Lobbying

...Then the Lobbying Group Will Go to the Mountain

by Diane Farsetta — July 11, 2005 - 12:48pm

The Yucca Mountain Task Force, "a national lobbying group that formed this spring" to advocate for long-term nuclear waste storage at the Nevada site, is traveling to the Yucca Mountain region, "to begin building ties" there.

Main Source: 
Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada), July 7, 2005

Your Government on Drugs

by Sheldon Rampton — July 10, 2005 - 5:29pm

The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) has released the results of its year-long investigation into lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry, which found that the industry has spent more than $800 million since 1998 on lobbyists and political campaigns. In the past year alone, the industry hired nearly 1,300 lobbyists, including hundred of former public officials.

Main Source: 
Center for Public Integrity, July 7, 2005

A Lobbyist with Supreme Access

by Diane Farsetta — July 8, 2005 - 6:43pm

"Ed Gillespie, who will help promote President Bush's future nominee to a vacancy on the Supreme Court, is a top-tier lobbyist who represents a host of clients with direct and indirect interests in the outcome of Supreme Court decisions." Gillespie's task is "to use the tools and techniques of a presidential campaign to put together a conservative political machine equipped to take on the alliance of groups on the political left." But his firm,

Main Source: 
Washington Post, July 8, 2005

Store Wars: Return of the GMO Lobby

by Diane Farsetta — July 5, 2005 - 4:03pm

"Saying their livelihoods are threatened, powerful forces that drive California's $27 billion agricultural economy are mobilizing to defeat a November ballot initiative to ban biotech crops in Sonoma County, and possibly even prohibit such county bans with new legislation in coming days," reports the Sacramento Bee.

Main Source: 
Sacramento Bee, July 3, 2005

The Invisible Hand of DuPont

by Bob Burton — July 4, 2005 - 12:06am

In March 2002, Andy Gallagher, then the spokesperson for West Virginia's Department of Environmental Protection, drafted a media release to inform residents in Wood County that the toxic chemical C8 was being emitted from DuPont's local plant. But the statement was never released.

Main Source: 
Charleston Gazette (sub. req'd.), July 03, 2005

K Street Project Online

by Laura Miller — June 28, 2005 - 5:42pm

The K Street Project - a Republican efforts to pressure Washington lobbying firms to hire only Republicans to top positions - now has its own website: www.kstreetproject.com. "The site, open to all, contains news about who was hired in lobby shops, corporate offices and trade associations. It also will carry job postings and a rundown of the political giving patterns of people who are seeking or have taken lobbying jobs.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, June 27, 2005

Lobbying Boom in Washington

by Laura Miller — June 22, 2005 - 5:50pm

Lobbying is a thriving business these days. The number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000 and "amount that lobbyists charge their new clients has increased by as much as 100 percent," the Washington Post reports.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, June 22, 2005

The Junk Food Lobby Wins Again

by Sheldon Rampton — June 21, 2005 - 6:04pm

Last week, Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell vetoed "what would have been the nation's strongest school-based nutrition law," writes Michele Simon. "With one stroke of the pen, she put to rest an extremely contentious three-year battle to rid Connecticut schools of soda and junk food. Similar scenarios are being played out in state capitals all over the nation, where high-paid lobbyists of multi-national corporations such as Coca-Cola are swooping in to foil the efforts of local nutrition advocates, educators.

Main Source: 
AlterNet, July 17, 2005

Industry Trade Groups Forced to Cut Costs

by Laura Miller — June 1, 2005 - 5:56pm

Industry trade associations are having to "tighten their belts," The Hill reports.

Main Source: 
The Hill, June 1, 2005

Political Conformity on Social Security

by Diane Farsetta — May 23, 2005 - 5:20pm

A worker who knows Social Security "could run out before they retire," a couple with children who like "the idea of leaving something behind to the family," and a single parent who wants "more retirement options and security" than Social Security offers - all younger than 29.

Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2005
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