Lobbyists Vs The Occupation

Nov 19th, 2011

A lobbying group that has a very cozy relationship with Speaker Boehner is preparing to launch a "hit job."

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Graft, Potential Catastrophe and The XL Extension

Oct 3rd, 2011
by F. Grey Parker

Throughout this past Summer, environmentalists protested the construction of an oil pipeline. 

So what? Right?

Most major media outlets portrayed the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline extension and the controversy surrounding it in just such an innocuous manner.

The failure to communicate with our citizens the scope of the project, the lack of transparency among the decision makers involved and the actual dangers posed by this industrial scheme run amok is staggering.

My Senator, Dan Coates

Mar 2nd 2011

by F. Grey Parker

Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN)

For a quarter of a century, I have been writing to elected officials regarding issues that matter to me. Since long before I could vote, in fact, it has seemed to me not only a right but also a duty to do so.

After all, this is America. It was part of the fabric of my family to be involved, to get active, to try to make a difference or at least to insist upon being heard.

BIG Numbers

Feb 8th, 2011

America's registered lobbyists spent 3.47 billion dollars last year trying to get what they want for their patrons. To be fair, the previous year's figure was slightly higher making 2010 the first time the number has dropped in over a decade. The reduction is of little consequence as the 2009 number was still almost 2.5 times the 1998 total of 1.44 billion dollars.

It occurred to me that these numbers could use a human face. There are 7,382 state level senators and representatives in the U.S. When added to the 535 at the federal level, the total number of the men and women who most directly influence our lives and administer our tax-borne resources, for better or worse, comes to 7,917.

For the sake of argument, let's imagine that last year's reported lobbyist spending was actually distributed evenly between them. That would come to roughly $429,455 for each.

Did you give close to half a million dollars to any elected official last year? Do you feel that you have access to your representatives? How's that working out for you?

U.S. Chamber Lobbyist Tapped To Oversee CFTC

Dec 26th, 2010

In what is one of the most wildly destructive moves by the ascending Republican leadership of the 112th Congress so far, Ryan McKee, a U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbyist devoted to blocking new policies that might have prevented the derivatives scandals of the past several years and their corresponding international fallout has been tapped to oversee the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Insert your analogy here. Read more at Politico, Think Progress, AlterNet.