As the 12 members of the “super committee” scour the nation’s budget searching for at least $1.2 trillion in federal cuts, Washington lobbyists are watching their every move, hoping to protect the interests of their clients.
Some attend fundraisers, ponying up as much as $1,000, $2,000 or $5,000 for face time with a member. Some seek private meetings with members or their staff in Capitol Hill offices. And for some, attending the hearings — being seen while watching the proceedings — is the way to go.
But how do lobbyists get in — much less into front-row seats ...
Sen. Kerry Speaks on Super Committee Influence
In his first extensive interview about his membership on the Super Committee—the super powerful deficit reduction committee charged with finding $1.5... View Article
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 readingSunlight Live to cover Super Committee meeting on Tuesday
On Tuesday morning, the Sunlight Live team will cover the second meeting of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction providing viewers not only with context, fact checking and background but also live updates and pictures from the super committee meeting.
The upcoming meeting is poised to be more significant than the first one, with the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Doug Elmendorf, testifying. In their statements last week, many legislators urged compromise and bipartisanship. However, one member Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., threatened to abandon his post if more military spending cuts are proposed.
The super committee first met ...
More on Open Meetings for the Super Committee
A number of press reports suggest today that the Super Committee’s rules permit it to close meetings to the public.... View Article
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 readingBipartisan Bill Would Expose Efforts to Influence Super Committee
Representatives Loebsack (D-IA), Quigley (D-IL) and Renacci (R-OH) introduced the Deficit Committee Transparency Act today, an important bill that would... View Article
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 readingSuper Committee Will Hold Public Meetings
We’re enormously relieved to read that the Super Committee will hold public meetings: Both meetings are open to the public... View Article
Continue readingSuper committee member Upton creates joint fundraising committee
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., one of the members of the Joint Select Committee for Deficit Reduction, filed paperwork Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission to create a joint fundraising committee. Contributions collected by the committee will be split between Upton's campaign and leadership PAC.
The creation of a joint committee, the Upton Victory Committee, allows fundraising that benefits both Upton's political action committee, TRUST PAC (Team Republicans for Utilizing Sensible Tactics), which distributes thousands of dollars to Republican candidates, and his campaign, Upton for All of Us. FEC rules require that money given to the joint committee be ...
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