[Mb-civic] Lobbyists' Emergence Reflects Shift in Capital Culture -
Washington Post
William Swiggard
swiggard at comcast.net
Thu Jan 12 03:49:26 PST 2006
Lobbyists' Emergence Reflects Shift in Capital Culture
By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 12, 2006; A01
Corporate lobbyists Mark Valente III and Troup Coronado don't have to
hang out in the hallways of Capitol Hill, waiting to buttonhole Rep.
John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.). Both men have more convenient ways of reaching
the lawmaker.
Valente is the treasurer of Shimkus's political action committee, the
John S Fund. And Coronado, who lobbies for BellSouth, played host at a
Dec. 17 fundraiser for Shimkus at MCI Center. Guests made contributions
-- $1,000 per person, $1,500 per couple -- to his reelection campaign,
and in turn they got to take in a Bon Jovi performance from the
BellSouth suite.
There is nothing exceptional about Valente's relationship with Shimkus,
or Coronado's fundraising party. But they do illustrate the capital's
changing mores.
Although the excesses of Jack Abramoff have captured the news, a wide
range of other practices -- rarely publicized and fully legal -- reflect
the steady dismantling of the wall between lobbyists and members of the
House and Senate.
Fallout from the Abramoff scandal is likely for a time to chill certain
aspects of the capital culture, in which access to power on Capitol Hill
is lubricated by lobbyist-funded meals, travel and campaign
contributions, according to congressional veterans of both parties. But
some public interest advocates believe the relationships between
lobbyists and politicians have become so institutionalized in recent
years that fundamental change is unlikely, absent changes in the law.
Among the examples:
· Since 1998, lobbyists have served as treasurers of 79 lawmakers'
campaign committees and leadership PACs, according to the Center for
Public Integrity. These committees often pay for senators and House
members to enjoy such fundraising events as golfing in Palm Springs,
Calif., and fishing tournaments off the Florida Keys -- outings at which
the lobbyists will also be prominently in attendance.
· Major trade associations have bought Capitol Hill townhouses for
fundraisers so that lawmakers can quickly go back to cast votes and then
return to the event.
· At election time, many lobbyists put on a new hat and become political
consultants, guiding incumbents to reelection. Afterward these lobbyists
return to their traditional roles, being able now to ask for votes from
those they helped put in office.
"The border has broken down. Not only has it broken down, it's sort of
'barbarians at the gate,' " said Lawrence F. O'Brien III, a Democratic
lobbyist. "There is sort of the naked 'Well, we are one, you are us'
type of notion between the members of Congress and the lobbying
community downtown."
The change in standards of what is objectionable versus what is
commonplace is suggested by a nearly forgotten uproar nearly two decades
ago. On Feb. 3, 1987, newspapers disclosed that then-Sen. Lloyd M.
Bentsen (D-Tex.), chairman of the Finance Committee, had set up a
"breakfast club" for lobbyists who donated $10,000 to his campaign
committee.
The implied bargain -- money for access -- struck many as just too
obvious. Three days later, Bentsen ended the breakfasts and acknowledged
that his error of judgment had been "a doozy."
Now, every day Congress is in session, there are lobbyist-organized
fundraisers for senators and representatives -- at breakfast, brunch,
lunch or dinner -- at which the basic transaction is little different
than what got Bentsen in hot water. Take Dec. 14, 2005:
Lobbyists for BNSF Railway and United Parcel Service held a luncheon for
Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) at the Associated General Contractors townhouse
($1,000 per PAC, $500 a person), according to the Web site for the
National Republican Congressional Committee. A few blocks away,
according to the NRCC, lobbyists for MasterCard, Time Warner and DuPont
honored Rep. J. Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.) at Tortilla Coast ($1,000).
That evening, Promia Inc.'s Adrian Plesha hosted a reception for Rep.
John E. Sweeney (R-N.Y.) at his East Capitol Street home -- $5,000 for
"sponsors," $1,000 for PACs and $500 for individuals.
The pivotal point in Washington's changing culture, according to
lobbyists and congressional ethics analysts, came in 1995, shortly after
Newt Gingrich and his "Republican Revolutionaries" roared to power in
the 1994 midterm elections. Tom DeLay, the new majority whip, and his
allies began the "K Street Project" -- the pressuring of trade
associations and lobbying firms to hire Republican, and to contribute to
Republican campaigns if they wanted access to key leaders and committee
chairmen in the House.
"We're just following the old adage of punish your enemies and reward
your friends. We don't like to deal with people who are trying to kill
the revolution. We know who they are," DeLay told The Washington Post.
DeLay announced last week he will not try to regain his former post of
majority leader, even if he is cleared in a Texas trial over allegations
of illegal fundraising. But his absence does not necessarily mean the
lobbyist-lawmaker relationship will change on Capitol Hill.
One lawmaker hoping to move up in the GOP leadership is Rep. John A.
Boehner (Ohio), chairman of the House Education and the Workforce
Committee. He maintains the lobbyist-financed Freedom Project, with a
lobbyist as treasurer and an all-lobbyist executive board. It has raised
$5.94 million over 10 years and has contributed $3.26 million to fellow
Republicans.
Some 2003-2004 expenditures include $21,990 at Sam and Harry's
steakhouse, $16,189 in fees at Manassas's Robert Trent Jones Golf Club
and $5,990 for lodging at La Quinta Resort & Club near Palm Springs.
"What used to be considered in Washington conduct to be hidden was
turned into conduct to be flaunted," said Fred Wertheimer, president of
Democracy 21, a group seeking campaign finance changes.
Although DeLay was a catalyst, some of the cultural changes he
represented preceded him. And Democrats participated with vigor.
In 1981, then-Rep. Tony Coelho (Calif.), chairman of the Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee, began to "marry" businesses seeking
legislation with Democratic lobbyists, especially former staffers. The
maneuver gave the businesses better access and turned many into
contributors to the DCCC.
That same year, the Republican firm Black, Manafort and Stone became the
first in which partners served both as political consultants to
candidates for federal office and lobbyists on behalf of corporations
and trade associations.
Lobbyists also have unprecedented sway with the national party
organizations. They held all the top positions at the 2004 GOP
convention in New York.
The House GOP leadership has also brought them directly into the
legislating process, institutionalizing the practice of using large
networks of lobbyists to help "whip" bills by keeping vote counts and
finding ways to persuade wavering members to vote with the caucus.
Recent years have even shown how the traditional lobbyist-lawmaker
financial pipeline can flow in both directions. In addition to helping
legislators raise reelection money, lobbyists have received large sums
from politicians' PACs for vaguely defined services.
The soon-to-be-closed Alexander Strategy Group, for instance, received
funds from committees associated with acting House Majority Leader Roy
Blunt (R-Mo.) and DeLay -- $386,552, and $392,740, respectively.
DeLay's wife, Christine, and three former top aides -- Edwin A. Buckham,
James W. Ellis and Tony C. Rudy -- worked for Alexander Strategy Group.
Gregg Hartley, Blunt's former top political aide and now a lobbyist,
defended the payments and said the money was paid "to utilize the
services of several individuals who assisted with staffing, fundraising,
strategy and operational services for the development, implementation
and resource generation for a very effective and absolutely legal
political campaign committee." Stanford political scientist David Brady
said that in terms of overt corruption, this era does not compare to the
gilded age of "robber barons" in the 19th century. Simon Cameron, a
senator from Pennsylvania at that time, said of his colleagues: "An
honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought."
L. Sandy Maisel, director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and
Civic Engagement at Colby College, said the issue now is less a matter
of criminality or overt corruption than a change in standards: "Congress
as an institution now defines as ethical actions that would be derided
elsewhere in society."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/11/AR2006011102318.html
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