lobbying

Mark PennUntil March 2008, the major public relations firm Burson-Marsteller counted among its clients the Pakistan People's Party, as the Center for Media and Democracy previously reported. Burson-Marsteller promised to influence U.S. policy and public opinion, via contacts with "100 American political journalists and business elites," by favorable "white papers" by academics and op/ed columns in newspapers. The firm also pledged to "promote credible 'third-party' supporters of Pakistan," including "former U.S. government officials," "think tank experts" and influential Pakistani-Americans. The Pakistan lobbying contract, which also involved the polling firm Penn, Schoen & Berland, specifically mentioned New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria as outreach targets. Luckily for Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton -- whose former campaign strategist, Mark Penn, heads Burson-Marsteller and Penn, Schoen -- the firms' work for Pakistan ended "well before [November's] terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India." Otherwise the Penn-Pakistan connection could have been used by "opposition researchers dredging up tough questions" for Clinton's confirmation hearing.

As President-elect Barack Obama announces his cabinet nominees and prepares to take office, his former rival and Secretary of State candidate, Hillary Clinton, remains deep in debt. Her presidential campaign owes $5.3 million to the Penn, Schoen and Berland (PSB) polling firm, which is owned by former Clinton campaign strategist and Burson-Marsteller CEO Mark Penn. After Clinton wrote off her own $13.1 million loan to her campaign, the campaign owes a total of $6.3 million. Meanwhile, Doug Schoen has announced that he's leaving PSB. Schoen will join the Edelman firm's lobbying practice in Washington DC, where he and "Democratic heavyweight" Bob Shrum will be senior counselors.

When Congress drafted the $700 billion financial bailout bill, they intended to limit Wall Street executives' sky-high pay. To do this, they included a process for reviewing executive pay, recovering bonuses based on unrealized earnings, prohibiting "golden parachutes" and punishing firms that break the rules. But just before the bill passed, the Bush administration insisted Congress make one little change in the bill's wording that pertained to that provision. The change said that penalties would only apply to firms that sold their troubled assets at an auction, since that was how the Treasury Department originally said it planned to use the money. But auctions have not been used to dispose of bad assets after all, and Bush's change effectively created a loophole allowing companies that take bailout money to circumvent restrictions on top executives' lavish pay. Senators on the Finance Committee are considering whether they should amend the law to assure the enforcement mechanism applies to firms that participate in the bailout.

The "Worst EU Lobbying Awards," sponsored each year by Corporate Europe Observatory, Friends of the Earth Europe, LobbyControl and Spinwatch, have been announced for 2008. This year's award goes jointly to the agrofuel lobbyists of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Brazilian sugar barons UNICA and energy company Abengoa Bioenergy. According to the awards website, "They were jointly nominated for their use of misleading information and greenwash to influence crucial debates in the European Parliament and Council by claiming that agrofuels (crops used for fuel for cars and lorries) are sustainable." Event organizers also noted that "One of the candidates for the Worst Conflict of Interest Award, suspended Commission official Fritz-Harald Wenig, unsuccessfully tried to silence the Worst EU Lobbying Awards last week by taking legal action in the Court of First Instance in Brussels to have his name removed from the nominations and not have his name mentioned during the Worst Lobbying Awards ceremony. The court ruled that freedom of speech was more important in this case."

In September 2008, as the U.S. Congress "was debating the first financial bailout, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich went on Fox News to decry how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had so 'many politicians beholden to them' that no one would step up to protect the American taxpayers," notes Muckety.com. But, as it turns out, Freddie Mac paid Gingrich $300,000 in 2006, "to push back against tough, new regulations of the mortgage company at a time the Bush administration was concerned about how big the two government-backed mortgage giants had become." After taking the money, Gingrich "talked and wrote about what he saw as the benefits of the Freddie Mac business model," reported the Associated Press. The Gingrich hire was part of an effort to woo conservatives; Freddie Mac also hired Frank Luntz and the DCI Group in 2005. Freddie Mac spent $11.7 million on outside lobbyists and consultants in 2006; 17 firms focused on Republicans, while four focused on Democrats. Freddie also hired Gingrich in 1999, "to provide strategic counsel," notes TPMMuckraker.

The Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC), the peak body for PR professionals and lobbyists in the UK, is horrified that the opposition Conservative Party is proposing that government agencies be banned from hiring lobbyists. APPC is urgently seeking a meeting with the shadow minister for the cabinet office, Nick Hurd, after he told the Times that "the hiring of lobbyists by government bodies to grab more government cash is a financial scandal." The controversy follows the Conservative Party documenting that state-funded agencies had spent over £9.7 million (US$14.4 million) on at least 71 separate contracts with lobbying firms over a five-year period. Hurd has proposed that, if the Conservative Party is elected, it would emulate the Byrd Amendment, which banned U.S. government agencies from hiring lobbyists. The amendment was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1989.

"General Motors, teetering on the brink of insolvency, has taken the extraordinary step of calling on employees and dealers to personally urge lawmakers to approve another loan package that might keep the beleaguered automaker from going under," reports Wired.com. GM North America president Troy Clarke emailed 29,000 employees, "Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical. ... This level of economic devastation far exceeds the $25 billion of government support that our industry needs to bridge this current period. ... Directions and key messages are in the attached document to assist you with the calls." GM's U.S. sales chief, Mark LaNeve, sent a letter to all GM dealers, urging them to take action on "the deepest crisis our industry has ever faced," reports Reuters. "Separately, GM executives also held a broadcast for employees on Wednesday, urging them to contact their representatives and senators in support of any measures to provide immediate liquidity to the U.S. auto industry."

The webinar, sponsored by Qorvis and Patton Boggs, is archived on the Qorvis website."President-elect Obama is already backing off his pledge not to hire any lobbyists to serve in his administration," reports Shawn Zeller. "But one prominent hired gun -- Stuart Pape, managing partner at the biggest lobbying firm in Washington -- expects that Obama will soon after taking office set new disclosure requirements for lobbyists trying to influence executive branch officials." Pape spoke at a briefing sponsored by his firm, Patton Boggs, and Qorvis Communications. Pape also pointed out that the Obama campaign's "brilliant plan" was so "well executed" that it has raised expectations for real change. "You saw the enthusiasm of people, not just in the United States but all over the world last night," he said. "It was an outpouring of emotion and hope that I don't recall seeing since John Kennedy was elected president. But that puts an enormous amount of challenge in front of the president-elect to ... meet those expectations." According to Darryl Nirenberg of Patton Boggs, the incoming U.S. Congress will also feel pressure to deliver "early achievements" by quickly passing "items which they believe will be popular and somewhat easy to get through the House, such as health care SCHIP, energy policy attacking big oil," and "regulatory changes for financial institutions such as an investor and shareholder bill of rights."

"Washington's $3 billion lobbying industry has begun shedding Republican staffers, snapping up Democratic operatives and entire firms, a shift that started even before Tuesday's ballots were counted," reports the Wall Street Journal. "One signal of the new era" is that the influential Republican firm BGR Holdings (previously called Barbour Griffith & Rogers) is acquiring the Westin Rinehart Group, which is run by former Clinton administration aides. The Republican-dominated Ogilvy Government Relations (previously called the Federalist Group) will be revamped by "two former Democratic staffers": Dean Aguillen, who worked for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and James Williams, who has worked for Senators Joe Biden, Dick Durbin and Charles Schumer. Ogilvy's clients include "Chevron, the American Chemistry Council, Nascar and shareholders of the 20% of American International Group Inc. that isn't held by the federal government." Lockheed Martin and Boeing "both recently named Democrats as top lobbyists." Comcast's "chief Republican lobbyist" left the company, and the Information Technology Industry Council "passed over its top in-house Republican in naming its new president." The association and three companies all said the changes "weren't made to curry favor with Democrats."

The Livingston Group, a lobbying and PR firm, "received a healthy $300K during the third period," or third quarter of 2008, from the Council for a Democratic Iran. The website of the Virginia-based group states, "We believe there is an alternative between military confrontation with the current regime and accommodation." According to Lobbyists.info, the group previously retained the firm Cyber Security Research Consultants. Its Livingston Group lobbyists include former Congressman Robert Livingston and Lauri Fitz-Pegado. Fitz-Pegado previously worked at Hill & Knowlton, where she helped promote the first Gulf War for the government of Kuwait, using the front group "Citizens for a Free Kuwait." In a September 25, 2008 blog post, the Council for a Democratic Iran describes itself as "a newly founded non profit organization."