Lobbyists who represent pharmaceutical manufacturers and other health care interests will be hosting at least five planned fundraising parties for members of Congress today.

Jocelyn Hong, of the 21st Century Group, will be hosting two events–a lunch for Rep. Mark Schuaer (D-MI) and an evening reception for Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ).  Hong represents both Sanofi-Aventis and Schering-Plough.

There are two breakfasts and one dinner scheduled to take place today as well.  Patton Boggs’ lobbyists Ben Ginsberg, Ed Newberry, Darryl Nirenberg and Kevin O’Neil will be hosting Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) while  Cesar Conda and Manus Cooney will be entertaining Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) over breakfast.

Finally, Jeff MacKinnon, who represents Avantis, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Merck, will be hosting a Cafe 8 Dinner for Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) at 6:30 pm.

In addition to today’s events, Steve Clark and Sam Geduldig (of Clark and Associates), who represent the likes of Ernst & Young and Barr Laboratories, held a dinner in Rep. Bill Posey’s (R-TX) honor last night at the Matchbox.

These six fundraisers–of the 16 total fundraisers featuring pharmaceutical lobbyist hosts we have in our database for the month of September, come on the heels of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s (PhRMA) rollout of a $150 million advertising campaign in support of the Baucus health care bill says Duff Wilson of the New York Times.

The drug industry’s trade group plans to roll out a series of television advertisements in coming weeks specifically to support Senator Max Baucus’s health care overhaul proposal, according to an industry official involved in the planning.

The move would be a follow-up to the deal that drug makers struck in June with Mr. Baucus [and the White House.]

President Obama has cited the deal with the group as signifying a new era of cooperation. But some critics say the advertising fund could be wielded against alternative approaches to health care legislation.

The industry’s support for the Baucus plan, critics argue, is a direct result of both Sen. Baucas’ and President Obama’s public support for an individual mandate. (See the text of President Obama’s speech and Senator Baucus’ “Framework for comprehensive health reform”)

A plan with an individual mandate and no public option is, as the Washington Examiner writes, the “Holy Grail” of reform for the health care lobby.

To see clients for lobbyists hosting events click on individuals’ names: Steve Clark, Ben Ginsberg, Ed Newberry, Darryl Nirenberg, Kevin O’Neil, Sam Geduldig, Cesar Conda, Manus Cooney, Jocelyn Hong, Jeff MacKinnon.

This post is first in a series on September fundraising efforts and the industries behind them.

When the Senate Finance Committee held a “roundtable discussion” the other week on “Financing Comprehensive Health Care Reform,” the public witness list included academics and representatives from liberal and conservative think tanks. What wasn’t on the agenda was a list of all the unofficial witnesses–all the donors who attend fundraisers for these lawmakers in the months surrounding this hearing, whose identities remain a mystery.

We found 44 fundraisers since the start of the year for members of the committee (See list below.) Whether or not the revelers have a stake in health care policy is tough to say for sure. For most of these parties, we don’t have a clue who attended (or for those in the future, who is planning to go.)

We know that on April 30, several lobbyists from the Timmons & Company, whose clients include the American Medical Association and Teva Pharmaceuticals, hosted a breakfast at The Monocle for New York Sen. Chuck Schumer. We know this only because this particular invitation is one of the few to list hosts for the event.

We also know that several of the hosts at Sen. Mike Crapo’s March 2 dinner at La Loma lobby for health care concerns. One was another Timmons & Company lobbyist, Ginger Loper. Another, Anna Sagely, lobbies for Hoffman LaRoche. And Amy Swonger lobbies for Ernst & Young, which includes Aetna and Johnson & Johnson among its clients.

Because we’re talking about the Senate, we don’t get easily digested details about campaign contributions received until long after an event. Senators file their campaign reports once every three months, so details for the second quarter of the year won’t be available until July 15. Even then, because senators have yet to pass a law requiring they file their records electronically, the only way to look up contributions would be in the old fashioned cumbersome way of going page by page. (That’s why we believe the Senate should pass S. 482 and finally join the internet age.) And even then it’s often difficult to match up contributions with any one event, since they aren’t necessarily recorded for that day or even that week.

But we do learn long after the fact that Senate Finance committee members collect many millions of dollars from health care donors and from lobbyists–check out this bar chart (click here) from the Center for Responsive Politics. So it’s an awfully good bet that there were many unofficial health care “witnesses” at all those parties for Senate Finance Committee members.

This morning Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), under much scrutiny for possible ethics violations, was scheduled for  his third annual Valentines Day breakfast hosted by a slew of Ernst & Young lobbyists. Ticket prices were $1,000 for individuals, $2,500 for PACs–same as it cost last year. (We hope they are saving some cash on design–the two invitations are in the exact same format.)

The accounting powerhouse Ernst & Young runs a major lobbying operation, collecting nearly $13 million for its efforts last year alone. In the past the firm got some unwanted attention for marketing tax shelters that were perhaps a bit too creative.  As the invitation so helpfully points out, Rangel is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the locus point for decision making on taxes.

Why is Rangel busy raising money, so far out from election time? He never has much opposition. However, he’s quite generous at spreading around his campaign money with his colleagues–a tried and trued method of gaining, and retaining, chairmanships. These days he also needs cash for legal fees.