Forwarded from the Broadcast list
> www.washingtonpost.com
> Monday, June 28, 2004, page E1
>
>
> K STREET CONFIDENTIAL
> Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
>
> Lawmakers, Lobbyists Keep in Constant Contact
>
> On the hustings in an election year, lawmakers go out of their way to
say
> that they represent The People against the Special Interests.
>
> Don't believe them.
>
> Here in Washington, there's hardly a day of the week that Congress's
senior
> lawmakers and staffers don't consult with large groups of corporate
> lobbyists at regularly scheduled meetings.
>
> Every other Monday, top Democratic lobbyists meet in a Capitol Hill
> conference room with the Senate's highest-ranking Democratic staffers.
>
> Every other Tuesday, Republican lobbyists from stand-alone lobbying
firms
> meet with Republican senators, also on the Hill.
>
> Every other Wednesday, Republican lobbyists from trade associations
meet
> with a different set of Republican senators.
>
> And every Friday at noon, about 20 Democratic lobbyists meet with the
chief
> of staff of House Minority Leader Nancy Pdosi (D-Calif.), at Pdosi's
Capitol
> office.
>
> There must be a meeting on Thursday, too. I just haven't found it yet.
>
> And that's the point. Lobbyists and legislators are in constant
contact.
> They use each other to a fare-thee-well whether The People like it or
not.
> "It's a two-way street," said David Rudd, who attends the Monday
meeting.
> These days he goes as a staffer-executive director of the Senate
Democrats'
> campaign committee. Before taking that job in February, he attended as
a
> lobbyist for the Palmetto Group, which represented AT&T, Comcast,
Pfizer and
> United Airlines. Some people are shocked that such formal gatherings
take
> place at all. And who can blame, them? It's disheartening to leam how
often
> elected representatives and emissaries of wealthy interests cooperate
behind
> closed doors.•
>
> But that's not the half of it. In interviews with participants, a few
other
> disturbing things bcome dear. First, none of the participants is
ashamed
> about the meetings. On the contrary, lawmakers and lobbyists alike
think
> there should be more of them, not fewer. The lobbyists, who normally
try to
> keep their activities secret, aren't shy about acknowledging their
roles in
> the meetings. Access to power is a lobbyist's stock-in-trade and those
who
> meet routinely with top lawmaker»and their aides have a leg up on
their
> competitions. (Those lucky and well-connected enough to be invited
into
> those circles are K Street's true insiders, the aristocrats of
influence,
> and their incomes rise accordingly, But the most surprising fact about
these
> meetings is that lawmakers and their staffers believe they get more
out of
> the meetings than the lobbyists do. Although ifs rarely said aloud,
> legislators rely heavily on lobbyists (many o whom are former
congressional
> and executive branch aides) for information and tactical support. The
> meetings are vehides for providing both.
>
> At almost every one of the gatherings, the congressional leaders beg
the
> lobbyists for advice about how to handle their latest legislative
problems.
> They also enlist the lobbyists as mouthpieces for their parties'
messages of
> the day. and ask them to spy on fellow lobbyists for tidbits of news
that
> can give their political party an advantage. In other words, the
> legislators, not the lobbyists, do most of the pleading. Far from
being
> reviled as Special Interests, the lobbyists are deputized as
> comrades-in-arms. Sometimes, of course, the lobbyists have nothing
> immediately to gain by counseling legislators. But they lend their
judgment
> and legwork in the expectation that lawmakers and their staffs will
repay
> the kindness by being receptive to their clients' desires down the
road.
>
> The lawmakers and aides insist that no lobbying is ever done on
clients'
> behalf at the meetings. They also say that fund-raising is strictly
> forbidden there. And both may well be true. But they miss the point.
The
> narrow-gauged lobbying that really matters to clients-and that comes
later
> during smaller meetings-is made easier by the relationships formed to
those
> big meetings. What's more, by unwritten rule, only lobbyists who are
Big
> Givers (either personally or with their clients' money),are ever
allowed to
> partidpate.
>
> The benefits are tangible for the lawmakers as well. Some of President
> Bush's most successful legislative drives were orchestrated right in
the
> RepubUcan meetings. Senators used the encounters to encourage and
monitor
> the private lobbying campaigns that promoted their own priorities.
Bush's
> tax cuts, for example, wouldn't have wended their way through Congress
> without the hard work, of the lobbyists to the room. In return for
the
> lobbyists'assistance, the lawmakers provide detailed updates of the
> legislative calendar and the outlook for key bills. That sort of
> intelligence, though rudimentary, is vital to corporations seeking to
insert
> their favorite provisions into law.
>
> Republicans convene the most elaborate and well-established of the
> tit-for-tat meetings. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) chairs the Tuesday
> gathering and from that spot has helped orchestrate private sector
lobbying
> campaigns that have led to passage of President Bush's priorities,
including
> tax cuts. The Santorum meeting, which begins at 8:30 a.m., is where
the idea
> of pressuring lobbying groups to hire more Republicans-the so called K
> Street Project-originated. The 30 or so lobbyists who regularly attend
> represent corporate interests that range from Nevada gambling and the
mutual
> fund industry to General Motors and Sears, Roebuck. Senate Republicans
have
> so many lobbyist allies that they've created at least one other
meeting to
> accommodate them. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) chairs the
Wednesday
> meeting with trade association executives and plays a similar
coordinating
> role with them. The dozen or so participants to the 8:30 am. meeting
indude
> the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National
> Restaurant Association and the National Association of
> Wholesaler-Distributors.
>
> Feeling left out. Senate Democrats started their own clique a year and
a
> half ago. Aides say the idea came from William Andresen, a former
chief of
> staff to Sen. Joseph I. Lieberaaan(D-Conn.) and now a lobbyist for the
Dutko
> Group. Andessen e-mailed his former colleagues on the Hill to inquire
what
> was going on. His old friends would dutifully fill him in but decided
that
> more of their colleiigues-turned-lobbyists should also be let in on
the
> deal. "When people leave the Hll and go downtown into a cocporate
setting,
> they feel a little disconnected," says Jonathan Jones; chief of staff
to
> Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) and a host of the Monday meeting. "So
we
> started to think about what we could do to reconnect these people.
They
> should be part of our sphere. We should actively solicit their ideas
about
> what we should do." And thus was born the "Bi-Weekly Lobbyist Meeting"
held
> at 3 pm. every other Monday at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee
> headquarters. According to a recent invitation, the gathering's goals
are
> "to help Democrats retake the majority to the Senate, to advance
Democratic
> policy objectives, [and] to strengthen ties to Democrats in the
business
> community." Six to 10 chiefs of staff of Democratic senators mingle
with 30
> to 40 lobbyists. Occasionally Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Dasdfle
(D
> SD.) and Sen. Jon S. Corztoe (D-N.J.), who chairs the campaign
committee,
> poke their heads into the room. And Michael Lewan, a former Lieberman
chief
> of staff and now a lobbyist, uses the meeting to direct the Democrats'
> version of the K Street Project. He circulates a list of lobbying job
> openings to Hill staffers on the prowl.
>
> Just another happy gathering that takes your breath away.
> _____________
> Jeffrey Bimbaum's e-mail address is
> kstreetconfidential@washpost.com.
>
>
>
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