Want to know which Hill staffers have moved into lucrative careers as lobbyists?

If so, there's a new research tool, Capitol Insiders Database, created to keep track of Hill insiders and what they're up to. The free database is the brainchild of Kent Cooper and Tony Raymond, former officials at the Federal Election Commission. The database can be accessed at the website of their new company, Capitol Hill Access. Go here:

Cooper and Raymond say the database contains information on more than 10,000 people. They include Hill staffers making more than $100,000 a year and former staffers now working at lobbying firms or other organizations with access to Congress. Former members of Congress also are included in the database.

As Hill aides move to K Street or to the executive branch, Cooper and Raymond say they will keep track of them and who they are trying to influence in Congress. "It is amazing how many lobbyists tout their connections to Capitol Hill and what they can do for a fee,'' Cooper says. "It's pretty much: need an earmark, call me.''

                                                                                                          -- Edward T. Pound