Conflict of Special Interests
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The scandal around indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and PR executive Michael Scanlon now includes former Deputy Interior Secretary-turned-consultant J.
No
Main Source:
Topics:
Lobbying
One-Stop Influence Shopping
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The Sacramento-based public relations firm run by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief fundraiser "is representing a local developer who, while working to block a bill at the Capitol, has agreed to help host a fundraising dinner on the governor's behalf." It's the fourth time that clients of fundraiser Marty Wilson's firm, Wilson-M
No
Main Source:
Topics:
The State of State Lobbying
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Vested interests are working harder than ever to achieve their goals in state capitols and state agencies across the country," reports the Center for Public Integrity. The organization's review of 2004 lobbying activities found that nearly $953 million was spent "attempting to influence state legislators and executive branch officials" in the 42 states that track such spending.
No
Main Source:
Topics:
Lawmakers Get To K Street Via Capitol Hill
Submitted by Laura Miller on
"Election to Congress used to be an end in itself. Now, for nearly half of federal lawmakers, it is a steppingstone to a second career: lobbying," the Washington Post reports. According to a new study by LobbyingInfo.org, a project of the liberal group Public Citizen, 43 percent of Congressional members who have left office since 1998 have registered to lobby.
No
Main Source:
Topics:
Industry Lobbyist Blows Smoke For Medical Marijuana Advocates
Submitted by Laura Miller on
Jim Tozzi, the industry friendly lobbyist who helped create the little-known "Data Quality Act," is offering his assistance to medical marijuana advocates who are using the Act to undermine government claims that marijuana has no accepted medical value.
No
Main Source:
Topics:
Lobbyists Without Borders
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The "high-stakes public-relations campaign" the Chinese state-controlled oil and gas company CNOOC launched "to focus its bid for U.S. energy producer Unocal on shareholder value and away from politics" has hit a snag.
No
Main Source:
...Then the Lobbying Group Will Go to the Mountain
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The Yucca Mountain Task Force, "a national lobbying group that formed this spring" to advocate for long-term nuclear waste storage at the Nevada site, is traveling to the Yucca Mountain region, "to begin building ties" there.
No
Main Source:
Your Government on Drugs
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) has released the results of its year-long investigation into lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry, which found that the industry has spent more than $800 million since 1998 on lobbyists and political campaigns. In the past year alone, the industry hired nearly 1,300 lobbyists, including hundred of former public officials.
No
Main Source:
A Lobbyist with Supreme Access
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Ed Gillespie, who will help promote President Bush's future nominee to a vacancy on the Supreme Court, is a top-tier lobbyist who represents a host of clients with direct and indirect interests in the outcome of Supreme Court decisions." Gillespie's task is "to use the tools and techniques of a presidential campaign to put together a conservative political machine equipped to take on the alliance of groups on the political left." But his firm,
No
Main Source:
Store Wars: Return of the GMO Lobby
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
"Saying their livelihoods are threatened, powerful forces that drive California's $27 billion agricultural economy are mobilizing to defeat a November ballot initiative to ban biotech crops in Sonoma County, and possibly even prohibit such county bans with new legislation in coming days," reports the Sacramento Bee.
No
Main Source:
Pages
