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October 20, 2008

Anonymous Lobbyists Blame NCAI and Kim Teehee

Hey folks, it's time for everyone's favorite parlor game: Identify the anonymous "lobbyists" and "observers" in Indian Country Today who are blaming the National Congress of American Indians and by extension, House staffer Kim Teehee, for the failure of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act!

Everyone knows IHCIA passed the Senate earlier this year but never came up for a vote in the House. According to ICT's lobbyist sources, the nation's largest and oldest tribal organization -- which is holding its 65th annual conference this week -- is "partially" to blame for the outcome.

In The Hoop won't go into the merits of the claim, mainly because the premise is based on an earlier ICT story that also relied on lobbyist sources. But we will ask the Internetz to do what it does best: Gossip!

One of the lobbyists is obviously a man (or at least born one) because "he" says NCAI's "biggest strategic error" was failing to vigorously oppose an abortion amendment in the Senate's version of the bill.

“I was stunned that traditional Democratic allies in the House … believed that it was more important for them to make a point on [abortion] choice than reauthorizing Indian health care,” the lobbyist said. “Tribal leadership really needs to think long and hard about how it wants to move forward [in dealing with House leadership].”

So...any guesses? We figure it's a lobbyist who is probably not a registered Democrat but probably votes for Democrats, sometimes. Or so "he" says.

Moving on to the second lobbyist, ICT gives no clues about the source's gender. But we do get a hint! It's a "former House staffer who believes that NCAI and its lobbyists dropped the ball in dealing with the situation."

“The idea that the first-ever woman Speaker of the House would allow a bill that restricts women’s reproductive rights to go through the House on her watch just doesn’t make sense.”

The tone of those words makes us think this source is also a man because only men get indignant about issues not of their choosing. Our guess was cemented by this paragraph, later on in the story, about House staffer Kim Teehee, who is a member of the Cherokee Nation and is probably the most powerful Indian woman in Washington, D.C.

Observers also say that NCAI may have over-relied on its positive relationship with Kimberly Teehee, who assists Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., co-chair of the Native American Caucus.

Let's see, one of the sources is a "former House staffer" and ICT goes out of its way mention Teehee, a current House staffer. This one sounds real personal -- You better watch your back, sister Kim!! Any guesses?