lobbying

"It's hard to take the airlines seriously when they try to play the pity card with consumers," opines Advertising Age. The trade publication's biting editorial comes in response to a public relations push by the Air Transport Association of America (ATA). ATA's "Stop Oil Speculation" campaign and website are "attempting to divert consumer anger directed at airlines for nickel-and-diming them and instead make oil speculators the bad guys," reports AdAge. As part of the ATA campaign, 12 major airlines are emailing their frequent fliers, asking them to contact legislators about high oil prices. According to ATA's David Castelveter, "nearly 1 million messages were sent to Congress the first two days of the campaign." He added, "We're not asking our customers to help us. ... We're asking them to help themselves." As AdAge's editorial noted, Delta Air Lines recently "showed off its deep concern about high fuel prices by offering select New York City customers free helicopters rides from Manhattan to John F. Kennedy International Airport." That's not to mention airlines' "customer abuse and high prices," and the industry's reliance on "government subsidies and government bailouts."

On July 15, "an unlikely alliance" rallied in Washington DC to "stop the war on the poor" by increasing U.S. domestic oil and gas production. The rally was organized by the civil rights group Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the pro-drilling front group Americans for American Energy and the conservative group High Impact Leadership Coalition. Rally speakers stressed "the need to expand domestic oil and gas production with the goal of reducing fuel costs for low-income households that feel a disproportionate pinch from rising energy prices," reports Jenny Mandel. Signs at the rally included "My family needs affordable energy" and "Environmental groups don't feed my family." CORE has received funding from ExxonMobil. CORE's Niger Innis said the group favors "government spending on oil shale, coal and drilling on the continental shelf and throughout Alaska," because "when these resources are developed ... that is going to have a direct impact on the price of fuel." While some rally attendees told Mandel about their difficulties "budgeting around today's gasoline prices," others "backed away from a reporter with a notebook. ... One woman, who declined to give her name, said she was demonstrating at her boss's behest."

Attendees at the Netroots Nation conference in Austin were offered the latest Nation magazine with a cover article by Christopher Hayes. He writes, "This year, MoveOn turns ten. ... Capable of dominating a news cycle with a single ad and raising millions of dollars with a lone e-mail, MoveOn pioneered an entire approach to conducting politics through the Internet that has been replicated and spun off across the country and around the globe, an approach that, as the Obama campaign has dramatically demonstrated, has permanently transformed the landscape of American politics. ... Perhaps the most damning criticism leveled at MoveOn is that by creating a clear and easy outlet for people's frustration and angst, the organization delivers people a false sense of accomplishment. In other words, MoveOn can be tremendously successful without being effective." CMD's John Stauber is one of MoveOn's critics interviewed for the piece.

Listen to this week's edition of the "Weekly Radio Spin," the Center for Media and Democracy's audio report on the stories behind the news. This week, we look at Dick Cheney's red pen, drug companies' new code and a match made in PR heaven. In "Six Degrees of Spin and Fakin'," we look at Montel Williams' pharma gig. The Weekly Radio Spin is freely available for personal and broadcast use. Podcasters can subscribe to the XML feed on www.prwatch.org/audio or via iTunes. If you air the Weekly Radio Spin on your radio station, please email us at editor@prwatch.org to let us know. Thanks!

Private military corporations such as Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) have lauched a new public relations and lobbying initiative to counter what David Marin calls "the steady drip of negative front-page media reports about contractors and growing public concerns about the effectiveness of the federal contracting process." Samuel Loewenberg reports that Marin is the industry's "point man charged with heading off criticism." A former Republican staff director of the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee, he now works for the Podesta Group, a PR and lobby shop. His client is the Professional Services Council, a trade association whose members include KBR, Blackwater USA, Boeing and DynCorp International.

The nuclear power industry is seeing its fortunes rise. "Seventeen entities developing license applications for up to thirty-one new [nuclear] reactors did not just happen," boasted Frank "Skip" Bowman. "It has been carefully planned."

Bowman heads the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the main lobbying group for the industry. His remarks (PDF), at a February gathering of more than 100 Wall Street analysts, were part of a presentation on "reasoned expectations for new nuclear plant construction."

Bowman knew it was important to impress his audience of wary potential investors. "We are where we are today because this industry started many years ago on a systematic program to identify what went wrong the last time," he said, "and develop ways to eliminate or manage those risks."

The American Association of Public Health Physicians (AAPHP) has published an updated analysis of H.R. 1108, the massive bill currently under consideration by Congress that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products. AAPHP concludes, "This bill is a scam. It gives the image, but not the substance of effective federal regulation of the tobacco industry. If passed in anything close to its current form ... it will assure continuing high levels of cigarette-related illness and death for years to come. The principle benefactor will be the Altria/Philip Morris Company (PM). This bill will assure their continuing dominance of the domestic cigarette market and continuing high levels of sales and profits." The bill would make it illegal to add fruit and spice flavors to cigarettes, but specifically exempts menthol, a flavoring used disproportionately by African-Americans, who also suffer higher rates of tobacco-related illness. AAPHP denounced the menthol exemption in the bill as "institutional racism." However, a coalition of health groups, including the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association, reiterated their support for the current bill.

Aerial view of Yucca Mountain"The State of Nevada faces almost a billion dollar budget shortfall," reports Edward Lawrence. "The Nuclear Energy Institute says there is a solution ... but it comes with one very large string attached" -- that the state end opposition to the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. "In exchange for dropping any objection to shipping the waste here, [NEI's Paul] Seidler says Nevada can get access to the nuclear waste fund." That fund, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy, has a balance of "more than $20 billion." An Energy Department spokesperson agreed that "even though a benefit package clause in the original Nuclear Waste Act expired, nothing prevents the state from starting a negotiation that could be worth $1 billion a year." But Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons said he would "not sell away the safety of the state to the Yucca Mountain proponents." In related news, the law firm "awarded a four-year $47.7 million contract to shepherd the licensing for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, has acknowledged conflicts of interest," reports ABC. The firm, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, is "seeking damage payments from the government" for its utility clients, on nuclear waste issues, and has also lobbied for NEI.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge recently filed a lobbying disclosure form on his work for the government of Albania -- nearly two years late. Ridge signed a $480,000, one-year contract with Albania in September 2006, to help the country "develop an overall homeland defense strategy based on land, air and sea security." The contract identified Ridge as the "lead on strategic advice" for the Albanian government. Ridge's firm, Ridge Global, no longer works for Albania. A spokesperson for the firm said Ridge didn't think he needed to disclose his Albania work. But the Justice Department, which maintains a database of lobbyists working with foreign entities, disagreed. The Department contacted Ridge's firm, "after a story about Ridge's work appeared in the press." According to a September 2006 Associated Press article, Ridge's "main priority" was "to help Albania meet its goal of joining NATO in 2008." Albania began accession talks with NATO in April 2008.

The government of Pakistan awarded a one year, $900,000 contract to Locke Lord Strategies (LLS), a division of Locke, Lord Bissell & Liddell. LLS's responsibilities under the contract are to publicize "the country’s recent political, social and economic developments." It will communicate these changes through both earned media (favorable, free publicity gained through promotional efforts) and paid advertising. Mark Siegel, who was a speechwriter and co-author with assassinated former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, will head the account. Siegel's Democratic party ties are strong. He served as executive director of the Democratic National Committee and was deputy assistant to President Jimmy Carter. According to Roll Call's list of lobbyist endorsements, Siegel also supported Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy. LLS's parent company also has Republican party ties. Former Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers is a managing partner of the firm. She came back to work with the firm last year after resigning as White House counsel and deputy chief of staff for George W. Bush -- a prime example of the revolving door between government and industry.