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Report from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals
Published on January 14, 2010 04:12 PM
Category: Independent Speech, Lobbying, Taxpayer Financed Campaigns
The hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York featured a wide range of questions from the panel of three judges questioning counsel in Green Party of Connecticut et al v. Garfield. The case involves two key questions: extremely broad and onerous restrictions on campaign contributions and activity by lobbyists and a public financing scheme which a lower federal court held unconstitutionally discriminated against minor parties and gave an unacceptable windfall to maj
Obamanomics: How Obama's war on lobbyists has failed
Published on January 12, 2010 04:45 PM
Category: Lobbying
Washington Examiner Lobbying Editor Tim Carney spoke at the Cato Institute today. Carney discussed his new book, Obamanomics: How Barack Obama is Bankrupting You and Enriching His Wall Street Friends, Corporate Lobbyists, and Union Bosses, with Dr. Uwe Reinhardt of Princeton University and New York Times Columnist Ross Douthat. Carney absolutely shreds the idea pushed by pro-regulation groups that Obama's war on lobbyists have reduced the influence of interest groups and lobbyists in Washington
You can't square a circle
Published on January 4, 2010
Category: Lobbying
Brad's latest post on National Journal's Under the Influence Experts' blog, responding to the question, "What Will Be The Most Lobbied Issues In 2010?": I can't say what will be the most lobbied issue, but I can say this — we will see more lobbying than ever before. Why? Because big government and big lobbying go hand in hand. The current administration and congressional majority are both eager to expand the size and scope of government. As these efforts move forward, many of the same org
National Journal: Should lobbyists be banned from giving campaign contributions?
Published on December 16, 2009 11:09 AM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Lobbying
National Journal recently started a new blog forum called Under the Influence Experts, which they pitch as "An Inside View of the Lobbying and Advocacy Industry." Each week, National Journal's Bara Vaida posts a question about lobbying, campaign finance, etc. and National Journal's community of lobbyists, activists and other pundits respond. This week's question is "Should Lobbyists Be Banned From Campaign Contributions?" CCP Chairman Brad Smith responds
ACLU sues Illinois over lobbying law
Published on December 16, 2009
Category: Lobbying
The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois is challenging a state registration fee for non-profit lobbyists in federal court, BNA: Money & Politics Report ($) reported today. The Illinois Lobbyist Registration Act, amended in August, violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments by nearly tripling the lobbying fees for non-profits like the ACLU. Read the ACLU's filing here.
Sunlight Foundation scorches CRS report
Published on December 4, 2009 02:38 PM
Category: Lobbying
The Sunlight Foundation scorched a flimsy report issued by the Congressional Research Service Dec. 1 purporting that the Obama Administration's restrictive lobbying edicts have changed the culture of advocacy in Washington. "It reaches an unsupported conclusion about the effect of the administration's lobbying disclosure rules, and also contains several factual and analytical errors," wrote policy counsel Daniel Schuman, a former CRS attorney.
Norm Eisen’s latest salvo in the White House war on lobbyists
Published on November 10, 2009 04:28 PM
Category: Lobbying
Norm Eisen, special counsel to President Obama for ethics and government reform, continued his fight with government relations professionals on the White House's latest anti-lobbyist edict: banning registered lobbyists from agency boards and commissions.Eisen explained the White House's decision-making process on lobbying regulation in a blog post following a Tuesday meeting with a group of trade lobbyists and others on affected advisory committees. A New York Times blog post on Eisen's back-and
Rep. Woolsey threatens church with IRS investigation
Published on November 10, 2009 02:50 AM
Category: Issue Advocacy, Lobbying
Politico published an "Ideas" piece from Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California yesterday. The co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Congress attacked the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for daring to express an opinion on legislation and urge their members to express their opinions to their lawmakers. She urged an IRS investigation into the tax-exempt group's political activity.
Spying on citizen activism makes a comeback
Published on October 20, 2009
Category: Disclosure, Lobbying, Petition Rights
Elizabeth Carney at National Journal today has a column making the case for the government to spy on the political activities of its citizens. That isn't exactly how she puts it, of course. So-called "grassroots lobbying disclosure" is apparently back in fashion after some shenanigans pulled by a lobbying firm to misrepresent the views of several community leaders on climate change issues. Carney reports: The investigation into a prominent lobbying firm's fake letters to Congres
Super Ethics Man saves the day, defeats Lex Lobbyist
Published on September 23, 2009 04:34 PM
Category: Lobbying
Norm Eisen, President Obama's scold-in-chief Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform, posted an item on the White House blog today announcing that the administration has finally transformed Washington into a corruption-free utopia asked executive agencies and departments to refrain from appointing anyone who is a federally-registered lobbyist to agency advisory boards and commissions. As Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has pointed
