weeks before it was announced that Wellpoint’s mega-CFO was stepping down for unspecified non work-related issues, Mrs. Bayh exercised options on 3,334 shares of Wellpoint.”
“According to SEC records, the pre-tax profit on the sale of Wellpoint stock from February 2006 to the present was approximately $1.045 million.”
“Mrs. Bayh also served on the boards of directors of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company from 2000 to 2004. She left just before Cubist senior management, family members and a neighbor were all implicated in an SEC insider trading lawsuit in January, 2005.”
“Evan Bayh sits on the Senate Banking and Housing Committee, which has oversight over the SEC.”
“On March 8, 2007, Judicial Watch filed a complaint against Senator Bayh with the Senate Ethics Committee for failing to properly disclose his directorship of the Evan and Susan Bayh Foundation, a foundation upon which he is named as a director on Form 990s but failed to disclose on his Senate Financial Disclosure Form for the years 2003, 2004, and 2005.”
“While there is no conclusive evidence to show that Susan Bayh in any way influences the decisions of her the senator on policy matters, there is compelling evidence to show that the Bayh family has profited greatly from its relationship with Wellpoint.”
Circumstantial? A matter of timing? Coincidence? Or something far more nefarious? Nobody knows. But it does raise questions about Bayh’s fitness to serve as the Vice President and Barack Obama’s judgement in placing him on the short list.
-- steve
I don't get it.
Posted by: Frank | August 22, 2008 at 03:34 PM