Recently, five members of the Wisconsin Congressional delegation (Tammy Baldwin, Ron Kind, Herb Kohl, Paul Ryan and Ron Johnson) sent a letter to the VA and Defense, asking them to consider using a commercial electronic health care records system. As long as politicians are not endorsing/advocating for specific companies, that's fine.

The letter was described as a "minor speed bump in the way of a long-awaited agreement between VA and Defense".

But...

While the letter does not name a system, it urges the departments to consult with three "leading health care organizations that use [commercial off the shelf electronic health records] today..."  Those three groups were: Kaiser Permanete, Cleveland Clinic, and Cedars Sinai.

What do those three clinics have in common? They all use the Wisconsin-based company Epic Systems.

Evidence:

• Kaiser Permanete
• Cleveland Clinic
• Cedars Sinai

In other words, 5 members of the Wisconsin delegation sent a letter to the VA and Defense urging them to "consult" with the clients of ONE specific vendor.  A vendor whose executives happen to be major political donors.

But it gets worse.

Epic Systems is a far-left company, with a very public record of political donations (though, they have no registered federal lobbyist).

• Since 1997, Epic CEO Judy Faulker has given at least $309,056 in Federal donations to Democrat candidates and causes. – Center for Responsive Politics
• Since 1996, Epic Systems employees have given $296,547 to Federal campaigns and causes accounts with$293,297 of those donations went to Democrat candidates, committees, or causes. – Center for Responsive Politics
• Epic Systems has given at least $761,932 in political donations with only about 1% of those donations going to Republicans. – Influence Explorer
• Epic Systems does hold Federal contracts, including one for $9.5M with the U.S. Coast Guard. – Influence Explorer

That leaves three questions.

1. How did the Wisconsin delegation just happen to write a letter that so implicitly supports one specific company?
2. Is it a violation of law or ethics rules for Congressmen and Senators to advocate for a contract on behalf of a single company?
3. Why did two Republicans (Paul Ryan and Ron Johnson) sign a letter on behalf of an ultra-liberal company?

I hope that the Wisconsin Congressmen and Senators were unaware that they were signing what amounts to an endorsement letter.  I also hope that they will distance themselves from this letter and look into how a company successfully lobbied 5 federal politicians without actually having a registered lobbyist.