108 Search Results Found For: "revolving door"

New Jersey’s ‘Top Lobbyist’ On Why He Worked For Big Tobacco: ‘Those Are The People That Pay’

Bob Byrd is New Jersey’s “top lobbyist,” according to Content Delaware’s John Taylor, which recently interviewed Byrd for its conversational series. Byrd is the CEO of The Byrd Group, a lobbying firm that has worked for the banking industry and the education privatization movement, among other interests. At one point, Taylor pointed out many of
Continue Reading >>>

VIDEO: Asked About a Lifetime Lobbying Ban for Members of Congress, Lawmakers Flee Republic Report

An interesting idea has emerged from lawmakers from both sides of the political spectrum: why not ban members of Congress from becoming K Street lobbyists? In Canada, senior lawmakers and government officials face a five year lobbying ban. In America, the “cooling off” period is only one year for congressmen and two years for senators
Continue Reading >>>

Retiring Senator Ben Nelson Refuses To Disclose Any Job Negotiations With Lobbyists

Selling out pays. Members of Congress who retire to become lobbyists get huge paydays. We looked at just a dozen federal lawmakers who went through the revolving door and found that they get, on average, 1,452% raises. That’s why we sent a letter to the 36 retiring Members of Congress to publicly disclose any negotiations
Continue Reading >>>

Senator Lieberman Honored By Ballroom Full Of Corporate Lobbyists Night Before Passing Watered Down Ethics Reform For Congress

Yesterday, Senator Joe Liberman’s (I-CT) STOCK Act passed the Senate. Though the legislation was originally designed to curtail insider trading in Congress, lawmakers stripped the bill down, removing provisions to add new powers for prosecutors, as well as a rule for Wall Street “political intelligence” firms to register as lobbyists. Strong improvements to the bill,
Continue Reading >>>

Utah Ex-Lawmaker Says He Became Lobbyist Because He’s Like ‘A Drug Addict, You Can’t Quit Cold Turkey’

The Salt Lake Tribune today published a piece about Utah’s weak ethics laws surrounding the revolving door — where state lawmakers leave the legislature to become lobbyists. The paper notes that the state officially requires lawmakers to wait one calendar year before becoming lobbyists. However, there is a loophole that allows these legislators to lobby
Continue Reading >>>

ANALYSIS: When a Congressman Becomes a Lobbyist, He Gets a 1,452% Raise (on Average)

Update: Republic Report has launched an effort to bring transparency to the revolving door. See our letter to retiring lawmakers here; David Halperin explains why here. Selling out pays. If you’re a corporation or lobbyist, what’s the best way to “buy” a member of Congress? Secretly promise them a million dollars or more in pay
Continue Reading >>>

Bribery By Another Name: While Still In Office, Congessman Heath Shuler (D-NC) Already Negotiating With K Street To Become A Lobbyist

One way corporations and special interests rule Washington is by promising lucrative salaries to lawmakers and their staff members. Once a public official makes a deal to go to work for a lobbying firm or corporation after leaving office, often with the promise of a million dollars or more in salary, he or she becomes
Continue Reading >>>

Republican Bill Posey Introduces Bill To Ban Members Of Congress From Lobbying For Five Years

One of the ways that Big Money works to take control of the country’s political system is by enlisting former legislators to become lobbyists. These lobbyists, having passed through the “revolving door,” have wide access to their former colleagues in addition to the financial resources that lobbying firms command. While there are some laws regulating
Continue Reading >>>