George B. Kaiser, the Obama campaign bundler and Tulsa oilman whose foundation's investment in Solyndra has raised questions of whether political influence played a role in the now-bankrupt solar panel company's winning $535 million in federal loans, had three White House meetings to discuss energy policy from Dec. 2009 to April 2011.
While Kaiser was a frequent caller at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., his foundation issued a statement stating that the Tulsa billionaire "did not participate in any discussions with the U.S. government regarding the loan." Obama administration officials told ABC News that the purpose of his contacts ...
Continue readingIsrael, Palestine spend millions on lobbying, PR campaigns
As the United Nations considers the Palestinian referendum for statehood, possibly as early as Friday, both parties are vying for an approval from the UN Security Council and for a U.S. vote. Both Israel and Palestine have a long history of lobbying the U.S. and in the past year alone, the Palestinian Liberation Organization spent over one million on public relations. During the same time, Israel spent over $13 million on lobbying, public relations and related costs. Both interests contacted important policy makers and set up a vast PR campaign.
In the last few months as the issues ...
Continue readingComments on Dodd-Frank’s position limits rule came from petroleum marketing, airline industries
A handful of groups--including some backed by petroleum marketing firms, airlines and unions--were responsible for the great majority of some 13,000 comment letters sent to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission about a single proposed regulation mandated by Dodd-Frank, according to an analysis by the Sunlight Foundation.
The CFTC is expected to issue a final rule, which limits how many futures contracts an investor is allowed to hold in any one security, on Sept. 22, though the agency has yet to confirm that date. The position limits rule received one of the highest number of public comments in the agency ...
Continue readingTop donors to Super Committee House Dems lobby for Defense and Medicare funding
A replacement for the Space Shuttle, tax breaks for personal injury attorneys, two nuclear powered submarines and bigger Medicare reimbursements for some specialists and drugs are among the lobbying wish lists of the top career donors to the three House Democrats on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, otherwise known as the super committee.
As we noted in our previous posts on the three House Republicans, the three Senate Democrats and the three Senate Republicans on the super committee, the dozen members all have private interests backing them who are far more concerned with their own bottom lines than ...
Continue readingLobbyists golfing with Clyburn have friend on Super Committee
In early August, Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a member of the newly created congressional super committee, held his annual charity golf tournament, welcoming nearly 600 golfers to spend the weekend in Santee, South Carolina.
Prior to the tournament, the charity’s website posted a list of golfers signed up for the tournament, which raises money for college scholarships for needy students. Among those golfers, we identified 34 lobbyists, many of who represent companies with a stake in the decisions of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, a 12-lawmaker body tasked with trimming at least $1.2 trillion from the ...
Continue readingDonors to Senate GOP super committee members seek tax cuts, tax breaks
The Club for Growth, which advocates making permanent some tax cuts and eliminating entirely others that, over just two years, would amount to more than $765 billion in lost revenues over two years, is a top donor to two of the three Republican Senators on the Joint Select Committee on Debt Reduction--the super committee. Other top donors include a hedge fund run by a top Republican donor that invests in, among other things, defaulted debt of sovereign nations, corporations trying to shield income earned overseas from U.S. taxes, and utility firms seeking to avoid regulation of greenhouse gases.
As ...
Continue readingDonors to super committee Senate Dems lobby for tax breaks, federal funding
Companies that earn billions from Pentagon contracts and lobby for billions more, universities that receive billions in research funding and financial firms that oppose new taxes and support old tax breaks for their industry figure in the top career donors to the three Senate Democrats on the super committee.
As we noted in our previous post on the three House Republicans on the super committee, the dozen members of the super committee--formally known as the Joint Select Committee on Debt Reduction--all have private interests backing them who are far more concerned with their own bottom lines than they are with ...
Continue readingBig donors to super committee members have a stake in the outcome
Members of the Joint Committee on Debt Reduction--the better known as the super committee--bring a host of priorities, policy positions and potential political posturing to the table. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., labeled Standard & Poors' revision of the U.S. credit the "Tea Party downgrade," while Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, took to the floor of the House to argue against raising the debt ceiling. But beyond their public pronouncements are private interests--longtime supporters of each member of the super committee--who are far more concerned with their own bottom lines than they are with scoring political points.
Lobbying disclosures for large organizations ...
Continue readingA look back at Gaddafi’s lobbying as his regime falls
Libyan rebel forces now hold most of Tripoli. Gaddafi’s sons have been captured but the eccentric Libyan dictator remains elusive.
Gaddafi’s political craftsmanship carried him through 42 years. The reign of Gaddafi “Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution” was bolstered first by the fear of the international community, then its support, achieved by the Libyan dictator’s skillful pirouette from flouting international norms to making concessions to come back into the international fold. That he did so with the aid of Western lobbyists, intellectuals and former heads of state is less well known.
While the public recalls ...
Continue readingCompanies pay to honor Clyburn, other Super Committee members, at charity events
Lobbyists can not only attempt to influence members of the deficit-cutting super committee by donating to their campaign, but they also have another tool: giving to good causes that honor them.
Companies, advocacy groups and their lobbyists have spent at least $715,000 to honor and cover meetings costs for the 12 members of the super committee during the first half of the year, according to lobbying disclosures filed this month with the Senate Office of Public Records. In some cases, these payments were made in honor of many members of Congress—not only those on the Super Committee.
The ...
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