Conrad Burns takes job with lobbying firm in DC

[kid a]

http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/01/11/news/state/25-burns.txt

WASHINGTON - Former Sen. Conrad Burns, defeated for re-election last year, has a new job at a lobbying firm in Washington.

Burns will work for his former chief of staff, Leo Giacometto, at the firm Gage. Gage has lobbied for various Montana interests and several national technology companies, often making headlines for its connections to Burns and his staff.

The Republican senator's connections to lobbyists were an issue in his re-election bid as Democratic challenger Jon Tester pounded him on his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Burns had accepted about $150,000 in contributions from Abramoff, his clients and associates. He later gave that money away.

Burns won't be able to become a lobbyist just yet, as Senate rules prevent former members from lobbying their former colleagues for one year. The Senate is considering ethics legislation - partly prompted by the Abramoff scandal - that would bump that period to two years.

[Robbien]

1. If the rule is you cannot be a lobbyist for a year, how does working for a lobbyist

not break that rule. Any Congresscritters taking money from this Gates lobbying firm should be sanctioned.

[freefall]

3. They sit around for a year and don't do much. They can advise

other members of their firms on how to approach issues and people etc. What they can't do is any direct lobbying of their former colleagues. I believe that would include making phone calls, personal visits and written solicitations. It is worth it to the lobbying firms to pay their salaries for the year and keep them as back-benchers until they can start lobbying in full force.

Peace,

freefall

[sofa king]

6. They don't seem to do much, anyway.

My friend who worked in the same building with Bob Dole's lobbying firm said Dole seemed to show up for lunch about twice a week. Others in the firm told him that Dole was on the payroll so his name could be placed on the masthead. That was his real "job."

[freefall]

2. Gee. I guess he decided living around people of color isn't so bad

after all. :sarcasm:

Burns was interviewed shortly after arriving in Washington as a newly elected Senator and reportedly said being around so many black people was a difficult adjustment. He also made a speech in Montana in which he called Arabs "ragheads."

And when a Montana Native American tribe rejected the idea of widening a two lane highway through their reservation lands to four lanes Burns did everything he could to force it on them. (I don't know what the result of that disagreement was.) He is not a nice person. I live on the east coast but I was rooting hard for a Tester win.

Peace,

freefall

[donkeyotay]

4. After they're out of the public eye, they go on co-opting our nation

Delay, Ashcroft... I think they all become lobbyists and keep on doing what they were doing when they held office - representing their special interests.

[yurbud]

5. wait, so he won't be on the Simpsons anymore?

[Larry in KC]

7. Actually, Connie looks and acts more like Grandpa Simpson...

...with senility being an important feature.

[cosmicdot]

8. he's already listed on the Gage website

Giacometto worked for him, now Burns works for Giacometto - they must be very close
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

http://www.gage.cc/a1.asp

Senator Conrad Burns
Senior Advisor
United States Senator (1989 – 2007)

Senator Conrad Burns recently completed his third term (1989-2007) as a United States Senator from Montana where he was a member of both the powerful Commerce and Appropriations Committees.

A pivotal leader in telecommunications policy he has been praised as “one of the fathers of the modern Internet,” and spearheaded major telecom deregulation legislation, the roll-out of broadband in rural areas, and pushed for new Internet and mobile phone technologies. Senator Burns authored section 706 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act and went on to unveil the "Digital Dozen" proposal for telecom legislation, the “Tech 7" agenda aimed to bring greater security to the Internet, the “NexGenTen” and the "e-Eleven" effort to strengthen security and usher reform for 21st century communication.

With a seat on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Burns secured in excess of $2 billion in federal funds. Serving as Chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations subcommittee for the 109th Congress, he had jurisdiction over land and water managed by the Department of the Interior that produces 30 percent of the Nation's energy supply. A proponent for American energy independence he was a strong advocate for increased domestic production and research in fuel cell technology.

Burns was born on a farm near Gallatin, Missouri on January 25, 1935 to Russell and Mary Frances (Knight) Burns. He enrolled in the College of Agriculture at the University of Missouri and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps two years later serving throughout East Asia.

Following his military service Burns began working for TWA and Ozark airlines before becoming a field representative for Polled Hereford World magazine. Named the first manager of the Northern International Livestock Expo in 1968, Burns began his career in radio and television broadcasting, reporting on agricultural market news and establishing his reputation as the voice of Montana agriculture. In 1975, Burns founded four radio stations known as the Northern Ag Network, which grew to serve 31 radio and TV stations across Montana and Wyoming when he sold it in 1986.

Burns began his career in politics when he was elected to the Yellowstone County Commission, serving for two years before deciding to run for the U.S. Senate in 1988.

````````````````````````````
Clients

(James) Baker Botts is listed as a 2004 client (#29 on this list)
http://sopr.senate.gov/cgi-win/m_opr_viewer.exe?DoFn=3&LOB=ULLMAN,%20STAN&LOBQUAL==
$60,000/$80,000 --- that must have been nice 'seed' money -- one hand feeds another in whatever this 'system' is we have in DC involving our Federal Government -- where do We the People fit in?
#59 End of year Baker Botts report http://tinyurl.com/ykggzd


clients listed on website:

Adara Networks
Bascom
Emerging Technologies Group
Green Ventures
ICOP
IdenTrust
ImageWare
Interoperability Clearing House (ICH)
Intrado
Invizeon
IPLABS
i-Safe
Massively Parallel Technologies
MoneyPly Mall
Motley Rice LLC
Pegasus
San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority
SightLogix
Square Loop
TerreStar
Trust Digital
Westlands Water District

``````````````````````````````````

from website news

seems rather an unusual promotional link on a Lobbyist's website
Counterterrorism Blog Celebrates Second Annviersary
http://www.gage.cc/news.asp?id=14


Mike Rawson of GAGE is elected to the Board of Directors of the E9-1-1 Institute.

It's just one big corpo-plutocratic party.

[classysassy]

9. "How are you going to get them back on the farm"

after they have seen all that loose money in Washington.