Let’s start with this earmark, because it’s already in EarmarkWatch.org, and hence easy to research. A few interesting notes…

Providence Hospital is the beneficiary of the earmark (the final amount of the Earmark was $1.2 million, not the $1.5 million that EarmarkWatch, which draws on older data, shows). One of their two lobbying firms is Cassidy & Associates. In the midyear 2007 lobbying disclosure filing, the firm disclosed that the specific issue on which they lobbied was “National Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2008-healthcare.” (See page two of the form).

I hopped over to OpenSecrets.org, and looked to see if employees of either Providence Hospital or Cassidy & Associates had contributed to Bonner. Not a whole lot of money: Clark Christianson, the hospital’s administrator (his picture is on the home page of the hospital), donated $1,000 on June 30, 2006. From June 30, 2004 through June 28, 2007, Cassidy & Associates employees donated $5,150. The bulk of that amount–$3,900–was contributed by Michael Galloway, who happens to have been one of the lobbyists listed on Cassidy’s mid-year 2007 disclosure form. I googled Galloway, and found this old press release:

Spring Brings New Growth to Cassidy & Associates

Washington, D.C. Today Gerald S. J. Cassidy, Chairman and CEO of Cassidy & Associates announced that the firm would be welcoming several new hires over the next few weeks.

We have been in an aggressive recruiting mode for the past several months in an effort to provide continuous, superior service to our clients,” Cassidy said. These professionals bring vast amounts of experience and knowledge and are well versed in the issues important to our clients. I am delighted to welcome them to our firm.”

The list includes:

Michael Galloway as Associate. Most recently he was a Legislative Assistant for both Reps. Jo Bonner (R-AL) and Sonny Callahan (R-AL). Michael is a 2000 graduate of the University of Alabama.

So a former staffer and small-time contributor to Bonner lobbied for Providence Hospital. Worth making a few calls next week to find out more…

Incidentally, Cassidy & Associates is a fascinating organization in its own right. Check out their staff bios page and also this excellent, Web-only series from Robert Kaiser and the Washington Post, Citizen K Street: How Lobbying Became Washington’s Biggest Business.