Next Thursday, December 3, campaign donors will have the opportunity to sing “happy birthday” to Sen. Max Baucus, who as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has been at the center of the health care debate–and of health care donors, as reported here and here.

The invitation, obtained by the Washington Times, which reported on it here, shows how tantalizing and frustrating these invitations can be.

We know from our reporting and analysis  that Baucus is at the center of health care fundraising. However, this invitation gives no clue about who will attend next week’s event, even as the health care debate is front and center in the news.

Because senators report their contributions quarterly and even then are not required to file their campaign finance reports electronically, it will be months before we can look at contribution records to try to sleuth out who may have attended this event. While senators have the option to file electronically voluntarily, few do, and Baucus isn’t one of them.

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.

The Huffington Post’s Arthur Delaney was on hand this morning outside a breakfast fundraiser for Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) at Charlie Palmer Steak house:

Standing by the door at the start of the event, Grassley declined to say who might be attending. “You’ll have to ask Senator Roberts,” he said before walking inside.

Guests politely declined to identify themselves as they arrived. But one, a lobbyist representing the American Association of Crop Insurers, forgot to remove his name tag when he left (Sen. Roberts sits on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry).

Asked what was discussed during the breakfast, the man said it was health care. He said Sen. Grassley did not discuss his upcoming meeting with other Finance Committee members — the so-called “Gang of Six” — and President Obama later in the day.

Read Delaney’s full report here.

Check out our own Paul Blumenthal’s post on the Sunlight Foundation’s blog about how Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) skipped his own fundraiser last weekend. Paul does a great job of showing how Baucus’ leadership PAC, the Glacier PAC, is like a magnet for health care industry contributions. He concludes:

While Sen. Baucus has promised not to accept any more contributions from health care PACs, he is still willing to accept contributions from their lobbyists and executives. It will be interesting to see who showed up at the senator’s big summer weekend getaway, even if the senator didn’t make it there himself.

Today the New York Times reports how a physician-owned Texas hospital has been able to win policy favors in the health care reform bill after feting lawmakers and contributing generously to the Democratic Senatorial Committee (DSCC).

Physicians and others affiliated with the Doctors Hospital at Renaissance contributed about a half a million dollars to the DSCC around a reception on March 30 held at the home of Alonzo Cantu, a prominent developer connected the hospital. Another event at Cantu’s home, attended by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in September 2007 brought in at least $800,000 for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. (We don’t have those particular parties in our database–we wish we did! We rely on what we get on invitations from our sources, but always are on the look out for more.)

Meanwhile, the hospital’s PAC, Border Health PAC, contributed $120,000 last election cycle, including some contributions to Republicans.

The hospital has fared well in negotiations over the health care reform bill so far, reports the Times, avoiding suggested restrictions on physician ownership of hospitals. Critics have argued that physician-owned hospitals contribute to uneccessarily high health care spending, since there’s an incentive to overorder tests. (A recent article in The New Yorker singles out the hospital as an example of this phenomenon.)

Here at Party Time, we’re sure that there must be a thousand untold stories just like this one buried in our database of invitations. We can’t dig them all out ourselves–we urge everybody to take a hard look at these events, try connecting some dots, and see what you find out.

Last night the Huffington Post’s Arthur Delaney attempted to get into the “health care roundtable” fundraiser thrown by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) that we blogged about yesterday.The fundraiser was slated to feature three key senators–Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Richard Burr (R-NC).

Grassley and Enzi represent one-third of the half dozen senators who are now trying to hammer out a compromise on health care reform in a Senate Finance Committee conference room. All three are members of key health care committees, and have big health care donors.

Delaney wasn’t allowed in to the festivities:

An NRSC staffer said the event was closed to reporters. Asked if we could gain entrance for $2,000, the staffer reiterated that the event was closed.

However, he did get to talk to some of the attendees:

Some guests who walked by were kind enough to speak on the record, including Ed Lenz of the American Staffing Association. Lenz said he was hoping to get a sense from the senators of what was happening with the bill.

“It’s part of our system. It’s part of free speech,” he said. “There are people from all walks of life and all strata of society who have opportunities to have their voices heard.”

Of course in this case, being heard cost each attendee at least $2,000.

About three dozen lucky donors have the chance to gather at Charlie Palmer steakhouse tonight for a “roundtable on health care issues” featuring Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Richard Burr (R-NC)–all of whom raise big bucks from the health care industry and sit on key health care committees.

A seat at the roundtable–only 35 available–costs a PAC $2,000, payable to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. A seat at the more exclusive dinner costs a PAC $5,000, and only 20 seats are available.

The national health care debate is at a key point, with Senate leaders hoping to complete a bill before the August recess. At the time of this posting, none of the senators’ offices had returned calls requesting information about tonight’s event.

Sen. Grassley’s top lifetime donors include health professionals, the insurance industry, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and nursing homes, and lobbyists. He is the ranking minority member of on the Senate Finance Committee. (We blogged here about a Grassley fundraiser hosted by an alternative health care lobbyist.) Grassley has gained fame recently for his idiosyncratic tweets, many on health care.

Sen. Enzi, who sits on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee, counts the pharmaceutical industry and health professionals as his top most generous lifetime donors. The HELP committee approved a health care reform bill on July 15 along party lines.

Sen. Burr’s top all-time donor is the pharmaceutical industry.  He also sits on the Senate HELP committee, and voted against the health care reform bill.

Edited  at 4:14 p.m. Eastern to add: This just in from Sen. Enzi’s press secretary, about the senator’s attendance at the health care roundtable tonight:

Senator Enzi attends numerous NRSC events throughout the year. Since he is knowledgeable about health care, being the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee ranking member, organizers asked him to speak on that topic. He agreed. Health care is #1 on the country’s agenda right now. It’s important and Senator Enzi is happy to explain this issue from his point of view whether it be at the NRSC or the Lions Club in Lander, Wyoming. Either place, he would say the same thing. As for the use of any money, that’s up to the NRSC.

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is beginning mark up of the health care reform bill today, have numerous fundraisers on their schedules. See an updated list here. As reported here previously, a number of these parties are hosted by health care lobbyists:

A fundraiser on July 21 for House Ways and Means Chairman Pete Stark (D-CA) hosted by health care interests is raising eyebrows, reports Bara Vaida of the National Journal:

The fundraiser’s lead sponsor is the American Occupational Therapy political action committee, and the event is co-sponsored by the American Podiatric Medical Association PAC, the American Dietetic Association PAC, and the American Speech – Language-Hearing Association PAC. These are all groups that have a stake in health care reform.
“Probably not the best timing for this,” the person noted in reference to the fact that the House Ways & Means Committee is to begin marking up the House Democrat’s massive health care reform overhaul legislation later this week.

The House Education and Labor Committee launched hearings today on the House version of the health care bill. Click here to see fundraising parties for members of the committee. Unlike the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee, very few of these invitations include host information; however, of those that do, some feature health care lobbyists as hosts:

• On June 15, Dan Gans, whose clients include the Roche Group, was listed as a host for an event for Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY).
• A “health care industry breakfast” on May 13 at Sonoma for Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY).
• A lunch on April 22 for Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) at the Dutko Group, a lobbying firm with clients such as America’s Health Insurance Plans, the American Hospital Group, and Hematech Inc.