A lot of attention is being paid to political efforts on the Internet lately. Every day this week the Washington Post has printed an article that in some way focuses on politics and the Internet, whether it being the use of YouTube by politicians, a flap over a picture on a campaign website, or the launch of a new online effort for bipartisanship. The Internet and politics are topics du jour in Washington this election season. Perhaps it’s because of the success of the YearlyKos convention or because the blogs and online organizing did not disappear after the 2004 elections as many in Washington expected. The answer to that is unknown but what is revealed in the media’s coverage of the Internet is a mix of bias, exuberance, and ignorance.
Continue readingElvis Is In The Building
Congress appears to agree with the voters of our online poll, Elvis will be spotted before they pass comprehensive ethics reform. It has been six months since the most flamboyant lobbyist in Washington caved under his own cupidity, seven months since [sw: Duke Cunningham] (R-Calif.) lost his Louis-Philippe commode, and more than two months since [sw: William Jefferson]’s (D-La.) congressional office was raided by FBI agents. In honor of these milestones and this Congress’ penchant for ignoring serious problems we should all remember those who have already fallen due to the unprecedented, and to lawmakers, unimportant, scandals sweeping the Capitol.
Continue readingHow to win contracts and influence Congress
Somewhere in America a lobbyist, or maybe a contractor, is writing a book with that title. Lobbyists, freely seeking contracts with little or no restraint, appear to have perfected a system, with their clients, of winning contracts and gaining influence. TPM Muckraker -- posting about yesterday’s Vanity Fair expose on the seedy world of defense contracts (“a window into Babylon or the last stages of Rome”) -- explained the business model of companies seeking contracts in Washington: “First you get the congressman, then you get the earmarks, and then you get the money.”
Continue readingWhat Next in Cunningham Investigation
Vanity Fair reports on the ongoing Cunningham investigation and where it will go next. The article notes that Cunningham was seeking bribes days before he pled guilty; Brent Wilkes, the defense contractor at the center of the investigation, made connections in Washington by introducing congressmen to women in Honduras; Bill Lowery, the former congressman and current lobbyist embroiled in the scandal, introduced Cunningham to Wilkes. So who goes next in the investigation: Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, [sw: Katherine Harris] (R-Fla.), Wilkes, Lowery, or Rep. [sw: Virgil Goode] (R-Va.)?
Continue readingDaylight AM
- Conservative activist Grover Norquist called [sw: John McCain] (R-Ariz.) "delusional" for exposing Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) as a shadow lobbying operation and a conduit for Jack Abramoff's money laundering. (The Hill)
- Congress put itself in a crunch this year when it decided to set a schedule that, in total, is shorter than a school year and may prove to be shorter than any meeting schedule in the past sixty years. They must now push through numerous important bills with only July and possibly September left. (Christian Science Monitor)
- Democrats are upset with one of their main funding sources, labor unions, because they are contributing campaign funds to highly vulnerable Republicans. One labor lobbyist believes that "Democrats can’t expect unions to place all their bets on Democratic candidates and risk being shut out of the legislative process if they lose." (The Hill)
- Clients continue to drop the lobbying firm Copeland Lowery because of its involvement in the growing investigation into Appropriations Chair [sw: Jerry Lewis] (R-Calif.). Riverside County, Boeing Co., and now the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority have all severed their ties to the embattled lobbying firm. (San Bernardino Sun)
Daylight AM:
- Roll Call reports that the Justice Department subpoenaed the e-mails of Rep. [sw: William Jefferson] (D-La.) in the ongoing bribery investigation. Jefferson will have the chance to challenge the release of certain e-mails under the Speech and Debate Clause. The congressman could "be allowed to review them and decide whether he wants to try to assert his privilege under the Speech or Debate Clause and withhold them from the federal prosecutors. Jefferson would then have to file a legal motion in federal court in Alexandria outlining the reasons for why they should not be turned over to federal investigators."
- The manager of MZM, Inc., Richard A. Berglund, was accused of violating FEC rules by illegally donating money to Rep. [sw: Virgil Goode] (R-Va.). MZM, Inc. was one of the chief defense contractors charged with bribing Rep. [sw: Duke Cunningham] and the owner, Mitchell Wade, has since pled guilty to the charges. In this case Berglund stands accused of ""aiding and abetting" a scheme by MZM's owner to donate the funds in the name of others."
- The money paid to Julie Doolittle, the wife of Rep. [sw: John Doolittle] (R-Calif.), by Jack Abramoff to do fundraising for a charity event is receiving new scrutiny after the Senate Indian Affairs Committee report detailed the dates that she received the payments. Julie Doolittle "received the lion’s share of her monthly retainer fees long after a canceled charity event, which had been the principal reason cited for her $5,000-a-month retainer deal with the admitted felon’s ex-lobbying firm". Julie Doolittle received just $27,000 around the time of the charity event, but later received a seemingly unconnected $40,000 from Abramoff "three weeks after Rep. Doolittle, an avowed anti-gambling Mormon, wrote a letter of support for a tribal client of Abramoff’s seeking to reopen its casino."
Towns, Municipalities Hire Lobbyists in Earmark Frenzy:
Raw Story reports that the Sunday New York Times will include an article detailing the extent to which cities, towns, and municipalities are going to secure federal dollars through earmarks.
Since 1998, the number lobbyists for such public entities has doubled, the paper will report. According to the Times, "Most of these new clients had never sought earmarks -- some had never even heard of them -- before someone knocked on their door, essentially offering big pots for a pittance. Others had read in the newspaper about neighbors with lobbyists building bridges or beach walks and felt pressure to keep up with the municipal Joneses."Continue reading
Details in Lewis Case Becoming Clearer:
TPM Muckraker is all over the latest, and future, developments in the [sw: Jerry Lewis] (R-Calif.) investigation. Justin Rood reports that the clients of the lobbying firm in the middle of the scandal, Copeland Lowery, continued to donate to Lewis' campaign committee and PAC "just days after news surfaced of a federal investigation into" Lewis' connection to the firm. All of the contributing clients happen to be defense contractors, likely seeking an earmark or two. Rood asks if any of these contractors may be the next recipient of a subpoena in this widening investigation. (Read More...)
Another Politician Abusing a Nonprofit:
Nonprofits have become a new vehicle for corporations and lobbyists to influence politicians and for politicians to skirt transparency in the election system. Florida Governor Jeb Bush (R) is revving up his nonprofit to do both:(Read More...)
Continue readingCoburn Attacks Office Spending:
Sen. [sw: Tom Coburn] (R-Okla.) is holding up the FY 07 Legislative Branch appropriations bill over an 8 percent increase in Senate spending. According to CongressDailyAM, "Coburn aides and Senate leaders said they hoped to quietly resolve the matter, perhaps by allowing Coburn to offer an amendment to slash the bill's $840 million for Senate offices and expenses -- a $63 million increase over the current year." Coburn stated, "In a time of war, rising gas prices and record deficits, increasing our own budget by an exorbitant amount sends the wrong message to the public".
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