http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/ en Copyright 2009 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:30:04 GMT http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Congressional earmarking is in full swing as the 2010 appropriations bills make their way to conference, and ultimately, to President Obama's desk. There's pork aplenty in the Agriculture-Rural Development-Food and Drug Administration appropriations bill - 481 congressional requests totaling $370.4 million, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. A "Swine and Other Animal Waste Management" project in North Carolina will receive $349,000. (Isn't that a by-product of pork?) Other, more cryptic earmarking includes a "wool research" project in Montana, Texas and Wyoming ($206,000) and $4.8 million for "wood utilization" - requested by 28 members. (See the group's earmarks http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/its-oink-time-in-congress.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/its-oink-time-in-congress.php Money Trail Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:30:04 GMT Advertising has long been a key part of the University of Phoenix's commercial success: according to AdWeek the school shells out more than $100 million a year--more than General Mills spends to market Cheerios--to lure students to its massive network of for-profit career schools. The university, which serves more than 400,000 students at some ninety campuses and 150 learning centers worldwide has been a goldmine for its parent company, the Apollo Group, accounting for most of Apollo's $4 billion in revenues. But a spate of recent pricey ads the University has been running in The Washington Post are about damage http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/ad-spotlight-university-tries.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/ad-spotlight-university-tries.php Business of Lobbying Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:03:08 GMT Advocacy and lobbying stories in this week's National Journal: (subscription) "Eight Key Hurdles For Health Care Overhaul:" National Journal looks at eight groups that will be pivotal to the outcome of health care reform. However carefully crafted, no reform bill that emerges from Congress will win over all of these key constituencies. But unless enough of them are on board, President Obama's signature policy issue will go down on Capitol Hill."Campaign Finance Law Under Seige": The death of the 'millionaire's amendment' has emboldened opponents."Probing Murky Trades": K Street works to defend lucrative, high-speed stock mechanisms from too much government regulation."The http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/eight-potential-hurdles-to-hea.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/eight-potential-hurdles-to-hea.php Business of Lobbying Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:50:44 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "The insurance industry lobby is panning the Senate legislation. The lobbying group, America's Health Insurance Plans, said in a statement on Thursday that the bill would increase costs for individuals, families and employers; reduce benefits for older Americans; and threaten employer coverage," the New York Times reports. "In the statement, Karen Ignagni, the group's president and chief executive, said the association would work with the Senate to improve the bill." http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/health-insurers-rail-against-s.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/health-insurers-rail-against-s.php EARLYBIRD Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:53:44 GMT Advocacy efforts over the prospect of credit card interchange regulation have led to a gridlocked debate between retailers and credit card companies. Interchange fees are the cost stores pay to banks when customers use credit cards. A GAO study released Thursday, which sought to cut through the fray, was pretty much a wash. Stakeholders on both sides immediately adopted certain aspects of the report into their lobbying efforts, ignoring points that weren't so favorable. Points supporting retailers: - Total costs of accepting credit cards for merchants have risen over time as consumers use cards more. - Part of these http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/gao-study-on-interchange-fees.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/gao-study-on-interchange-fees.php Business of Lobbying Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:39:10 GMT After striking a conciliatory note for most of 2009, the National Federation of Independent Business is now opposing both the House and Senate Democrats' health care reform legislation. "Small business can't support a proposal that does not address their No. 1 problem: the unsustainable cost of health care," said Susan Eckerly, senior vice president of the NFIB in a statement about the legislation Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., unveiled last night. Their opposition matters because the 350,000-member group has used its grassroots muscle in years past to oppose legislation, most memorably 15 years ago when it helped play a http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/nfib-opposes-senate-health-ref.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/nfib-opposes-senate-health-ref.php Associations Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:28:49 GMT Kristin Wells has just signed on as a partner with Patton Boggs. Wells was most recently deputy chief counsel at the House Foreign Affairs Committee. According to a release, Wells will work with public policy and international law teams at the firm to "help corporate clients in their dealings with foreign governments and legal systems, as well as international markets." Wells, who worked under current committee chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif. and the late Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., dealt with issues such as international refugee policy and immigration matters, international women's issues, and consular affairs. While working on Capitol Hill, she http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/patton-boggs-hires-house-forei.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/patton-boggs-hires-house-forei.php The Revolving Door Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:12:13 GMT More than 900 former federal employees, including 70 former members of Congress, have gone to work as lobbyists for the financial services sector in 2009, according to a Public Citizen report released today analyzing data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics Nearly half of the 150 former members who have reported lobbying in 2009 are working in the financial services sector. These include former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill; former Senate Majority Leader and Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole, R-Kan.; former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.; former House Majority Leaders Dick Armey, R-Tex. and Dick Gephardt, http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/70-former-lawmakers-lobbying-o.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/70-former-lawmakers-lobbying-o.php Revolving Door Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:35:42 GMT Henry "Hank" White Jr., the American Bar Association's executive director, resigned from his position this week, reports the National Law Journal. (subscription) White's departure follows the September exit of the ABA's chief financial officer, Kenneth Widelka, who was arguably the No. 2 staff official below White. The Journal says that the executives left as part of a reorganization led by Carolyn Lamm, the president of ABA, who joined the organization in August. The ABA has 1,000 employees and has a membership of about 400,000. http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/american-bar-association-leade.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/american-bar-association-leade.php Associations Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:01:27 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "The nation's mayors are pressing lawmakers to send more money directly to cities if Congress passes a second stimulus, arguing joblessness is often concentrated in metro areas. The lobbying push could reprise an earlier battle with state governors over control of federal dollars," The Hill reports. However, "several interest groups are reactivating and dusting off old policy proposals as Democratic leaders in Congress consider another jobs measure to ease unemployment levels." http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/mayors-want-bigger-share-of-an.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/mayors-want-bigger-share-of-an.php EARLYBIRD Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:56:02 GMT Information technology lobbying group TechNet has hired Rey Ramsey as the organization's new president and chief executive officer. Ramsey currently is chief executive officer of One Economy Corp., a global nonprofit that leverages the power of technology to improve the lives of low-income people, which he co-founded in 2000. One Economy brings unserved and underserved communities into the economic mainstream through facilitating affordable at-home broadband access, producing public-purpose media, and training and employing "Digital Connectors," youth aged 14-21, to enhance their communities' technology capacity. At TechNet, Ramsey will be based in Washington, D.C. where he will oversee the Silicon Valley http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/technet-taps-rey-ramsey-as-new.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/technet-taps-rey-ramsey-as-new.php Associations The Revolving Door Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:44:59 GMT Former Sen. Tom Daschle ,D-S.D.has joined law and lobbying firm DLA Piper as a senior policy advisor. He will not register to lobby, however. Previously, Daschle was a senior advisor at Alston & Bird. At DLA Piper, Daschle will counsel clients on a wide range of regulatory and government affairs issues, the firm said. He is also expected to play a significant role in management and client development globally. In addition to advising clients, Daschle will also serve on DLA Piper's Global Board. (Photo of Daschle from Creative Commons) http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/former-sen-tom-daschle-joins-d.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/former-sen-tom-daschle-joins-d.php The Revolving Door Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:27:46 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "House Republicans want the AARP to rescind its endorsement of comprehensive health reform legislation after a government report showed it could cause some providers to stop accepting Medicare patients," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio "and other Republican leaders wrote to Barry Rand, AARP's chief executive officer, to 'strongly urge you to reconsider your endorsement' of the health reform bill the House passed Nov. 7." • "National Catholic leaders this week ratified the church's official position in the ongoing health care debate, reiterating their tough stance against abortion rights and on http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/gop-wants-aarp-to-rescind-its.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/gop-wants-aarp-to-rescind-its.php EARLYBIRD Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:00:00 GMT RiskMetrics Group has advised its clients to call for the ouster of US Chamber of Commerce chief Tom Donohue from the board of Sunrise Senior Living Inc., due to accounting irregularities at the company, Bloomberg reports. RiskMetrics advises mutual funds and pension funds on proxy votes. The group "believes that the chronic and serious nature of the accounting issues, potential stock option misdating, and potential insider trading is indicative of a significant lack of oversight on the part of the board," the New York-based firm said in a November 6 report. http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/riskmetrics-boot-donohue-off-s.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/riskmetrics-boot-donohue-off-s.php associations Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:46:56 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "Abortion-rights groups and other progressive lobbies are organizing a post-Thanksgiving assault on Capitol Hill to press lawmakers to keep restrictive language on abortion out of the final health care package," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The coalition has scheduled a 'National Day of Action' on Dec. 2 that will include a rally at the Capitol as well as visits by activists from around the country to lawmakers' offices." • "Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops, defended the bishops' decision to play an active role in shaping national health care legislation, saying http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/abortion-business-groups-ramp.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2009/11/abortion-business-groups-ramp.php EARLYBIRD Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:30:00 GMT