Tag: lobbyists
Rigged Democracy – Nearly 10% Of Democratic Party Superdelegates Are Lobbyists
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
On July 25, these superdelegates will cast votes at the Democratic National Convention for whomever they want, regardless of primary and caucus outcomes. Democrats like to describe superdelegates as mostly elected officials and prominent party members, including President Obama and former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
But this group, which consists of 21 governors, 40 senators and 193 representatives, only makes up about a third of the superdelegates. Many of the remaining 463 convention delegates are establishment insiders who get their status after years of donations and service to the party. Dozens of the 437 delegates in the DNC member category are registered federal and state lobbyists, according to an ABC News analysis.
In fact, when you remove elected officials from the superdelegate pool, at least one in seven of the rest are former or current lobbyists registered on the federal and state level, according to lobbying disclosure records.
– From the ABC News article: The Reason Why Dozens of Lobbyists Will Be Democratic Presidential Delegates
When it comes to presidential primaries, there isn’t a whole lot of “democracy” in the Democratic Party.
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REVOLVING DOOR OF GOVERNMENT WHORES
Former employees of federal agencies can often find good (and lucrative) jobs as lobbyists, capitalizing on the connections that they forged while in public service. An Environmental Protection Agency administrator may go on to lobby his former colleagues on environmental issues, and a White House staffer can tap her West Wing connections when she starts a new job on K Street. The White House is traditionally the executive branch’s largest supplier of fresh lobbyists; the office of the president employs a large team of staffers of varying seniority. But public servants switching to careers as lobbyists (and back again) come from agencies as varied as the Department of Defense, NASA and the Smithsonian Institution. Agency employees strolling through the revolving door include those as powerful—and well connected—as secretaries of state and as far from Washington as Peace Corps volunteers. The agencies shown here have employed the greatest number of former lobbyists—or sent the greatest number of former employees to lobbying firms and interest groups.
Agency | Number of revolving door people profiled |
---|---|
Dept of Commerce | 1736 |
Dept of Defense | 1688 |
Dept of State | 1452 |
Dept of Health & Human Services | 1225 |
White House | 1216 |
Dept of Agriculture | 1112 |
Dept of Army | 1080 |
US House of Representatives | 876 |
Dept of Justice | 864 |
Dept of Energy | 840 |
Dept of Transportation | 750 |
Dept of Interior | 700 |
Dept of Labor | 555 |
Dept of Housing & Urban Development | 530 |
Dept of Homeland Security | 520 |
Dept of the Treasury | 444 |
Dept of Navy | 428 |
Dept of Education | 412 |
Dept of Air Force | 312 |
US Senate | 256 |
Congressman Knows Regular Lobbyist’s Order Without Even Having To Be Told
WASHINGTON—Noting that the Valero Energy representative had been coming to his office for more than a decade now, Sen. John Cornyn (R‑TX) told reporters Thursday that he now knows the regular lobbyist’s order without even having to be told. “Pete always drops in Monday mornings around eight on his way to work—well, you see the same friendly face year after year and you just pick up on what he wants,” said Cornyn, adding that he’s typically already preparing the lobbyist’s usual order of tax breaks and fossil fuel subsidies even as he’s taking off his coat. “Every once in a while, he’ll throw me a curveball and ask for a rider slashing regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, but for the most part, he knows what he likes and sticks with it. The way I see it, folks will always come back if you treat them right.” At press time, the lobbyist had arrived right on time and was getting settled in his usual seat.
THOSE DAMN FACTS
It must be those dastardly tea baggers sabotaging the Savior’s glorious, well conceived, well executed, cost saving, life saving healthcare plan for America. Of course a 2,400 page law written by healthcare industry lobbyists, with 11,000 pages of rules and regulations, managed by thousands of government drones, enforced by the IRS, impacting 19% of the U.S. economy, and rolled out on a computer system that doesn’t work, was sure to improve the lives of all Americans. More government in our lives is exactly what we need. Now please bend over and await your Obamacare rectal exam. The $2,500 savings check is in the mail. But be warned, we are depending on another government organization losing $19 billion per year to deliver that check, so it might be awhile.
…Individuals in most states will end up spending more on the exchanges. It is true that in some states, the experience could be the opposite. This is because those states had already over-regulated insurance markets that led to sharply higher premiums through adverse selection, as is the case of New York. Many states, however, double or nearly triple premiums for young adults. Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, and Vermont see some of the largest increases in premiums.
…The Obama Administration is desperate for younger people to enroll to prevent an adverse selection death spiral.
…Our findings confirm that younger populations see larger percentage increases in premiums. A state that exhibits this clearly is Vermont, where the increase for 27-year-olds is 144 percent and the increase for 50-year-olds is still 60 percent, but far less. All states exhibit this relationship.
Heritage Foundation
“If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health-care plan, you will be able to keep your health-care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what.”
“For people with insurance, the only impact of the health-care law is that their insurance is stronger, better, and more secure than it was before. Full stop. That’s it. They don’t have to worry about anything else.”
“If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change for you under this plan is the amount of money you will spend on premiums. That will be less.”
“I want to be very clear: I will not sign on to any health plan that adds to our deficits over the next decade.”
“Health care reform will cut the cost of a typical family’s premium by up to $2,500 a year.”
Source:
IT’S GOOD TO BE A MEGA-CORPORATION
The 30 mega-corporations in the chart below generated $164 billion of profits in the last three years and paid no taxes. Not only did they pay no taxes, they received $10.6 billion in tax refunds. Not a bad return on their $476 million lobbying investment. This was all done legally. You see when their lobbyists right the laws for Congress and the tax rules for the IRS, things tend to fall in your favor. I’d love to see the compensation amounts for the CEOs of these organizations.
Did you pay any taxes between 2008 and 2010? If so, you paid more in Federal taxes than 29 of these 30 mega-corporations. You should fire your lobbyist.
Remember this information the next time you hear Gingrich or Romney declare that corporate tax rates are too high.
Country’s Largest Corporations Spend More Money On Lobbying Than Taxes
In a “remember me, three years ago?” speech in Kansas yesterday, President Obama told the crowd, “This country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share and when everyone plays by the same rules.” A new report [pdf] from the non-profit organization Public Campaign shows that 30 of the country’s largest corporations—including GE, Wells Fargo, Verizon, and Fed Ex—paid more to lobby Congress from 2008 through 2010 than they did in federal income taxes. What country was the president referring to?
Of the 30 companies, only one actually paid any federal income taxes: FedEx. The rest received nearly $11 billion in rebates. And even FedEx only paid 1%, 34% less than the statutory rate. As for lobbying, the 30 corporations spent a combined $476 million—or $400,000 a day every single day of the year, to ensure their interests were represented in Congress. GE led with way with $84 million in the three-year period (wonder why?) Verizon spent $54 million, and Boeing spent $52 million.
We can hear Eric Cantor crying now: “But these companies create jobs!” Of the seven companies that would make their employment records public, the report shows that over 50,000 Americans were laid off by these corporations, despite them turning a profit.
If you’ve been weeping uncontrollably if you even attempt to pick the paper up from your stoop following the news, the results of this report shouldn’t surprise you. But hey, a few more speeches in Kansas should straighten things out.