Sunrise (2/16/11)

by

SUNLIGHT LIVE: FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION

Sunlight: “On Wednesday morning, Sunlight Live will continue its coverage of financial reform as the House Finance Committee convenes for a hearing on regulations within the Dodd-Frank Act. Finance Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) announced that the hearing will address “The Final Report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission” with six commissioners scheduled to testify.”

EGYPT’S LOBBYISTS WORKED HARD TO BLOCK PRO-DEMOCRACY RESOLUTION

Sunlight: “New disclosures filed in the past few weeks by Egypt’s lobbying team in Washington shine a light on the activity the country took last summer and fall to block the discussion and passage of a resolution calling on the United States to support human rights in Egypt and demand an end to the emergency law, two key demands of the protesters who, last week, toppled former President Hosni Mubarak. … While only two of the three lobbying firms working for Egypt have filed their reports for the second half of 2010, the pattern of contacts reported so far shows a high level attention paid to the Senate Resolution (S. Res. 586) introduced by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) on July 20. Seventy-seven of the 129 lobbying contacts made by The Livingston Group and The Podesta Group were to senators. Fifty-two of these contacts explicitly mention the Resolution, while many more contacts are undoubtedly related. … The most contacted Senate office was that of Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS). In an article in Foreign Policy, Wicker was implicated as the chief actor in blocking movement of the Feingold Resolution.”

MEANWHILE, EGYPT’S LOBBYISTS BUSIER THAN EVER

Roll Call: “We’re busier than ever,” said former Rep. Toby Moffett (D-Conn.), who is chairman of the Moffett Group, which is part of the three-firm lobbying partnership. … Moffett said he attended a two-hour meeting Monday at the Egyptian embassy. It also included other PLM lobbyists Tony Podesta, president of the Podesta Group, and former Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.), who chairs the Livingston Group. … The lobbyists also had a meeting scheduled Tuesday with the Egyptian military attache in Washington. Moffett said he spent six hours on Capitol Hill at the beginning of the week and has been fielding questions from lawmakers about the future of the Egyptian government.”

FUNDRAISING PARTIES TODAY

Party in the spotlight: Rep. Dan Boren, a Democrat who opposed health care reform and voted for repeal, is holding a fundraiser tonight at the townhouse of Strategic Health Care, a health care lobbying firm.

More parties can be found here.

YESTERDAY

Day in Transparency (2/16/11)

Day in Sunlight (2/16/11)