NYT: It’s So Much Nicer on K Street

[babylonsister]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/opinion/06fri2.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

It’s So Much Nicer on K Street

Published: June 6, 2008

The more the presidential candidates promise to rein in the rich Washington culture of influence-peddling, the more voters need a reality check.

The capital lobbying industry ballooned almost 8 percent to $2.79 billion last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a group that has been tracking record growth rates for the past decade. That’s an outlay of $17 million for each day Congress was in session. No wonder Dennis Hastert, the Republican and former House speaker, cannot resist.

Mr. Hastert, the G.O.P. stalwart who presided during the Jack Abramoff lobbying corruption debacle and the Mark Foley House page scandal, joined a blue-chip lobbying firm this week as a “strategic counsellor” at an annual salary estimated at $500,000-plus. Mr. Hastert, who has set the sky-box level for politicians second-careering, joins the more prized Congressional and executive alumni who schmooze old pals still in power without the need to formally register as day-to-day lobbyists.

We never really expected Mr. Hastert to indulge the Jeffersonian fantasy and humbly return to his old calling as a high school wrestling coach. Still, his new job as access-enabler highlights the capital reality that old incumbents never die; they just backslap away.

More than 200 former members of Congress have crowded through the revolving door to lobby in recent years. More are lining up at the pay window. Congress’s designated ethics monitors already are bending the rules to let incumbents job shop their private-sector value while still on the privileged elected perch.

Capitol Hill alumni burnish their clout by marshaling the lobbying industry’s fund-raising for cooperative incumbents waiting behind. Inside Washington, none of this is surprising. Outside Washington, voters need to confront candidates who demonize the lobbyists who are actually silent underwriters of their candidacies.

To his credit, Senator Barack Obama has ordered the Democratic National Committee to no longer accept donations from lobbyists and political action committees. Senator John McCain should follow suit.

[mac2]

1. A little late to start new "rules" is it not Obama?

Public service pays well today. Too bad it's our money they spend so freely.

[babylonsister]

2. You'll bitch when he does nothing, and you bitch when he does

something. Get over it; what better time than now to implement new rules. If not now, when?

[ray of light]

3. Right on, babylonsister! I was PROUD of Obama for outing the lobbyists on DAY ONE

[blondeatlast]

5. So he should do nothing? Yep, that'll show the bastards!

:eyes:

[KharmaTrain]

4. There's The Other Welfare System..."Foundations"

The fun of a change in administrations is the musical chairs between the party coming into power and the one on the way out. If they don't find a lobbying gig, they end up in a "foundation" that has turned more into both a shadow government (in the case of the AEI and Heritage Foundation) to a holding tank for future administration powers like the Cato Institute. In most cases, these foundations are harmless as they're private funded and nibble on the edges...but some have become cesspools of unelectable idealogues who poison political discourse by pretending to be experts while only pushing an agenda.

The one sure thing about Washington is that when one loophole closes another opens. While the lobbyists can't do the fancy lunches, they will find other ways to feather nests and get their calls answered. And in some cases, a lobbyist can be a good thing...some work on some very worthy causes.

The problem here is the ability for politicians to play both sides of K Street. I've long favored a rule that prohibits any government members from taking a lobbying position for a minimum of one year, and if the person served in an administrative capacity or is was an elected official, that limit extends to 2 years.

[blondeatlast]

6. There;s a profound difference between lobbying and K Street lobbying. The former is a civil right,

the latter is the exclusive privilege of the ultra-ultra moneyed. If K Street real estate were losing value like the rest of real estate there's have been something done about 2 years ago when the problem first reared its ugly head.

Guess which group gets the attention of our representatives?

Hint: K Street.

Good for Obama--keep the offense going and make the ultra-favored defend themselves!