"Tauzin’s $11.6 Million Made Him Highest-Paid Health-Law Lobbyist"

"Billy Tauzin,
the former congressman turned pharmaceutical industry lobbyist,
was paid $11.6 million in 2010,
the year he brokered a deal with President Barack Obama
that helped pass the health-care overhaul.

After the law was signed, Tauzin left his job as head
of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,
or PhRMA,
as the highest-paid lobbyist among groups
most involved in the overhaul debate.

Tauzin did “what loads of other politicians have done
-- trading on his expertise and connections
to amass great personal wealth,”...

The disclosure of Tauzin’s salary
...is renewing questions about the revolving door
between government and industry.

...It’s alarmingly common for members of Congress
to depart for highly paid lobbying jobs...

...“It seems like being a member of Congress
is just a way-station on the way to a highly paid lobbying job.”

Tauzin...joined PhRMA in 2004, a year after he wrote the law
creating Medicare’s prescription drug benefit,
a boon to the pharmaceutical industry,
while he served as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee.

In 2009, as the leader of PhRMA,
he brokered a deal capping at $80 billion
the amount drugmakers would contribute to the overhaul
in return for his organization’s support of the law."

Bloomberg