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NEWS ABOUT: lobbyists

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Romney Camp Full of Lobbyists

Top GOP influence peddlers fill his 'cabinet,' and policy teams

(Newser) - Mitt Romney occasionally touts himself as a Washington outsider, but he hangs out with an awful lot of lobbyists, the New York Times observes. Romney's "kitchen cabinet" includes some of the top Republican influence peddlers in the business, including Charles Black, Wayne Berman, and Vin Weber, all of... More »

Egypt Bans Ray LaHood's Son From Leaving

Along with other Americans monitoring Egyptian elections

(Newser) - Egypt has placed Ray LaHood's son and several other Americans working for pro-Democracy groups on a no-fly list, barring them from leaving the country. Sam LaHood tried to board a plane out of Egypt in Cairo on Saturday, Politico reports, but was prevented from doing so. A State Department... More »

Gingrich's Freddie Mac Contract Released

Newt reported to a top lobbyist in one-year, $300K deal

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich made $25,000 a month working for Freddie Mac, where he reported to one of the company's leading lobbyists, according to his newly released contract with the mortgage giant. The 15 pages unveiled by Gingrich's former firm cover one year of his eight-year, $1.6-million relationship... More »

Obama 2012 Aide Was Bailout Lobbyist

Broderick Johnson is key Democratic insider

(Newser) - President Obama is building his reelection campaign on "channeling anti-Wall Street anger," but a top campaign staffer lobbied for the bank bailout that has both Occupiers and Tea Partiers fuming. Broderick Johnson and fellow lobbyists were paid some $450,000 working for the Financial Services Forum, a group... More »

Non-Lobbyist Newt Gingrich Acted a Lot Like a Lobbyist

Ex-speaker hawked clients' products, arranged meetings

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich’s consulting clients all signed contracts saying that Gingrich “does not provide lobbying services of any kind,” but what he did for them looks an awful lot like lobbying to the New York Times . Gingrich actively hawked his clients’ products in his presentations to lawmakers, and... More »

Freddie Mac Paid Gingrich $1.6M

But only for his 'strategic advice'

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich raked in somewhere between $1.6 million and $1.8 million over the course of an eight-year span consulting for Freddie Mac, sources tell Bloomberg —a far cry from the $300,000 he was asked about in last week’s CNBC debate. His main contact was the... More »

Abramoff: Reforms Won't Stop 'Bribery' in Congress

Tells CBS he had once pull with 100 lawmakers

(Newser) - Lobbyists still “own” Congress, according to Jack Abramoff, dismissing the “faux reform efforts” passed in the wake of the scandal that landed him in prison . “The system hasn’t been cleaned up at all,” Washington’s most infamous ex-peddler of influence tells 60 Minutes in an... More »

Big Obama Fundraisers Double as Lobbyists

Many bundlers 'indistinguishable' from traditional lobbyists, finds NYT

(Newser) - President Obama’s campaign has pledged not to take money from lobbyists—but some of its biggest fundraisers don’t look much different. Fifteen of the president’s powerful “bundlers,” who donate to the campaign and seek others’ donations, have raised some $5 million for Obama; while none... More »

Herman Cain: Former Biz Whiz? Try Lobbyist

GOP hopeful fought smoking bans, minimum wage increases

(Newser) - Herman Cain is known as the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza and an upstart GOP presidential candidate. But between those pursuits, he filled his Washington Rolodex as a highly effective industry lobbyist in the late 1990s, the New York Times reports. His industry: restaurants. His major issues: fighting smoking... More »

Debt Super Committee an Open Book—for Lobbyists

Influence peddlers get their due

(Newser) - The debt “super committee” tends to meet in secret, won’t disclose its donors or post its documents online, and has turned a deaf ear to calls for greater transparency from good government groups—but it’s an open book to the best connected lobbyists on K Street, Politico... More »

Facebook Starts a PAC

Social media firm aiming to buy some friends

(Newser) - Looks like the original social network is shopping for a political network: Facebook has filed paperwork to form a political action committee and it plans to use it to funnel donations to its favored candidates in upcoming elections, reports the New York Times . As debates about privacy and monopoly concerns... More »

Thousands Ditch Congress for Lobbying Firms: Study

Study says almost 5,400 have jumped ship in past decade

(Newser) - There’s a veritable car pool lane connecting Capitol Hill to K Street, according to a new study, which found that almost 5,400 ex-congressional staffers and nearly 400 former lawmakers have taken jobs with lobbying firms over the past decade. The road goes in the opposite direction as well,... More »

Lobbyists Scramble to Sign Libyan Rebels

K Street trying to get chunk of frozen Gadhafi cash

(Newser) - The fall of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime should be a huge boon—for K Street. Lobbyists are scrambling to get an in with the Transitional National Council, the rebel government that the US has now recognized as legitimate, the National Journal reports. Two firms are already working for the TNC,... More »

Lobbyists Gear Up to Woo Debt Committee

It's not 'just another tax bill': advocate

(Newser) - Lobbyists aren’t waiting around to air their concerns before the new debt panel—and many are getting a head start, pushing their agendas with the lower committees that will send recommendations to the supercommittee in October. “I think you always want to start in the best possible position... More »

Group Helps Big Biz Shape Friendly Laws

ALEC brings together companies and lawmakers

(Newser) - Say "hi" to ALEC—as in the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative think-tank that allows businesses to play a role in writing laws on energy, the environment, telecommunications, taxes, public safety, and more, reports Bloomberg . Corporations pay up to $25,000 to join ALEC and thousands more to... More »

Feds: Pakistan Spies Funded DC Lobby Group

Kashmiri group's director arrested

(Newser) - American-Pakistani relations slumped further downhill yesterday with the arrest of a Washington-based lobbyist accused of being in the pay of Pakistan's spy agency. Federal investigators say Pakistan spent millions of dollars attempting to influence American policy on the disputed territory of Kashmir with campaign donations to members of Congress... More »

Newt's Tiffany Credit Sparks Influence Concerns

No-interest credit extended as Callista Gingrich dealt with mining policy

(Newser) - At first, self-professed "frugal" Newt Gingrich's Tiffany bill of up to $500,000 just made him look ridiculously out of step with cash-strapped Americans. But now, the financial arrangement with the jewelry behemoth is raising questions about influence, notes Gawker . Gingrich and his wife enjoyed a special interest-free... More »

Both Parties Look to Cut Corporate Tax

Lobbyists eager for next big legislative push

(Newser) - The Obama administration is planning to propose a new set of cuts in the corporate tax rate, hoping to strike a vein of bipartisan cooperation. “This would send a reassuring signal to the economy, and is something both parties should support in theory,” a senior administration official tells... More »

Time to Stem Tide of Special Interest Campaign Cash

Special interest groups 'distort elections': Alan Simpson

(Newser) - In 2010, special interest groups and lobbyists in Washington alone gave nearly $300 million to political candidates—"more than the donations of 32 states combined," notes Alan Simpson, writing for Politico . And 2012 is sure to be worse, unless we do something about it—now. Special interest money... More »

In Budget Deal, Lobbyists Win Surprising Battle

Ron Wyden's voucher plan scrapped—though that won't save money

(Newser) - Soon after Democrats and Republicans settled on a deal to avoid a government shutdown, Ron Wyden got a call from Harry Reid. “You lost free-choice vouchers,” he said. Translation: Somehow in the budget scuffle, those involved agreed out of the blue to kill a plan Wyden had fought... More »

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