MPAA head lobbyist Chris Dodd threatened Congress and the President last week, suggesting that lawmakers should remember that they've been bought, and that if they want to continue to enjoy their piece of the entertainment industry's largesse, they should mind their leash:

"Candidly, those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake," Dodd told Fox News. "Don't ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don't pay any attention to me when my job is at stake."

The corruption here is blatant -- Chris Dodd thinks that his industry's contributions should be able to purchase congressional results. This isn't just money in politics buying access, or systemic corruption, or some theoretical statistical link -- Chris Dodd is threatening the Congress with his industry money.

That money buys votes and affects public policy is nothing new. Boehner wasn't handing out tobacco industry checks on the House Floor in 1995 as party favors, after all. But donors' influence over specific public policy decisions are usually left unspoken, or at least not publicly aired. Chris Dodd's sense of influence entitlement has strayed outside the bounds of normal Washington discourse, and perhaps thankfully so. Dodd is doing a fantastic time of demonstrating everything that's wrong with the system.

On top of the sweetheart mortgage treatment Dodd enjoyed as Senator, he parlayed his position as former Senator to become head of the MPAA, where his connections won him a high salary and influential position. His public pledge to forswear lobbying and related revolving door restrictions weren't even a speed bump on Dodd's path through the revolving door, since directing a team of lobbyists and managing political contributions don't count as lobbying under the law. (Common sense, of course, dictates otherwise -- he's a lobbyist.) Cashing in on connections is often par for the course, as is avoiding lobbying disclosure -- both are de rigueur for former Members of Congress looking for lucrative careers.

But as MPAA head Dodd's signature legislative effort (SOPA and PIPA) ran off the rails, Dodd decided to flex his campaign finance muscles, and threatened his former colleagues to get in line.

And that's where things get weird.

Because Senate Democrats have repeatedly told us that they are interested in protecting the integrity of our elections, and that public service and representation should be protected from the undue influence of money in politics. In fact, here's Senator Chris Dodd, talking about the Citizens United decision:

 "If corporations -- foreign as well as domestic -- are allowed even greater and more direct influence over our elections, our democracy as we know it will cease to exist. I won't stand for that. I urge my colleagues, and the American people, to join me in defense of democracy by supporting this amendment and other interim steps to mitigate the damage done by this decision."

Senator Dodd was concerned about corporations having greater direct influence over our elections, but as MPAA head, Dodd feels empowered to dictate public policy to elected representatives, and strongarm them into passing it.

But this shouldn't be awkward just for Dodd.

In his remarks, he's both threatening and imploring his former colleagues to stay on his side, and to understand that it's his job on the line. In other words, we paid you off, and if you want more industry money, you better toe the line. And by the way, we're friends.

This should be extraordinarily awkward for the rest of the Senate, and especially Dodd's colleagues.  Remember, Dodd was first elected to the Senate in 1980, and had various leadership and committee positions throughout his career. This isn't a one off backbench house Member. If a Senator with three decades of tenure behind him can do an about face and use campaign cash to dictate public policy, what about the rest of the Senate?

It's shocking to see Senators who usually rail against money in politics ignore the public threats from their former colleague. I haven't seen any public response at all from sitting Senators, while the public perception of the institution is taking yet another hit. While a public White House petition is calling for an investigation of Dodd, the rest of the Senate (and House) have just quietly ignored his threats, at least in public.

That shouldn't be enough. If the former colleague of all these Democratic Senators is going to accuse them of being bought, and threaten to withhold support, the least they can do is deny the influence of the MPAA's money on their actions. If it's not okay to publicly bully Congress with industry money, then somebody should say so.

And if we don't act, this is only going to get worse. All these outside influencers now have tools at their disposal to credibly threaten to spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars supporting or opposing candidates, while covering their tracks, if they so choose. If a Senator who has publicly committed to protecting the integrity of representation is willing to bully Members with his industry cash, we can expect this is just a small piece of the action.

We should pass lobbying reform, get real disclosure for super PACs, strengthen ethics enforcement bodies, and follow the money as best we can. And maybe we should be glad when the influential have such hubris that they tell us what they're really up to.

 

Despite vowing not to become a lobbyist after retiring from a long Senate career Chris Dodd officially became Hollywood's top lobbyist in Washington yesterday. Senate revolving door issues place certain restrictions on Dodd as he moves ahead in lobbying for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). These rules, however, do allow Dodd to lobby certain parts of the government that are essential for the MPAA's major issues.

Senate revolving door rules restrict Dodd from lobbying his former colleagues in the Senate. This rule, however, does not apply to the executive branch or the House of Representatives. The language from the Senate Rules states that any former senator registered as a lobbyist or working for an organization employing registered lobbyists "shall not lobby Members, officers, or employees of the Senate for a period of two years after leaving office."

The MPAA listed over a dozen executive branch agencies as contacts in their 2010 lobbying reports. This should provide more than enough lobbying targets for Dodd as he waits two years until he can lobby his old buddies in the Senate.

After promising that he would not become a lobbyist rumors are swirling that former Sen. Chris Dodd is in negotiations to become the next head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The MPAA lobbying job is said to be the most lucrative lobbying job on K Street.

The CT Mirror reported on Dodd's forswearing of lobbying in the summer of 2010: "No lobbying, no lobbying," Dodd said in a recent interview. That Dodd would forgo a trip through Washington's "revolving door," using his policy and political expertise--and a thick Rolodex--to launch a new career in the influence industry, may come as a surprise."

Senators selected to work to combine the House and Senate financial regulation bills in a conference committee are some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from the finance, insurance and real estate sector (FIRE). In total, these twelve senators have received over $57 million from the FIRE sector over the course of their careers, according to data obtained from Center for Responsive Politics.

Senator	Career FIRE Contributions
Schumer, Charles E (D-NY)	$16,708,236.00
Dodd, Chris (D-CT)	$14,067,712.00
Shelby, Richard C (R-AL)	$5,635,030.00
Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA)	$3,507,960.00
Corker, Bob (R-TN)	$3,188,550.00
Johnson, Tim (D-SD)	$3,150,865.00
Reed, Jack (D-RI)	$2,918,732.00
Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR)	$2,612,159.00
Harkin, Tom (D-IA)	$2,534,445.00
Crapo, Mike (R-ID)	$1,809,715.00
Gregg, Judd (R-NH)	$1,070,249.00
Leahy, Patrick (D-VT)	$637,282.00

New York's Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is the leading recipient among the Senate conferees with $16.7 million in contributions over his career. Schumer has long been an ally of the New York-based financial industry, but has been remarkably quiet as Congress has focused on reforming Wall Street. Schumer remains in support of the bill despite hometown pressure from industry friends, campaign contributors and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

His support for the financial reform bill goes against a long history of supporting deregulatory actions for Wall Street. In the late 1990s and 2000 Schumer enthusiastically supported measures that ended the Glass-Steagall separation between commercial and investment banks and the enforced deregulation of derivatives trading.

The new rules for derivatives trading included in the Senate bill remain a serious sticking point in the coming conference committee. Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., has already attempted once to eliminate a provision in the bill, penned by conference committee member Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., ($2.61 million), requiring banks to spin off their derivatives trading portofolios. Dodd is the second largest recipient of FIRE campaiagn contributions on the conference committee with $14 million for his career.

Dodd is also connected to Wall Street with seven of his former staffers currently lobbying for financial organizations. Organizations represented by Dodd's former staffers include Goldman Sachs, Genworth Financial, MBIA, National Association of Mortgage Brokers and New York Bankers Association.

One former Dodd staffer turned financial industry lobbyist runs a financial lobbying firm with the former senior advisor to Dodd's Republican counterpart on the Banking Committee, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the third highest recipient of contributions from the FIRE sector on the conference committee ($5.63 million).

Andrew Lowenthal and Lendell Porterfield run a bipartisan lobby shop providing clients with instant access to the Senate Banking Committee and, with both of their former bosses on the financial reform conference committee, the final chance to change the sweeping regulatory bill.

Recently joining Lowenthal and Porterfield as a partner in their firm is Dwight Fettig, a former Legislative Director to Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., the sixth highest recipient of FIRE contributions appointed to the conference committee ($3.15 million). Johnson stands to become the next chairman of the Banking Committee after Dodd retires this year. The credit card industry, largely based in his state, has always counted on the support of the senior South Dakota senator.

Johnson, a career recipient of $391,400 in campaign contributions from the credit card industry, was one of ten Democrats to vote against an amendment to the financial reform bill capping “swipe fees” for debit card transactions. “Swipe fees” are charges to merchants for purchases made by customers using debit cards and often drive up retail prices for consumers. Credit card companies and banks are still lobbying hard to remove this provision from the bill. Johnson, however, is only one of four conference committees members to vote against the amendment making it unlikely the provision will be removed.

The conference committee will have to decide which portions of the House and Senate bills will be placed into a final version to be voted on and signed by the President. The House and Senate must pass bills with identical language. To do so, conference committees including members from both chambers meet to craft a compromise between the House and the Senate. The House has yet to name conferees.

The remaining members on the conference committee include Democrats Jack Reed, D-R.I., ($2.92 million), Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, ($2.53 million) and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ($637,282) and Republicans Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., ($3.51 million), Bob Corker, R-Tenn., ($3.19 million), Mike Crapo, R-Wyo. ($1.81 million) and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., ($1.07 million).

Note: I wrote this over the summer when the possibility existed that Sen. Chris Dodd would be moving from the Banking Committee to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. With Dodd's retirement announcement, I figured it would be useful to revisit. I have removed some of the introductory text as it is now irrelevant, but can be viewed at the original posting here.

Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota is next in line to replace Sen. Dodd and has similarly close ties to the financial sector.

According to Open Secrets from 2003-2008, Sen. Johnson has pulled in $1,407,958 from the finance, insurance and real estate sector. While this pales in comparison to Sen. Dodd's $9,097,107 over the same period of time, it accounts for 20% of the South Dakota senator's campaign haul. Sen. Johnson's finance contributions are aided by the importance of South Dakota to the finance and credit industries. These companies only need to abide by the regulations of the state within which they are incorporated and South Dakota has some of loosest regulations for bank holding and credit card companies. This has led to a large number of credit and banks companies locating in the small plains state, providing for tens of thousands of jobs.

The support Sen. Johnson receives from the industry, and their importance to his state, is reflected in the senator's recent voting record. Donny Shaw at Open Congress (Friend of Sunlight) looked at Sen. Johnson's recent votes and showed that he stands out among Democrats in his support for the credit card industry. The senator was the only Democrat to oppose a recent law, sponsored by Sen. Dodd, to "restrict unfair credit card rate increases, penalties and fees, and bans deceptive and predatory practices." He was also one of a handful of Democrats to oppose a series of amendments meant to impose tougher regulations on credit card companies.

Sen. Johnson isn't just connected to the finance sector through his campaign contributions and his votes, but also by his former staffers turned lobbyists. Two of Sen. Johnson's former staffers currently work for firms representing financial clients or companies in the financial world. In 2005, Naomi Camper left her position as staff director for Sen. Johnson on the Senate Financial Institutions Subcommittee to become co-head of Federal Government Relations at JPMorgan Chase, one the biggest banks in the United States. Dwight Fettig, a former staff director of Sen. Johnson, became a partner in the almost exclusively finance-related lobbying shop, Porterfield, Lowenthal & Fettig. Clients at Fettig's firm include the American Bankers Association, the Coalition of Private Investment Companies, NASDAQ and the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.

These connections and contributions should be of concern to anyone who is already alarmed by the relationship that Sen. Dodd has with the financial sector. As the government continues to determine it's role in the financial sector, through bailouts and Federal Reserve lending, it may be better to reserve committee chairs for those without the conflicts that Sen. Johnson may bring with him.

With the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy, the gavel he wielded as chair of the Senate Health, Labor, Education & Pensions Committee must pass as well. The senator next in line to chair the committee is an old Kennedy friend, Sen. Chris Dodd. Sen. Dodd, however, currently chairs the Senate Banking Committee and would have to relinquish that gavel if he were to replace Kennedy and shepherd through the health care reform bill championed by his departed friend. A switch in committees may be just what the Connecticut senator needs right now. As negative feelings have increased about bank bailouts, Sen. Dodd has come under withering criticism for his close ties, and large campaign contributions from, the financial sector. Unfortunately, he may be replaced by another senator with similar conflicts. Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota is next in line to replace Sen. Dodd and has similarly close ties to the financial sector.

According to Open Secrets from 2003-2008, Sen. Johnson has pulled in $1,407,958 from the finance, insurance and real estate sector. While this pales in comparison to Sen. Dodd's $9,097,107 over the same period of time, it accounts for 20% of the South Dakota senator's campaign haul. Sen. Johnson's finance contributions are aided by the importance of South Dakota to the finance and credit industries. These companies only need to abide by the regulations of the state within which they are incorporated and South Dakota has some of loosest regulations for bank holding and credit card companies. This has led to a large number of credit and banks companies locating in the small plains state, providing for tens of thousands of jobs.

The support Sen. Johnson receives from the industry, and their importance to his state, is reflected in the senator's recent voting record. Donny Shaw at Open Congress (Friend of Sunlight) looked at Sen. Johnson's recent votes and showed that he stands out among Democrats in his support for the credit card industry. The senator was the only Democrat to oppose a recent law, sponsored by Sen. Dodd, to "restrict unfair credit card rate increases, penalties and fees, and bans deceptive and predatory practices." He was also one of a handful of Democrats to oppose a series of amendments meant to impose tougher regulations on credit card companies.

Sen. Johnson isn't just connected to the finance sector through his campaign contributions and his votes, but also by his former staffers turned lobbyists. Two of Sen. Johnson's former staffers currently work for firms representing financial clients or companies in the financial world. In 2005, Naomi Camper left her position as staff director for Sen. Johnson on the Senate Financial Institutions Subcommittee to become co-head of Federal Government Relations at JPMorgan Chase, one the biggest banks in the United States. Dwight Fettig, a former staff director of Sen. Johnson, became a partner in the almost exclusively finance-related lobbying shop, Porterfield, Lowenthal & Fettig. Clients at Fettig's firm include the American Bankers Association, the Coalition of Private Investment Companies, NASDAQ and the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.

These connections and contributions should be of concern to anyone who is already alarmed by the relationship that Sen. Dodd has with the financial sector. As the government continues to determine it's role in the financial sector, through bailouts and Federal Reserve lending, it may be better to reserve committee chairs for those without the conflicts that Sen. Johnson may bring with him.

The Senate Ethics Committee released two letters (Dodd, Conrad) today clearing Sens. Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad of ethics violations in a case where both senators were members of a Countrywide "VIP" loan program. These letters concluded a year-long investigation into the "VIP" program and the loans the senators received.

The Committee found that the two senators did not violate Senate ethics rules prohibiting members from accepting outside gifts. The rule in question does not cover "loans from banks and other financial institutions on terms generally available to the public." The committee also ruled that while the "VIP" loans did offer "quicker, more efficient loan processing and some discounts," the discounts provided "were not the best deals that were available at Countrywide or in the marketplace at large."

The senators did receive a chiding for not exhibiting care in their dealings with Countrywide. The Committee told both senators that they "should have excercised more vigilance in [their] dealings with Countrywide in order to avoid the appearance that [they] were receiving preferential treatment based on [their] status as Senator[s]."

In response to the investigation that Committee declared that it should have issued guidance on the receipt of loans and the involvement of senators in special loan programs. The Committee expects to issue a guidance to members in the future.

The organization that filed the initial ethics complaint, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), stated in a blog post that this amounts to "battered wife" syndrome.

"Like a battered woman who explains she brought the beating on herself, the committee faulted itself for failing to ‘provide more guidance to the Senate community about issues surrounding mortgage negotiations.’ Over a year has passed since CREW filed its complaint and the committee became aware of this issue. Now would be a good time for the committee to start proactively providing its promised advice.”

The Ethics Committee could also review legislation that has been introduced requiring limited disclosure of home loan information on personal financial disclosure forms (S. 1632).

Local county commissioners in the district of Indiana Rep. Mike Pence passed a resolution requesting that the congressman end his ban on earmarks. The President of Ball State University is also supporting the call for Pence to accept earmarks.

Rep. Darrell Issa is seeking more information on Countrywide's VIP mortgage deals with lawmakers and political figures like Sens. Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad. Issa is trying to obtain eight years worth of documents relating to the "Friends of Angelo" program. Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of Countrywide, is currently facing multiple indictments brought by the federal government.

The trial of former Rep. William Jefferson is finally getting under way. In case you forgot, Jefferson was caught with $90,000 in cash in his freezer.

And over at Party Time, Nancy Watzman has a post on how a little sunlight can make lawmakers rethink how they fundraise. A common practice in fundraising letters is to list the committee memberships of the lawmaker raising money. For a fundraiser to aid Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Democratic lobbyist Heather Podesta went a little over the line in her solicitation, aligning amounts of money with the committees Feinstein sits on. Feinstein wound up cancelling the fundraiser due to the appearance of impropriety.

The party may be over, but the investigation is just beginning. The House Ethics Committee confirms that it is investigating lawmakers involved in the PMA Group contributions-cum-earmarks scandal embroiling the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Lawmakers just filed their personal financial disclosures and we're already seeing problems. Rep. Marion Berry under reported the value of property he owns in here in Washington. Sen. Chris Dodd, facing serious questions about his personal finances, asked for a 90-day extension to file his report. Nearly one-in-five senators were like Dodd and could not file their report on time. This included serial late-filer Sen. Bob Corker. Has this guy ever filed a report on time?

The Hill reports on one of those personal financial disclosures, those of Rep. Don Young. Apparently, Young has spent $1.3 million defending himself in an investigation into his relationship with the oil services company from Hades, VECO. Has there ever been one company that got so many politicians sent to jail or placed under investigation?