Joe Kelley, Lilly’s vice president of government affairs, gets philosophical with The Indianapolis Star, which takes a quick look at the drugmaker’s new-found willingness to throw money at Democrats, such as Vermont Senator Pat Leahy, now that they control Congress.

For the first four months of this year, Lilly gave slightly more money to congressional Democrats, $29,500, than to Republicans, $28,500. Since 1980, at least 65 percent of Lilly’s political action committee contributions have gone to Republicans, according to PoliticalMoneyLine, a nonpartisan company that tracks campaign donations. And Lilly is a major donor, making more than $50,000 in contributions during the 2006 election cycle, the fourth-highest among corporate health-care PACs.

“There are some changes that we made to recognize and be realistic about the fact that you’ve got a new group that are in town that are running things,” says Kelly (who’s pictured to the right, alongside director of government affairs Jay Bonitt), “Like it or not, big pharma is a major part of the oxygen that keeps these guys going.”

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