Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is set to name former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk, 71, the interim senator to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Kirk, a close Kennedy confidante, was the choice of the late Sen. Kennedy's close family.

Kirk would come into office at an important moment as the Senate prepares to vote on vast legislation to reform health care and regulate the financial sector. Kirk's current and previous employment may not make him look like the best choice for this moment. Kirk is the CEO and Chairman of Kirk & Associates, a business consulting company, and sits on the board of both an insurance company, The Hartford Financial Group, and a timber and real estate company, Rayonier, Inc. Kirk also previously worked as a lobbyist for a pharmaceutical company, Aventis.

The Hartford Financial Group (known as The Hartford) stands out particularly among all of the Kirk's connections as the firm's clout fell dramatically after the September 2008 financial collapse. In November 2008, the firm received $3.4 billion in TARP aid from the Treasury Department. The firm has been downgraded by analysts multiple times this year.

Kirk sits on the Compensation and Personnel Committee for The Hartford in charge of employee compensation and executive bonuses. While compensation fell significantly from 2007 to 2008, this did not keep The Hartford from escaping criticism for compensation policies. Ramani Ayer, CEO and Chairman of The Hartford, was named by Forbes Magazine one of the most overpaid executives in 2008. This despite his compensation being reduced from $15.8 in 2007 to $9 million in 2008. Ayer's stewardship of the firm sat at the center of his placement on Forbes' list. According to Forbes, Ayer's six year average compensation stands at $13.5 million while the annualized six year total return was -17%.

In 1999, Kirk represented the pharmaceutical company Aventis as a lobbyist for Sullivan & Worcester. Kirk listed on his lobbying disclosure forms "FDA reform" as the sole issue and the Senate as the only body he was lobbying. In 1997, Congress passed and the President signed into law the FDA Modernization Act. One provision of the bill sought to curb red-tape and regulation to streamline the drug approval process. After the bill's passage pharmaceutical companies and their lobbying arm, PhRMA, complained about the FDA's speed at implementing the legislation and continued existence of some regulatory barriers. In 1999, the Senate held hearings on the subject with PhRMA President Alan Holmer told the Senate Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee that the legislation "fails to provide the regulatory relief Congress intended and actually codifies some of the agency's prior-approval practices that Congress wanted to eliminate." Kirk's focus on "FDA reform" for Aventis was likely related to the complaints about the FDA Modernization Act and its implementation.

Rayonier, one of the largest holders of land in the country, is currently lobbying the United States Senate on the definition of biomass in the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). The Senate is likely to take up ACES soon after it completes work on health care reform legislation.

Kirk previously worked as a special assistant to the late Sen. Kennedy from 1969 to 1977 and is the chairman of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

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.

Sad news that Sen. Ted Kennedy has passed away from brain cancer. Kennedy was not just a prolific legislator and consummate deal maker, but also willing to experiment with technology. In fact, Kennedy was the first member of Congress to connect to the Internet and pioneered online discussions in usenet forums. I'm going to re-post something I wrote here last year when it was announced that Kennedy had brain cancer:

...fifteen years ago, Ted Kennedy became the first Senator to communicate with constituents over the Internet. Back in 1993, this was no small feat. At the time there were no congressional offices connected to the Internet. (The House launched a pilot program on June 2, 1993, hooking up seven members to an Internet network.) One dedicated staffer and the technology hubs of MIT and other top-level educational institutions made Kennedy into the first digital Senator. Here’s the story (which you can read about in more detail Chris Casey’s book, The Hill on the Net):

One day while working as a systems administrator in the office of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, Chris Casey dialed online to read the bulletin boards at Massachusetts universities. While finding answers to computer questions and downloading software to help in the office, Casey found himself reading threads about a variety of topics, including politics. The discovery of this online constituency led Casey to suggest that Kennedy reach out by creating his own online community and posting his press releases for public comment. Casey worked with Jonathan Gourd of North Shore Mac to set Kennedy up with a “conference” to connect with online constituents. Casey then went to sell the Senator’s office on the idea, eventually winning approval from Senator Kennedy himself, who, understanding the importance of constituent relations, told Casey, “If you can find a way for me to reach constituents using computer networks, do it.”

While Kennedy’s office initially set ground rules to not respond to written questions and comments, that barrier quickly fell aside as Casey cautiously entered the fray to give information on bills the Senator sponsored or votes the Senator took. Kennedy’s office also used the bulletin board to post the text of legislation for review, most notably the release of health care legislation prepared by Kennedy’s committee on the eve of President Bill Clinton’s big health care speech to Congress. Casey later worked with MIT to get the Kennedy bulletin board groups posted into usenet groups (ne.politics and talk.politics.misc). A year later ... Kennedy launched the first official Web site for a Senate office.