Republicans Begin Building Up A New K Street Project
Republicans Begin Building Up A New K Street Project
Yesterday, President Obama announced new strict lobbying rules that “could usher in an era of openness in federal government.” For example, administration officials are banned from accepting gifts from lobbyists and will have to wait two years before lobbying the government when out of office. Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer said that the restrictions constitute “a major step in setting a new tone and attitude for Washington.”
Congress, however, isn’t so ready to move away from the old Washington. Roll Call reports today that the GOP is building a new K Street Project to cozy up with lobbyists:
Senate Republicans have tasked Conference Vice Chairman John Thune (S.D.) with beefing up the party’s outreach to K Street, business groups and grass-roots organizations, hoping to maintain critical alliances built up over eight years of White House control.
Primarily, Thune said he hopes to create new alliances and fortify old relationships in order to sell the party’s priorities to the masses as it tries to reinvent itself after suffering bruising Congressional losses in the past two election cycles.
The previous version of the K Street Project, established by Tom DeLay and his cronies, set up a pay-to-play machine that self-admittedly operated by the old adage of “punish your enemies and reward your friends.” Lobbyists were given influence over legislation in return for donations to Republicans and a refusal to hire Democrats. DeLay’s influence is still felt on K Street, where there remains a “collective griping” at the dominance of Republicans.
House Republicans already have a running start on their Senate colleagues. Lobbyists “willing to pay a $25,000 fee will mingle with House Republicans at their annual winter retreat” next week in Hot Springs, VA. Only some of the lobbyists — on the board or advisory committee the nonprofit Congressional Institute — are listed on the group’s website, so it’s not clear who will be attending the GOP retreat. One lobbyist who has attended the retreat for years told the Hill, “Of course it’s about access and building relationships — that’s what this town is all about.”
Some congressional Democrats may also be getting in on the action. Reports indicate that the new administration will be a “boom” for K Street, which expects that interest groups will want help trying influencing the upcoming agenda. On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) invited top lobbyists to join him for an inaugural brunch where he pledged that he will still do plenty of business with them. “People should understand that lobbyists, per se, are someone’s father, mother, son, daughter,” said Reid. “They work for a living.”
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lol! oh you repubs are so funny. tom delay… lol… wtfe.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:32 pmI must say I DO like the fact that the GOP has absolutely no new ideas and thinks that doing what they did 25 years ago will work.
Keep it up morons!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:32 pmYea good luck with that.
Meanwhile back in the UNITED STATES!
Idiots
RIP
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:33 pmSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
Maybe they can create a new scientific myth…a doorway to heaven, perhaps?
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:33 pmOnce burned, twice shy!
Fear the hammer!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:37 pmOn Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) invited top lobbyists to join him for an inaugural brunch where he pledged that he will still do plenty of business with them.
Get rid of this ‘business-as-usual’ sell-out Reid. Russ Feingold needs to be appointed.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:37 pmLobbying is counter to what Obama plans to bring – CHANGE! There are enough Dems and decent Repubs to pass laws to sufficiently exterminate lobbying.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:41 pmthe lobby system as it stands is votes for sale, period and it needs to be made illegal again as it was pre-raygun.
republicans and reid just don’t seem to understand that those days of pay to play are over.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:42 pmMore of the same for the GOP…what’s the word….
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:42 pm…nothing to offer but gread, fear, and lies.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:43 pmLobbyists are parasites, serving only their business interests with NO REGARD for the operation of our government apart from what THEY can GET out of it.
Lobbyists should be banned from washington completely, and any politician accepting anything from a lobbyist should be immediately jailed for treason (as a politician accepting bribes is a traitor).
And the repugs “new k-street project’ needs to be closely monitored, as they WILL (with absolute certainty) attempt to circumvent and pervert the laws of this land.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:44 pmWhat more do you have to hear? this is why our government has stopped working. It is time to end the madness.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:46 pmJohn McCain’s campaign staff has to do something for a living now that the election is over.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:46 pmAnd just what exactly would lobbyists get in return for their $$ by giving it to the GOP? More stand-ins on the House floor like for the drilling ban issue? More 2-day delays in confirmation hearings?
Gimme a break … lobbyists are corrupt, but not stupid.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:47 pmFred Says:
republicans and reid just don’t seem to understand that those days of pay to play are over.
Oh, I think that they DO understand that those days are threatened (but not over). Since it was they who benefited the most from the “buy my vote” system of governing, it is they who want to continue it.
Lobbyists should be illegal. period. Our politicians should NOT be for sale. (Hell — DJ’s cannot be ‘for sale’ by law. I expect more from a politician than a DJ).
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:47 pmTime to vote Thune the baboon out of office.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:48 pmMajority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) invited top lobbyists to join him for an inaugural brunch where he pledged that he will still do plenty of business with them. “People should understand that lobbyists, per se, are someone’s father, mother, son, daughter,” said Reid. “They work for a living.”
*sigh*
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:50 pmcaption…
“Dang that Abramhoff, he’s late again…”
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 pmLobbyists “willing to pay a $25,000 fee will mingle with House Republicans at their annual winter retreat” next week in Hot Springs, VA.
________________________________________________________
Are the lobbyists still getting their money’s worth? I’m sure they’ve all heard by now that the GOP doesn’t have quite the pull it used to.
Maybe the fee was a lot more when the Republicans were in power.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:52 pmSpecial interest groups may hire lobbyists, but once they see no results for their money, will they continue to pay lobbyists? Just how much is a delay in the inevitable worth?
I’m guessing not as much as the newest batch of former Bush lapdogs are counting on.
PEACE
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:53 pmmk3872 Says:
And just what exactly would lobbyists get in return for their $$ by giving it to the GOP?
They won’t get the power they got over the last 8 (+) years, but they can still get votes, and they can still get items inserted in bills, they can get enough repugs to hold up measures they don’t like. They can still get “play” — and i am certain that that will be a top discussion at the meetings about the new k-street: what can the repugs give the lobbyists for their money. Its no different than a resume cover letter — “Here’s what we can do for you…”. And, as reid made sure to point out, there are plenty of dems who benefitted from the pay-to-play, and who are willing to continue.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:53 pmRoll Call reports today that the GOP is building a new K Street Project to cozy up with lobbyists.
However, the headquarters for the GOP operation will be located on the corner of F and U streets.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:55 pmmisshusseinmolly Says:
Maybe the fee was a lot more when the Republicans were in power.
You betcha ;).
Still, they will come. Corporate America does not want to lose its power over our government, and they will pay to get what they can. They are not going to throw their hands in the air and say, “Oh, well. It won’t be as good as it was, so we’ll just stop.” No. 25,000 bucks ain’t nuthin’ to most of them. Is that even a 30sec TV spot? I don’t think so (but I don’t know). They’ve had a lobby budget since they’ve been playing the game.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:57 pmTO THE MASSES?!?!
I’m sorry which masses are we talking about? the “masses” of military contractors? The “masses” of pharmaceutical companies? The “masses” of financial institutions?
WHAT BULLSH¡T
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:01 pmOT:
United States Army investigation has accused former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, along with contractors the company used and two of the firm’s supervisors, of ‘negligent homicide’ in the electrocution of a soldier.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:03 pmI think he is talking about reselling the idea of tax cuts for the rich to the trailer park white trash rank and file Republicans.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:07 pmrepublicans hate facts Says:
Excellent point rhf.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:11 pm“People should understand that lobbyists, per se, are someone’s father, mother, son, daughter,” said Reid. “They work for a living.”
The people who tortured detainees at GTMO and rendition sites around the world are also “someone’s father, mother, son, daughter,” but that doesn’t mean we have to support what they do.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:18 pmPrimarily, Thune said he hopes to create new alliances and fortify old relationships in order to sell the party’s priorities to the masses as it tries to reinvent itself after suffering bruising Congressional losses in the past two election cycles.
I hate to have to point it out, but that pig’s gonna need a lot of lipstick…
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:21 pm“People should understand that lobbyists, per se, are someone’s father, mother, son, daughter,” said Reid. “They work for a living.”
Nazis, Mafias all worked for a living also.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:28 pmThis is an excellent move by the Republican party to burnish their reputation and prepare themselves for what is shaping up to look like a really tough 2010 Congressional run. I congratulate them on this brilliant maneuver to try to place lobbyist influence and corporate cronyism front and center, by whoring themeselves out to it as much as possible. Keep it up, R’s!
Although I really don’t know how much lobbyists will want to stay all that connected to the minority party. Hopefully most of the Dems will be classier, Reid’s idiotic comment notwithstanding.
.
CageyCretin Says:
Lobbyists should be illegal. period. Our politicians should NOT be for sale.
That won’t work, for a couple very good reasons. First of all, you can’t make it illegal for people to talk to politicians. Of everything you can’t make illegal, that’s about number one. Second, most Congressmen don’t know bupkis about bupkis. If they need to find out what the affected people think of a given legislative item, asking lobbyists for industry associations and other interest groups is really their only way to get educated on the opinions of the major stakeholders in the issue.
What’s made lobbying so sleazy is that most of it is done by private companies for corporate interests, rather than broader non-profits acting on behalf of interest groups. Also, R’s tend to look at only the corporate-interest side of a picture, so lobbyists for the other side don’t even get access.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:37 pmFirst of all, Harry Reid sucks and should be deep-sixed as Majority Leader of the Senate. He’s weak, indecisive and no progressive leader. Same goes for Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi. Secondly, I know it will probably never happen, since it’s been in existence since the founding of this country, but I honestly wish that this kind of lobbying would be outlawed. If the voices these people heard were individual citizens, not the kind of “pay for access” b.s. that’s become more and more prevalent, this country would be a much better place. Thirdly, I don’t believe anyone should be allowed to be a “foreign agent” for a foreign country, corporation, etc. within the U.S. and lobby Congress or the Executive branch. And those congresspeople who act more like they are “foreign agents,” rather than representatives of the American people should be ousted (i.e., Lieberman.)
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:43 pmADDdaddy Says:
Primarily, Thune said he hopes to create new alliances and fortify old relationships in order to sell the party’s priorities to the masses as it tries to reinvent itself after suffering bruising Congressional losses in the past two election cycles.
TO THE MASSES?!?!
I’m sorry which masses are we talking about? the “masses” of military contractors? The “masses” of pharmaceutical companies? The “masses” of financial institutions?
WHAT BULLSH¡T
In private, he uses the word, “rabble.” He ought to keep in mind it was the “rabble” that wound up putting a large number of the nobility and royalty to the guillitone (sp) in France during THEIR revolution.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:50 pmReid needs to go. He’s too tainted by the corruption, and he doesn’t get it.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:12 pmI bet the new K street will look like the old one. After all, most of those now in Congress and the Senate go to that place when they leave. They are bought and paid for.
Look at that whore Trent Lott. He did his year in purgatory. He claimed when he quit last year, his decision had nothing to do with waiting out a year so he could lobby. But the very day his year ran out he said, “Great, I have been counting the days.” That’s what he said. You can’t and don’t need to make these things up. And that is pretty much par for the course.
The lobbyists are crawling vermin. Their money sucks the life out of Democracy. And the legislators they buy are without independence to make a decision without taking their advice.
I read that in the 50’s, that there was a total of 100 lobbyists. Now there are more then that for each legislator.
This is not a Democracy. It is a buy and sell market place.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:20 pmGood luck to Obama trying to change that.
Key words: “… in order to sell the party’s priorities to the masses …”
There is no interest in the people’s needs, just the party’s, and “educating” Americans means more lies and deception.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:20 pm“….beefing up the party’s outreach to K Stre…..”
I was unaware that the association between Congress and Lobbyists was so bad that a new outreach effort was needed. And to the extent that it eclipsed the need for repairing the economy and fixing healthcare.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:53 pmRepublicans are the reason we need to repair the economy and fix healthcare.
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:10 pmCan we please kick Harry Reid to the curb?? I’m sick of him; he’s a spineless, whining cur.
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:22 pmSenior Law Makers like Harry Reid have been making millions with lobbyist and are to deep in now. Once Obama gave the order of transparentcy everyone got scared their secret crimes would come out. Republicans will have to fine new suckers to give to the broken Party. Most of the honest Republicans aren’t getting involved. Now John Boehner and Mitch McConnell will take as much as they can get before they get caught.
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:28 pmRepublicans? Creating another K Street Project? Making plans to return to the majority?
ha ha
Bring ‘em on!
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:33 pmObama had better start talking about PUBLICLY FINANCED elections. Lobbying needn’t be outlawed, SCOTUS said it was “Free Speech” (talk about oxymoron!), but fewer politicians would be corrupted by lobbiest $$$ if they had adequate funding from THE PEOPLE.
Public Funding of Federal Elections is FREE SPEECH for all Amreicans.
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:46 pmI’ll second that WillowOrchid.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:26 pmWhen all you have is lies, hate, and fear, you need LOTS of the green stuff. Good luck (not) Mr. Thune.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:41 pmDelay belongs in prison, period.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:49 pmThe important thing to remember is that the Republican Party functions as a criminal organization. They’re out to steal the rest of us blind.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:40 amADDdaddy Says:
Primarily, Thune said he hopes to create new alliances and fortify old relationships in order to sell the party’s priorities to the masses as it tries to reinvent itself after suffering bruising Congressional losses in the past two election cycles.
TO THE MASSES?!?!
I’m sorry which masses are we talking about? the “masses” of military contractors? The “masses” of pharmaceutical companies? The “masses” of financial institutions?
WHAT BULLSH¡T
Considering that the GOP only considers corporations people, perhaps it is fitting and intended that they say masses…
January 23rd, 2009 at 5:30 amThese stupid people just do not learn. I hope the GOP does die. Maybe next time they will learn that the Glenn Becks, Hannity’s, O’reilly’s of the world are NOT the only ones that were voting for them. Let America show them that to be dishonest, by-passing the rules and lying to America are all unacceptable.
OUTLAW ALL LOBBYISTS
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:55 pm