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September 18, 2009
NATURAL GAS LOBBY STEPS INTO CLIMATE CHANGE NEGOTIATIONS
Producers of natural gas are readying a lobbying effort in anticipation of the climate change bill that goes before the Senate this fall, reports the Associated Press.
The America's Natural Gas Alliance, the industry's new lobbying group, will launch an $80 million ad campaign in both national and regional publications in opposition to new oil and gas taxes proposed by the Obama administration.
The gas lobby, which was largely been absent from climate change negotiations in the House, is also seeking a "bridge fuel credit," which would reward utilities that switch from coal to natural gas.
According to the AP:
"It's only when legislation is introduced that changes it from a level playing field to an unlevel playing field that we say, 'Wait a minute, you are rewarding those fuels that are less clean than natural gas,' " said Larry Nichols, chief executive of Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy.
Environmental special-interest groups, including the Sierra Club, are backing efforts by the natural gas lobby because the fuel emits 50 percent less carbon dioxide than coal.
September 17, 2009
PASSING, RUSHING, AND... FUNDRAISING?
Most industries see a huge payoff from money invested in lobbying. To wit: firms that pushed for a tax holiday in 2004 saw a return-on-investment of 22,000 percent. But as Dave Levinthal hilariously points out in an excellent post at the Capital Eye Blog, this is not the case for the San Diego Chargers.
According to Levinthal, the Chargers top the list of the NFL's biggest political donors, contributing a collective $2.4 million to political candidates and committees since 1990. Yet this sad team has been to only one Super Bowl in 43 years. And they lost that game.
The NFL's lobbying activity has been on the rise in recent years, with lobbying expenses on track to reach $1.4 million this year. That well exceeds the league's previous lobbying record of $1.15 million in 2007.
The league now employs two full-time lobbyists in Washington who work to influence issues such as media policy, illegal gambling, and performing-enhancing drugs.
Runner-up to the Chargers are the Houston Texans for contributing more than $623,000 during the last 20 years. About 20 of the league's 32 clubs have contributed more than $100,000 to political candidates.
More here.
-- Jenna Staul
STUDY: LOBBYISTS EXPLOIT LOOPHOLE IN ETHICS LAW ON FUNDRAISING Despite new ethics laws passed in the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal, the Associated Press reports today that only about two dozen lawmakers have disclosed lobbyist campaign contributions.
Lawmakers have not publicly identified lobbyists who host fundraisers on at least 195 invitations reviewed by the AP and the Sunlight Foundation from March 19 to June.
The law, which is rife with loopholes, amounts to an honor system for lawmakers to disclose fundraising activities, the study found.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid commented on the Open Government Act after the Senate's vote in August 2007:
"In sending the most sweeping ethics and lobbying reform in history to the president, we are giving the American people a government as good and honest as the people it represents,"
More here.
-- Jenna Staul
GATHERING STORM Environmental and industry groups alike are stepping up their lobbying efforts before a climate change bill goes before the Senate in the coming weeks.
Oil and gas companies spent $44.5 million on lobbying lawmakers in just the first three months 2009, increasing their spending faster than any other industry, reports the Associated Press. The American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy, famous for its subcontractors' forged letters to members of Congress, said it will run ads online and on TV in the coming weeks to raise awareness.
The AP reports:
The eventual cost to businesses and consumers is at the heart of what has become an intense informational and lobbying campaign on both sides. Environmentalists and some money managers see cap-and-trade as the best way to control carbon emissions while oil refiners warn the House bill could make foreign petroleum products cheaper and lead to even more imports.
-- Jenna Staul
September 16, 2009
"ARMY OF MENTALLY ILL HOMELESS PEOPLE" SWARMS K STREET Bill Myers of the Washington Examiner reports Wednesday that an "army of mentally ill homeless people has set up camp along the K Street blocks that constitute Washington's premier business district."
K Street is so lined with lobby shops that the corridor has become a euphemism for the entire industry. Homeless people have long populated K Street, sleeping in three large downtown parks between 17th and 13th Streets. But homeless advocates tell the Examiner that there might be a surge in the population due to D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's homelessness agenda, which has included shuttering a downtown shelter.
More here.
-- Arthur Delaney
STAFFER-TURNED-LOBBYIST TOLD TO WAIT ANOTHER YEAR BEFORE CONTACTING HILL COLLEAGUES Bloomberg reports that the head Washington lobbyist for Goldman Sachs has been forbidden to communicate with Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee while the panel works to reform financial regulations.
Committee chairman Barney Frank said in a memo yesterday that he would extend the time lobbyist Michael Paese was prohibited from lobbying the committee, which expired Sept. 11. Paese left the Financial Services Committee last year to lobby for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, and he went to Goldman in May.
From Bloomberg:
"Neither I, nor full committee nor subcommittee staff, will meet, or otherwise communicate with, Michael on any issues related to committee business or jurisdiction," wrote Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat. "I ask that subcommittee chairs abide by this same rule."
Back in May, the Huffington Post described the process that had the likes of Paese and other staffers shuffling between the public and private sectors:
It's a drunken conga line snaking through the party, starting at the staff level, shuffling to K Street and then shaking it over the White House. All a staffer needs to do is get up and dance.
-- Jenna Staul
REMINDER: BAUCUS TAKES TONS OF HEALTH INDUSTRY MONEY The Associated Press reports that Sen. Max Baucus has received more donations from the health care industry --- $3.9 million since 1989 --- than any other elected federal official besides President Obama and three other senators.
He has his position as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which has been at the center of this year's health reform debate, to thank for those donations.
The contributions have come from doctors, hospitals and drug makers alike. The Associated Press also reports that all members of the Gang of Six have received above average donations from the health care industry, totaling $10.7 million since 1989.
-- Jenna Staul
SPECTER: EFCA DEAL IS NEAR Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter told members of the AFL-CIO that he and other lawmakers are nearing a deal for the Employee Free Choice Act, reports the Center for Responsive Politics' Capital Eye Blog.
The AFL-CIO has been a major backer of the proposed act and has spent $1.8 million on lobbying so far this year.
The senators reportedly working on the bill with Spector -- Tom Harkin, Charles Schumer, Mark Pryor and Sherrod Brown -- have collectively received $5.7 million from the labor sector since 1989, CRP reports.
Big business adamantly opposes providing workers the option, known as "card check," of forming a union by collecting signatures from a majority of employees saying they want to organize. And that pits labor against the top all-time spender on federal lobbying, the US Chamber of Commerce.
More here.
-- Jenna Staul
DEMS TOP MOST CORRUPT LIST Democratic lawmakers topped a list of the "most corrupt members of Congress" released by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Democratic lawmakers on the list include Illinois Sen. Roland Burris, who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Barack Obama, and Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, for his ties to the now-defunct lobbying firm the PMA Group.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell makes the list for giving taxpayer dollars to a former employee's lobbying firm and for steering a contract to a defense contractor accused of bribing the Saudi ambassador to the United States.
The Raw Story quoted CREW's executive director Melanie Sloan on the release of the list:
"With the economy in a free-fall, unemployment rates at record highs and health care solutions still nowhere in sight, members should be spending their time looking for answers to the nation's problems, not finding new ways to enrich themselves," Sloan remarked. "The members of Congress profiled in CREW's Most Corrupt report have betrayed those who voted them into office. This report holds them accountable for their bad choices."
More here.
-- Jenna Staul
EFFORT TO CUT ACORN FUNDING UNDERWAY Republican leaders in Congress are trying to cut off federal funding for the controversial Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, or ACORN.
Politico reports that ACORN has received $53 million from federal agencies since 1994. The community organizing group also receives money through state and local agencies that receive federal block grants.
Republicans believe ACORN uses public funds to advance a Democratic agenda and sometimes engage in illegal behavior. The organization became the subject of public scrutiny last year after it was accused of filing bogus voter registration forms.
"It is evident that ACORN is incapable of using federal funds in a manner that is consistent with the law," House Minority Leader John Boehner and other Republicans told the president."Simply put, ACORN should not receive another penny of American taxpayers' money."
Under the Bush administration, ACORN benefited from $14.2 million in taxpayer dollars from 2001 to 2008, per archived funding announcements at the Department of Housing and Urban Development's website.
More on the GOP's efforts here.
-- Jenna Staul
ABRAMOFF DEFENDANT ALLEGES PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT A former government official accused of accepting fraudulent gifts from Jack Abramoff is alleging prosecutorial abuse in the case, reports The Hill.
Horace Cooper, a former aide to then-Texas Rep. Dick Armey, is facing felony corruption charges for allegedly accepting more than $15,000 in gifts, tickets to events and expensive dinners from the controversial former lobbyist. Now he's taking an usually aggressive approach in fighting the case.
Reports the Hill:
A memo citing a laundry list of alleged mistakes prosecutors made in the indictment is circulating among his supporters. It is unclear who authored the memo, titled "Horace Cooper's Indictment: Quest for Truth or Justice Department Error?" although contact information for Cooper's attorney, Soloman Wisenberg of Barnes and Thornberg, is listed at the top of it.
The memo accuses the Justice Depart of making multiple factual errors, adding that incorrect dates, prices and other information could have been corrected by "a simple Google search."
More here.
-- Jenna Staul
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First Posted: 09- 8-09 10:30 AM | Updated: 09-23-09 03:18 PM