The following appears in the National Journal’s new “lobbying experts” blog launched last week. I will be posting there regularly.... View Article
Continue readingWhy Look At Former Staffers Turned Lobbyists?
Throughout this year I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking at the connections between powerful players in the health... View Article
Continue readingLawmaker Investments and Disclosure Part II
Following up on the previous post, I took a look at the Baird bill (H.R. 682) to require disclosure of... View Article
Continue readingBig Transparency
In case you were wondering, our third quarter lobbying disclosure reports can be found over at Open Secrets.
Continue readingHow data-dependent is health care reform?
Fighting net neutrality, telecom companies, outside lobbyists, cluster contributions to members of Congress
While the Federal Communications Commission considers the first steps toward ensuring net neutrality--making certain that broadband providers do not discriminate against high traffic sites--the telecom firms that would be affected by the rules and their trade groups have been swamping Congress with a one-two punch of campaign contributions from the companies and their registered lobbyists. Some 244 members of Congress were the beneficiaries of these contribution clusters--totaling more than $9.4 million--from January 2007 to June 2009, an investigative collaboration of the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics has found. Telecom interests and their lobbyists engaged in more ...
Continue readingExecutive Branch Lobbying Disclosure Rules Presentation
Earlier today, I gave a presentation on the executive branch’s lobbying disclosure rules to the American Bar Association’s Section of... View Article
Continue readingNot My Bank, Not My Problem Part II
Yet another member of Congress has been found pushing the Treasury Department for TARP funds despite having a long-standing relationship... View Article
Continue readingMurtha challenger trounces incumbent in fundraising; outraises Boehner and Pelosi too
While the ethics scandals that have multiplied around top fundraisers and earmark recipients of Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., have yet to involve him directly, he now faces a challenge from a different direction: A well-financed opponent.
William Russell, the Republican aiming to do battle with Murtha in the general election, trounced the longtime legislator with an astonishing $2 million in campaign contributions raised--more than House leaders John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi, more than double that of the next-highest grossing challenger, and nearly three times that of Murtha's haul of $712,000, the most recent campaign finance disclosures filed with ...
Continue readingTARP Lobbying Disclosure: What a Difference a Day Makes
Yesterday, I called the Treasury Department in one last ditch effort to find their TARP Lobbyist Contact Disclosure Forms. I... View Article
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