Lobbying firms and special interests have filed nearly 1,700 new registration forms so far in the first quarter of 2009, according to a review of lobbying disclosure forms available online at the Senate Office of Public Records. As the federal government pumps up spending and intervenes in the troubled financial markets, K Street firms appear to have had no shortage of new business.
Our first pass at a database of the registrations shows that some of the financial firms that have received funding under the Troubled Asset Relief Program including Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs and Fifth ...
Continue readingTimely disclosure fail
I'll be posting some info on where we are with new lobbying clients in the first quarter of 2009, but in the meantime (and with apologies to the sometimes work unsafe Fail Blog), thought I'd post one of the search results I came across while going through the Senate Office of Public Records lobbying database (click the image to see it larger):
According to the disclosure form, the effective date of registration was Jan. 1, 2002. It showed up on the Senate site on March 29, 2009, a mere 87 months late. I'm not sure whether this ...
Continue readingA trillion here, a trillion there…
"History teaches us that an outlay of so much money in such a short period of time will inevitably attract those seeking to profit criminally," the Hill quotes Neil Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, saying.
It will also attract lobbyists, the members of Congress they enlist in their causes, special interests and others seeking to profit legally from the funds.
Via Instapundit.
Continue readingTariff Action Coalition formed
The Washington lobbying firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld registered a new client on Feb. 11, 2009 -- the Tariff Action Coalition, which consists of eight companies that collectively have sought more than $20 million in tax breaks on imports plus one lobbying firm, Samuels International Associates, which represents companies seeking $3.7 million more.
The three lobbyists going to bat for the Tariff Action Coalition all have previous experience working as aides for the Senate Finance Committee. The coalition is "seeking enactment of miscellaneous tariff bills," according to the filing.
Came across it while going through lobbying registration reports for ...
Continue readingWashington Post: Lobbyist business booming
Put another way, Main Street's gloom has been K Street's boon," write Ellen Nakashima and Brady Dennis. The first quarter ends tomorrow; lobbyists don't have to disclose how much of a boom it's been until April 20.
Continue readingThe Next Abramoff: PMA Group?
The New York Times reports:
...many on Capitol Hill, recalling the scandal that mushroomed around the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, are wondering who else will be ensnared in the investigation as prosecutors pore over the financial records and computer files of one of K Street's most influential lobbyists, known both for the billions of dollars in earmarks he obtained for his clients and for his open hand toward those he sought to influence.Former PMA staff members familiar with the inquiry say prosecutors' initial questions have focused on the possibility that Mr. Magliocchetti used straw campaign contributors " a Florida sommelier ...
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In Case You Weren’t Convinced
It’s been nearly two weeks since President Obama announced new rules to cover lobbying for stimulus funds and each passing... View Article
Continue readingLobbyists May Subvert Disclosure Laws to Lobby on Stimulus
The Associated Press reports today that lobbyists engaged on stimulus projects may channel their outrage at the new lobbying rules... View Article
Continue readingWhich Came First, the Lobbyist or the Company?
If you want to get money from the recovery funds allotted in the stimulus bill and you are a brand... View Article
Continue readingDodd’s family business?
Kevin Rennie notes another connection of Sen. Christopher Dodd to the financial industry, at one remove from AIG:
it turns out that Senator Dodd's wife has also benefited from past connections to AIG as well.From 2001-2004, Jackie Clegg Dodd served as an "outside" director of IPC Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based company controlled by AIG.
There are many other connections, obviously.
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