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Tom Ridge [7], on the Thursday, June 9 edition of the Colbert Report [8], claimed he is "not a lobbyist." A quick glance at his resume shows that nothing could be further from the truth.
Ridge, now 65 years-old, has worn multiple hats throughout his extensive political career [9].
Among them: first-ever head of the Department of Homeland Security [10] (DHS) under the Bush Administration [11] from 2003-2005, former Governor of Pennsylvania from 1995-2001, and former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from from 1983-1995.
Upon leaving the DHS in 2005, Ridge started his career as a lobbyist [12], opening a lobby shop known as Ridge Global [13], located in Washington, D.C, which he still currently heads. Beyond this stint, though, Ridge is also a paid "consultant" [14] (a.k.a. lobbyist) for the Marcellus Shale Coaltion [15], a "trade association" in disguise [16] that in reality is a methane gas industry-funded [17] lobbying group.
That aside, the Pennsylvania Department of State's lobbyist registry [18] contains the real smoking gun evidence.
The registry shows that the Coalition has 11 lobbyists registered to advocate for fracking [19] in the Marcellus Shale [20] region, and in Pennsylvania in particular, among those listed include Coalition Executive Director Kathryn Klaber [21] and Ridge. The registry also shows that their paychecks come from none other than Ridge Global. Open Secrets, a project of the Center for Responsive Politics [22], shows that since 2010, the Marcellus Shale Coalition has recieved $90,000 [23] from Ridge Global. Open Secrets also shows that Ridge is currently a paid lobbyist [24] for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce [25], chairing their National Security Task Force [26]. Furthermore, he is the current recipient of a $900,000/year paycheck [27] from the Marcellus Shale Coalition.
Yet though the evidence against his claim is quite damning, Ridge had the chutzpah to begin his June 9, 2011 interview [28] on Stephen Colbert [29]'s Colbert Report [8] by claiming he is "not a lobbyist." [30]
Not a lobbyist? Yeah, right.
Links:
[1] http://dev.prwatch.org/users/35283/steve-horn
[2] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/energy
[3] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/environment
[4] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/propaganda
[5] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/public-relations
[6] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdev.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2011%2F06%2F10811%2Flaugher-tom-ridge-says-im-not-lobbyist-colbert-report&linkname=A%20Laugher%3A%20Tom%20Ridge%20Says%2C%20%22I%27m%20Not%20a%20Lobbyist%22%20on%20Colbert%20Report
[7] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tom_Ridge
[8] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Colbert_Report
[9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Ridge
[10] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Department_of_Homeland_Security
[11] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bush_Administration
[12] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/lobbyist
[13] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ridge_Global
[14] http://www.prwatch.org/node/9321
[15] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Marcellus_Shale_Coaltion
[16] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Marcellus_Shale_Coalition#Mere_.22Trade_Association.3F.22
[17] http://marcelluscoalition.org/about/full-members/
[18] http://www.palobbyingservices.state.pa.us/Act134/Public/EnhancedSearch.aspx
[19] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/fracking
[20] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Marcellus_Shale
[21] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Marcellus_Shale_Coalition#President_and_Executive_Director_Kathryn_Klaber
[22] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_for_Responsive_Politics
[23] http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?id=F6319&year=2011
[24] http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/rev_summary.php?id=76461
[25] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/U.S._Chamber_of_Commerce
[26] http://www.uschamber.com/about/committees/national-security-task-force
[27] http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10214/1077108-100.stm/
[28] http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/389134/june-09-2011/tom-ridge
[29] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Stephen_Colbert
[30] http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/06/10/242884/stephen-colbert-grills-fracking-lobbyist-tom-ridge/