Lobbying

Afghanistan Lobbying Now "Critical Work"

by Diane Farsetta — September 4, 2007 - 5:39pm

"DLA Piper, which has repped Afghanistan on a pro bono basis for the past five years, wants some cash from its client to cover the 'critical work that lies ahead,'" reports O'Dwyers. The Afghan government will pay the law and lobby firm $10,000 per month; expenses over that amount will be waived by the firm. The document (PDF file) that Piper filed with the U.S.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), September 4, 2007

Who's Footing Allawi's Lobbying Bill?

by Diane Farsetta — August 30, 2007 - 4:56pm

The Barbour, Griffith and Rogers (BGR) lobbying firm "is talking to the Justice Department about how to amend its foreign-agent filings after department lawyers questioned whether the firm had adequately disclosed who was paying" for the $50,000 per month contract with former Iraqi prime minister

Main Source: 
Newsweek, August 29, 2007

Outsourcing Firms Bring Lobbying Business to the U.S.

by Diane Farsetta — August 29, 2007 - 4:06pm

"As the 2008 U.S. election starts to sizzle, the Indian outsourcing firms have returned to win Washington over as veritable insiders, slicker and better connected than ever," reports Anand Giridharadas.

Main Source: 
International Herald Tribune, August 15, 2007

The Other Half of the Nuclear Industry's Power Couple: Christine Todd Whitman

by Diane Farsetta — August 27, 2007 - 9:37am
  • Topics: Front Groups, Nuclear Power, Corporations, Fake TV News, Health, Lobbying, Public Relations

    • "Was it wrong to try to get the city back on its feet as quickly as possible?" an exasperated Christine Todd Whitman asked members of Congress. The occasion was Whitman's first appearance before the House subcommittee investigating her handling of New York air quality issues post-9/11, when she headed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

    Exelon's Nuclear Plant Is Excellent, Say Exelon-Funded Group, Study

    by Diane Farsetta — August 27, 2007 - 9:35am

    "Two lobbyists with lengthy resumes in New Jersey government set up a conference call with the media last week to announce the formation of the New Jersey Affordable, Clean, Reliable Energy Coalition (NJ ACRE), notes an Asbury Park Press editorial. The coalition will "advocate for nuclear energy and, more specifically, a 20-year license extension for the aging Oyster Creek plant" in Lacey, N.J.

    Main Source: 
    Asbury Park Press (New Jersey), August 23, 2007

    Republican Lobby Firm BGR Undercuts Iraqi Leader al-Maliki

    by Diane Farsetta — August 23, 2007 - 2:40pm

    "Republican lobbyists with close ties to the Bush administration are aiding and supporting the efforts of an Iraqi opposition leader who is calling for the ouster of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki," reports IraqSlogger.

    Main Source: 
    IraqSlogger, August 23, 2007

    The Pro-War Lobby's Latest Addition is Freedom's Watch

    by John Stauber — August 22, 2007 - 8:27pm
  • Topics: Right Wing, Iraq, Front Groups, Pundits, Terrorism, Lobbying, Politics, Propaganda, War / Peace

    • The business of pro-war propaganda is booming as "Freedom's Watch" joins Vets for Freedom, Move America Forward and other pro-war advocates for a stepped up war in Iraq in line with the Bush/Cheney Global War on Terror.

    Ari Fleischer, former White House PR flack who jumped ship into the private sector shortly after the 2003 US invasion, is the public face and a founding board member of Freedom's Watch, which is being rolled out this week with emotional advertisements featuring wounded veterans imploring Americans to keep the money flowing for the occupation.

    One such advertisement is up on YouTube. Once again the war in Iraq is being falsely linked to and justified by the terror attacks of 9/11, one of the Bush Administration's Big Lies that was was used to mislead America into war. In the Freedom's Watch advertisment on YouTube a war vet with prosthetic legs beseeches:

    Big-Spending Drug Industry Defenders

    by Bob Burton — August 20, 2007 - 3:32am

    The lead U.S. drug industry lobby group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), spent $10.7 million in the first six months of 2007 lobbying the U.S. government.

    Main Source: 
    Associated Press, August 17, 2007

    The Untold Story of How & Why Philip Morris is Pushing for FDA Regulation

    by Anne Landman — August 17, 2007 - 6:54pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Lobbying, Politics, Tobacco, U.S. Government

    • It may seem incongruous to the average person why Philip Morris (PM) would back legislation to restrict its business, yet that is what PM seems to be is doing by supporting S. 625, the "Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act," the bill that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over tobacco products. After all, PM has a corporate mandate to increase profits for its shareholders, so PM would not support this legislation if it wasn't going to benefit its bottom line, and it is practically an axiom in public health that whatever benefits PM's bottom line is going to be bad for public health. That's what makes this bill especially troubling to people who study tobacco industry documents; it is clear that PM had a hand in crafting it. That alone sounds like a lot, but PM's efforts to enact it are clearly delivering the company a hefty side-benefit of causing dissent within the tobacco control community over its passage.

    American Legion and VFW Launch Pro-War Lobby & PR Campaigns

    by John Stauber — August 16, 2007 - 9:22am

    The Boston Globe reports "the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the nation's oldest and most influential veterans' organizations, have broken their relative silence on the merits of the Iraq war, joining some of the staunchest war supporters to lobby Congress and the public...

    Main Source: 
    Boston Globe, August 16, 2007
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