Sarah Steelman actually gets it right ... she just needs to take the next step

by: WillyK

Wed Aug 03, 2011 at 20:59:32 PM CDT

"Thousands of lobbyists are just waiting to cut their special deal to preserve their piece of the pie," Steelman said. "The leaders of both parties should only appoint members who agree to this pledge prior to serving on the committee."

"This is not the time for our representatives in Washington to crawl back into their smoke-filled rooms and cut deals that put powerful special interests ahead of the people," Steelman said.

Of course, if you follow the implications of this statement, all congresspersons should refuse to take lobbyist money all the time. If it's wrong in this case, it's wrong whenever legislators are making decisions that affect our lives and well-being. But that would be campaign finance reform, and I bet Steelman isn't willing to go there.

It's also instructive to note that she's only calling on Claire McCaskill to join her in this pledge; not a word about her primary opponent, Todd Akin, or GOP Senator Roy Blunt. Maybe she knows a lost cause when she sees it?

Slightly edited for clarity.

My new best friend

by: hotflash

Mon May 02, 2011 at 20:15:12 PM CDT

Corporate lobbyists might seem like the lesser of two evils when democracy is being hijacked by campaign contributors, but in fact lobbying is sometimes more of a threat to the public interest. And that fact holds true whether we're talking about bills that benefit utilities, bills that stave off lawsuits against Tyson and Premium Standard Farms, or bills about any high stakes legislation. I mean, who are you more likely to go out of your way to please: an ATM that forked over the cash for last night's dinner at a pricey restaurant or a friend of yours who always treats? Admittedly, you wouldn't want that ATM card snatched away, so of course we know that campaign contributors do have their sway over legislators. But I still remember calling Sen. Jeff Smith three years ago to ask why he had accepted $9750 from a Rex Sinquefield shell committee pushing vouchers.  Smith pointed out that the week after taking the money, he had deep sixed a pro-voucher nominee for the state Board of Education. He had no qualms about putting a finger in his donor's eye.

Indeed, Sinquefield has spread millions around and knows that such rude ingratitude will be fairly common. He has sunk a fortune into campaign contributions without so far getting the lege to do any serious legwork at getting his (un)Fair Tax adopted. He may not be loved, but he persists.

The best lobbyists, though, have an emotional connection with the legislators they cultivate, a hook that no "Pay to the order of" piece of paper can match. It isn't just that they're intelligent and can persuasively argue their case--though that certainly is true. It's that, in the case of high profile bills, lobbyists are hired to match particular legislators. They're charming, sure, but they're so much more than merely hail fellows well met. They likely share the same interests as the legislators they target. Perhaps they like the same music and know instinctively which concert tickets will be gladly accepted. Or if a state rep loves baseball, she'll find herself befriended by a good-natured baseball fan--who happens to know a lot about a particular issue that she will be voting on. And the lobbyist will be feeding her that info along with filet mignon before a ball game he bought the tickets to.

Term limits are the lobbyist's friend, for a new rep or senator will have had less time to acquaint herself with the intricacies of, say, utility regulation than someone who, in the old days, might have been around Jeff City for twenty years or more and become expert on the topic. The lobbyist stands ready, eager, to fill in those gaps in her knowledge. And she may not immediately cotton on to the reason she has hit it off so well with this particular habitue of the capitol. Given time, she might well learn to keep some distance between herself and lobbyists. But if, at the start of what must be a relatively short career in the legislature, she doesn't foresee the need for that, then vote time comes, and it's tough to disappoint her friend.

She never set out to choose moneyed interests above her constituents. It's not like that at all. She saw nothing sinister in listening to a lobbyist argue his case and was pleasantly surprised to find herself enjoying his company so much. And if she was the least bit conflicted about which way she ought to vote, the deciding factor might be the guilt of betraying her friend.

Because in the end, campaign contributors are numbers on a spreadsheet. Lobbyists are people you like.

Photo courtesy of SEIU on Flickr

Teabagger rally at the state capitol: when astroturfing lobbyists speak, they listen...

by: Michael Bersin

Wed Jan 05, 2011 at 22:00:21 PM CST

Wait, could that be? Why yes, it's a lobbyist waiting in the wings.

Carl Bearden (r), lobbyist: ....You need to make sure that you look around the perimeter of this rotunda. You need to make sure that you look around, uh, chambers in the Senate and the House and read the words that are on these walls because when we determine and decide and elect people who believe and practice the words in this capitol we'll have a better state and we'll have a better country. [applause]

[inaudible] Right behind you is "Where there is no vision the people perish". We have to have a vision for a free America. We have to have a vision for a free Missouri. And without your activity as a [inaudible] said, that cannot happen because, folks, we sent some good people to Jefferson City. We sent some good people to Washington, D.C. How many of you all are married? How many wives do we have present? Every wife knows in order to make a good husband she has to watch him and tell him when he's not doing right. [laughter, applause] That's what we have to do to the folks that we elected to represent us. We do not elect them to come here or to Washington to represent themselves or represent the special interests, but to represent us, to represent America, to represent Missouri [inaudible]. [applause]

For Missouri's future prosperity depends on you and me. You know, I, I want to encourage you at the risk of discouraging you first. And when you go about and when you spend the rest of the day here and either this evening or tomorrow you'll read about this rally. And you're gonna read some great things about how tons of people showed up. But you're gonna read in at least one blog and perhaps one newspaper where it was a very poorly attended rally. [laughter] Right? You've seen that forum. What they don't [inaudible], what they don't understand is you've been watching the national scene. There are a lot of people on there that did not get what happened on November second. [inaudible] still exist. So when you read those things just know that you are like a, a, uh, a ear of corn. An ear of corn contains a lot of seed doesn't it? These seed takes a lot of other ear of corns to make a lot of bushels. And you are representative of the bushels that exist in our country and our state today, so give yourselves a hand. [applause]

[inaudible] while I have said we are not going to wait for [inaudible] if we want an America for our grandchildren and great grandchildren that we know was envisioned we have to stay active. One of the ways government takes our liberty is by taking our money. Liberty is part of money. And you've heard [inaudible] talk about the national fair tax, here in Missouri we can enact a measure [inaudible] Missouri jobs and prosperity. Just imagine living in a state that when you pick your paycheck up every week that there is no deduction from the state stealing part of your liberty. [cheers, applause] Just imagine living in a state that actually creates jobs, that is growing in population, gaining congressional seats, not losing them. [applause] Missouri jobs and prosperity act is [inaudible] for Missouri. Can and will make it happen.  The Missouri jobs and prosperity act replaces the income tax with a consumer driven sales tax that will create twenty thousand jobs a year every year. And I think that's good [applause]. [inaudible] And folks, we can make it happen, but the big government big spenders here in the state don't want that to happen. They will make things up. They're gonna fight it. Folks, it's up to each and every one of us to protect our liberties. We need to be supporting Missouri jobs and prosperity act. And in two thousand twelve we are doing the best we can to make sure that you get that opportunity in an election coming near you in November two thousand and twelve. We're gonna be asking you over the next few months and the next two years while it's happening to be a part of that team that making that happen, make sure that people know that we respect, we want, we demand that our government not tread on our liberty and you can be a part of that process.

Ronald Reagan said about talking about elected officials, they don't see the light, they can feel the heat. Folks [cheers, applause], folks we need to [inaudible], stand up, [inaudible] and we need to [inaudible] the same [inaudible]. God bless you, God bless America.

Introduced with "he's helped us a lot" and as a "former representative"

It must be lobbyist humor, or something: "...We do not elect them to come here or to Washington to represent themselves or represent the special interests..."

Your moment of zen.

"...You know, I, I want to encourage you at the risk of discouraging you first. And when you go about and when you spend the rest of the day here and either this evening or tomorrow you'll read about this rally. And you're gonna read some great things about how tons of people showed up. But you're gonna read in at least one blog and perhaps one newspaper where it was a very poorly attended rally..."

It was a very poorly attended rally. Happy to oblige.

Carl Bearden's lobbying principal's list:

Teabaggers, and nullification, and the cult of the lost cause, oh my!

by: Michael Bersin

Wed Jan 05, 2011 at 18:41:32 PM CST

There were a few of their bumper stickers on vehicles in a parking garage near the state capitol:

Bumper sticker courtesy of FreedomWorks' astroturf campaign.

FreedomWorks Orchestrates 'Grassroots' Movements To Serve Dick Armey's Corporate Clients
April 14, 2009

...corporate lobbyists are helping to orchestrate the anti-Obama tea party protests. These lobbying-run front groups, along with promotion help from Fox News, are organizing the tea parties by calling right-wing activists and asking them to organize. They are also coordinating conference calls among activists, writing press releases, providing sign ideas, building websites supporting the protests, and distributing talking points so that the protesters can stay on message...

....Last year, the Wall Street Journal exposed FreedomWorks for building "amateur-looking" websites to promote the lobbying interests of Armey.

FreedomWorks represents a top-down, corporate-friendly approach that has been the norm for conservative organizations for years. As Obama prepares to push to close corporate tax loopholes, reform health care, and transition to a clean energy economy, we can expect more corporate lobbyists to create astroturf protests to oppose change...

Heh. Right wingnut lobbyists. What else is new?

Arizona's SB 1070 is a hit with the teabagger set.

But not with Missouri's governor:

Governor Jay Nixon at Missouri Boys State: Q and A on Arizona's SB 1070 (June 13, 2010)

....Question: ...What's your personal opinion re, regarding the immigration law recently signed by the Governor of the State of Arizona? [crosstalk] Thank you very much.

Governor Jay Nixon (D): Um, Governor Brewer signed two laws. Um, the first one that she signed, uh, I, I have serious problems with. I mean, which, if you're gonna require people in the United States of America to, to, show their identification papers just because they're walkin' around, I mean,  in order for them to have the right to walk through, a city square or walk through a park. That you could be stopped and demanded to prove in that setting that, that, that you're, you know, a citizen or you're American or whatever.  I, I think that is way over the top. I, I, man, oh man, I, I [applause], it, it . [inaudible] We need to think about people working together. We need to increase the number of people of all, we, we, I mean, the Statue of Liberty was given to us by France as a gift because we were the melting pot of the world. I mean, everyone of you, when you talk to your mom or your dad or your grandma or your grandpa, they'll talk about how they were German or how about they were English or how they were Swiss or Norwegian or whatever. And, and in one or two generations everybody wants to ignore all that, and act like we're just these, these Americans things. We have great roots all around the world and the future of the economic engine of the world is not gonna be sitting here in, in Henry County in the middle of Missouri bunkered down. We've gotta, we gotta join this new world.

So, the first piece, um, that, of that law I, I obviously somewhat mildly disagree with. [laughter] Um, [inaudible] they cleaned it up a little bit. I do believe that, that for national security purposes, uh, we need to have secure borders, uh, we need to make sure that we know who's crossing those borders, and we're certainly entitled if somebody comes into our country at in particular time, or if someone is here illegally, to, to deal with those issues and, and to, to send those folks back to their country of origin. Um, you know, so , like I say, I think that, that Arizona took a political solution in which they tried to be the toughest in the world that I think crossed a line that's not a line we should cross in America. I think basic civil rights, basic individual freedom is extremely important and, and, and just because it's, it's after one group today doesn't mean that it's, it's not gonna be after another group tomorrow.

I mean, the Constitution is a great document. Probably the best document ever written, but after it was in power, it was in for only a few short years, they figured out they forgot some stuff. So they came back and they did the Bill of Rights and I would just recommend to y'all, you know, politicians run around, hold up the Constitution all the time. Don't forget to hold up those first, those first ten Bill of Rights, too. The freedom of press, freedom of religion, you know, freedom to counsel, you know freedom to, you know, the freedom to bear arms, I mean, you know, you don't, you know. [cheers, applause] I think in that first piece Arizona crossed the line....

I'm thinking the 2008 election results didn't make you too happy, did they?:

Maybe these just hold the bumper on the car. Nah.

Roy Blunt's friends and family program

by: RBH

Wed Oct 20, 2010 at 09:00:00 AM CDT

"I decided that if the guy you know best at Immigration and Naturalization happens to be the person in charge, then it's all right to direct your correspondence to him"

Perhaps the most illuminating part of the story released on Tuesday is that it shows once again the Roy Blunt philosophy on government. The Roy Blunt philosophy of government seems to involve his family and allies getting first dibs and the rest of us getting the leftovers.

Roy Blunt is someone who asked "How bad do you want this job to be?" when criticized for riding the pay-raise train over his 14 years in Congress. It's not about doing the right thing, it's about the power and privilege and the ability to have it trickle down to the friends and family.

Back in 1990 when he was pulling out the stops for someone who his campaign wants you to believe was just helpful at church events, Roy Blunt was showing a preview of what we know he has done in the last 14 years in Congress. Also when it comes to the Dora Narvaez story, there must have been a lot of church events, some of which must have occurred at Roy Blunt's house, since Dora Narvaez said that she worked for Blunt.

"Blaine Burgundy here for Genentech"

by: RBH

Sun Nov 15, 2009 at 01:27:40 AM CST

The New York Times reports that Blaine Luetkemeyer is one of a bipartisan group of around 42 unoriginal, uninspired, and impressionable House members to use the lobbyist-provided material in their house speeches in the Health Care Debate.

In separate statements using language suggested by the lobbyists, Representatives Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri and Joe Wilson of South Carolina, both Republicans, said: "One of the reasons I have long supported the U.S. biotechnology industry is that it is a homegrown success story that has been an engine of job creation in this country. Unfortunately, many of the largest companies that would seek to enter the biosimilar market have made their money by outsourcing their research to foreign countries like India."

They're not kidding, Luetkemeyer and Wilson used bio-similar language. Wilson made his speech first, and presumably Blaine had no other option. With America sprinting towards socialism, Blaine can't disregard a paragraph. The major conclusion one can reach from this? Blaine Luetkemeyer and Ron Burgundy might have more in common than we ever suspected.

Unfortunately for voters wanting as much information on the originality of and influences on their Representative, the 42 members haven't been revealed. Because investigative journalism and newspapers don't dine together often enough.