http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/ en Copyright 2012 Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:53:43 GMT http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/07/national-journal-discontinues.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/07/national-journal-discontinues.php Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:53:43 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "A lively mix of regulars and families with small children ate lunch at a kosher pizzeria in northwest Baltimore on Wednesday, and several said they have no problem with the restaurant's new employee: ex-Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/lobbying-abramoff-tries-out-pi.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/lobbying-abramoff-tries-out-pi.php EARLYBIRD Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:30:00 GMT As the recession has pounded the travel industry over the past year, its chief lobbying group, the U.S Travel Association was in a search for funds, so it came up with a clever way to raise money: an online auction tied to travel products donated by the association's members. "We called it a kind of bake sale," said Geoff Freeman, senior vice president of public affairs for U.S. Travel. Twenty six of the group's largest members, including travel companies, airlines, hotels, resorts, and convention centers, donated dozens of packages. Between May 4 and June 4, visitors to the group's DiscoverAmerica http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/travel-group-finds-novel-way-r.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/travel-group-finds-novel-way-r.php Associations Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:25:50 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • The Federal Communications Commission "came under fire Tuesday from public-interest groups demanding that the agency -- which regularly trumpets its openness -- disclose its private meetings with telecommunications industry lobbyists," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. • "A handful of Members of Congress have accepted more than $100,000 worth of free international travel from the religious organization affiliated with the 'C Street house,' a Capitol Hill townhouse linked to recent Congressional sex scandals," Roll Call (subscription) reports. • "The chairman of the Business Roundtable, an association of top corporate executives that has been President Obama's closest ally in http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/watchdogs-chide-fcc-for-meetin.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/watchdogs-chide-fcc-for-meetin.php EARLYBIRD Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:12:44 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "Non-profit groups and special interests spent 73% more in the first three months of the year jetting members of Congress on domestic and foreign trips, a USA TODAY review of records compiled by CQ MoneyLine shows," USA Today reports. • "Companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are hiring a bevy of high-priced Washington lobbyists and consultants to help them weather the crisis, as investigations heat up and calls for policy changes intensify," the Washington Post reports. • "Business and advocacy groups eagerly await the release of the government's first-ever strategic plan for http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/lawmakers-privately-funded-tra.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/lawmakers-privately-funded-tra.php EARLYBIRD Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:30:00 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "The labor federation Change to Win today is launching a group called U.S. Chamber Watch, a new organization to put pressure on one of labor's top opponents, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce," Roll Call (subscription) reports. http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/labor-group-creates-chamber-wa.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/labor-group-creates-chamber-wa.php EARLYBIRD Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:48:36 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "Displaying its remarkable clout, the National Rifle Association agreed on Tuesday to permit House passage of tougher disclosure requirements on campaign advertising and other political activity, one day after Democrats pledged to exempt the gun-owners' group from the bill's key provisions," AP reports. • "Under pressure from the FCC, the communications industry is lobbying Congress to pass narrowly focused legislation to blunt two contentious, game-changing proposals championed by Chairman Julius Genachowski," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. • "This appropriations season is even more precarious," for lobbyists "than past years with new earmark bans in place," Roll Call http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/democrats-secure-nras-support.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/democrats-secure-nras-support.php EARLYBIRD Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:46:07 GMT The Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate announced they have revised two sections of the Lobbying Disclosure Act to clarify reporting requirements related to lobbyists and their campaign contributions, and their previous employers. The congressional document offices appear to have streamlined the disclosure reporting process. The offices clarified that once a lobbyist files a report for a client and discloses the names and titles of previous employers that are considered "covered" under the LDA, they do not have to report that information again on subsequent forms unless the lobbyist files on behalf of http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/congress-offices-revise-lobbyi.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/congress-offices-revise-lobbyi.php Business of Lobbying Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:45:55 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "Wall Street's lobbying army is marching around Washington in a push to shape the final financial-overhaul bill," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports. "But it has gotten harder to get through the door with some lawmakers." • "National Association of Convenience Stores lobbyist Lyle Beckwith had some sharp words for Members of Congress on a credit card interchange fee proposal," Roll Call (subscription) reports. http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/finance-bill-discussions-inten.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/finance-bill-discussions-inten.php EARLYBIRD Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:30:00 GMT Powerful gun lobbying group, the National Rifle Association, has won a carve-out in the DISCLOSE Act that will exempt them from having to disclose the names of top donors behind its political ads, according to sources. After the NRA threatened to oppose the legislation, which would require companies, unions and other parties to disclose the donors behind political ads, House Democrats negotiated with the NRA to find common ground. Under the agreement, the bill would exempt from the disclosure requirements, non-profit organizations that have over one million members, that have been in existence for more than 10 years, that have http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/nra-gets-carve-out-in-disclose.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/nra-gets-carve-out-in-disclose.php Money Trail Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:12:48 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "As BP ramps up its public relations effort to stem the fallout of the oil spill crisis that has badly stained its reputation, the company faces another big hurdle this week when its gaffe-prone chief executive, Tony Hayward, testifies before a House panel" Roll Call (subscription) reports. • "Congress' final tinkering with Wall Street overhaul this month offers lobbyists a last-ditch shot to reshape the package on behalf of clients with billions at stake," AP reports. • Roll Call (subscription) profiles the advocacy group CodePink: "What started in 2002 as a small group of women http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/bp-in-for-a-tricky-week.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/bp-in-for-a-tricky-week.php EARLYBIRD Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:45:00 GMT There are 56 former Hill staff, now lobbyists, who have ties to the lawmakers who have been named to the conference to reconcile Wall Street reform, according to an analysis conducted by the Center for Responsive Politics and Public Citizen. The financial services industry's links to the Senators on the panel, including Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. and Richard Shelby, R-Ala. are particularly extensive. Each senator once employed at least one current lobbyist. "Lobbyists with these sorts of connections can have a profound effect on the outcome of legislation," said Sheila Krumholz, executive http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/former-hill-staff-work-exbosse.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/former-hill-staff-work-exbosse.php The Revolving Door Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:58:50 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "Health care industry leaders are pressing the White House to get more involved with promoting health care innovation, saying the U.S. leads the world but faces growing challenges," The Hill reports. http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/health-care-leaders-press-wh-t.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/health-care-leaders-press-wh-t.php EARLYBIRD Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:49:10 GMT Longtime education veteran Arthur Rothkopf announced today that he would be leaving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at the end of July. Since 2005, Rothkopf has overseen the Chamber's Education and Workforce initiative, including the nonprofit Institute for a Competitive Workforce. "After 52 years of putting on a coat and tie and going to an office every day, I decided that it was time to take more control of my time," Rothkopf said about the decision to leave the Chamber. He also told National Journal that he would not be playing golf but rather continuing work in the education reform http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/rothkopf-steps-down-from-chamb.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/rothkopf-steps-down-from-chamb.php Associations Wed, 09 Jun 2010 20:09:58 GMT From this morning's Earlybird: • "The battle over interchange fees assessed on debit and credit card purchases has been a knock-down, drag-out lobbying war for years between banks and retailers. But the lobbying fight has turned from those behemoth industries to a smaller scale, pitting state treasurers and a hip-hop impresario against colleges and the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/players-large-and-small-battle.php http://undertheinfluence.nationaljournal.com/2010/06/players-large-and-small-battle.php EARLYBIRD Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:30:00 GMT