Today, we are launching a new Web site, Party Time, a project to track parties thrown at the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions as well as fund raising activities by all lawmakers running for Congress that happen all year round in Washington, D.C. and beyond.

The count of parties and events we’ve heard about scheduled for the Democratic and Republican National Conventions is now above 400-and counting. As we noted the other week, here, these convention parties are often sponsored by corporate interests such as Citi, Eli Lilly and Qwest, as well as powerhouse lobbying firms such as Patton Boggs. They continue despite new ethics reforms intended to rein in excesses of special interest bashes for members of Congress. Many of these party hosts are also sponsors of the conventions’ host committees, major donors to federal candidates and party committees and are also big spenders on federal lobbying.

So, for example:

AT&T is hosting more than a dozen parties at both conventions, most of them parties for different state delegations. The company is also underwriting both the Democratic and GOP Convention committees, and happens to be the #2 top donor to federal and candidates and parties since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. AT&T has spent more than $3 million on federal campaign contributions and lobbying combined in 2008 alone, 60% of which is directed to the GOP. It has also spent another $3.2 million on federal lobbying.

Qwest’s CEO, Ed Mueller, is hosting an event at the Denver Art Museum on Monday, August 25. The company is also giving the Democratic and GOP Convention host committees a total of some $12 million in direct and in-kind contributions. Qwest has given $682,000 to federal candidates and parties so far this election cycle, and spent $1.7 million on lobbying.

A long list of financial service powerhouses are sponsoring a “financial literacy brunch” at the Democratic National Convention, including Allstate, AEGON, Bank of America, Capitol One, Charles Schwab, Edward Jones, Fidelity, Genworth, MasterCard, Mutual of Omaha, Nationwide, Principal Financial Group, State Farm, NASDAQ, US Bank, Visa, Wachovia and Wells Fargo. These companies are major campaign contributors and lobbying forces in Washington.

(more…)

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Public Campaign Action Fund just released a report on total influence spending by the big oil, coal, and electricity interests for the first half of this year. The report shows that from January 1 to June 30 these companies have put down nearly half a billion dollars on trying to influence members of Congress, officials in Washington, and, through advertising, you. The total amount, viewed above, consists of campaign contributions, lobbying expenses, paid advertising and media, and contributions to 527s and other organizations doing political work.

Check out the report. It’s an excellent examination of how industries use various channels to gain trust and influence.

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Earlier this month, The Washington Post reported how targets of a Senate investigation have showered Washington with campaign contributions, in an apparent attempt to buy some love and avoid sanctions. In July, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations issued a report alleging that two European-based banks, USB of Switzerland and LGT of Liechtenstein, served as tax havens for wealthy Americans, costing the federal treasury up to $100 billion a year.

The Post article states that officials with the banks have given more than $2 million this year, $98,000 in June alone, to congressional and presidential campaigns. USB spends close to $1 million a year on lobbying and is traditionally a big campaign giver. But so far this cycle the Swiss bank’s contributions have surpassed what it gave in the whole 2006 election cycle. The Post quotes a bank spokesperson as saying the bank’s giving is in no way related to the Senate investigation. The article didn’t say, however, whether it was said with a straight face.

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While there’s much room for improvement, the 110th Congress has made a stab at providing a few rays of Sunlight into the mercenary culture of Washington. For example, in 2008, for the first time, federally registered lobbyists are required to file a new disclosure, called an LD-203, listing the contributions they make to federal candidates, among other things. Those disclosures have been released to the public, but in a form that’s so garbled that contributions are double, triple, quadruple counted or more. My colleague Anupama Narayanswamy painstakingly reviewed 107,000 records, finding the 14,000 individual contributions to federal candidates, and adding up who’s benefited the most from the personal checks of individual lobbyists. The headline above tells you that; read the rest here.

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Not everyone has that kind of appetite apparently. Businesses and lobbying firms are still complaining about the disclosure of contributions - both campaign and honorary - required in the new lobbying disclosure forms (LD-203). “This is insanity. It is grossly overreacting on the part of the Hill,” says one senior vice president of government relations.

The new lobbying reports are available online (you can search them here) and CQ Politics went through and picked out some of the contributions: (more…)

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Don’t be fooled by the talking heads and the pundits who ceaselessly tell us that nothing interesting happens at the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions. Lobbyists wine and dine party insiders and elected officials, big donors feast with the party insiders who depend on their deep pockets, and corporations with business before the federal government pick up most of the tab.

All this happens behind the scenes, of course, but we can give you a glimpse of it, thanks to a pair of documents listing events at the Democratic National Convention in Denver and the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St.Paul* that Sunlight unearthed as part of its about-to-be-launched Party Time project.

Compiled by a top Washington lobbying firm, Quinn Gillespie & Associates, the lists identify 370 parties, receptions, symposiums and other events sponsored by the likes of Bank of America, the Distilled Spirits Council, Eli Lilly, AT&T, and Anheuser Busch. They show that partying will continue at the conventions despite the new ethics law, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, which prohibits lobbyists from throwing parties honoring specific lawmakers.

A sampling of the parties listed include:

Democratic National Convention
• An opening night party on Sunday at the Democratic National Convention by the lobbying firm Brownstein, Hyatt, where convention organizer, Steven Farber, works, at the Denver Art Museum;
• A DNC top donor reception that same night;
• A variety of events for delegates sponsored by AT&T;
• A “late nite” party at The Loft sponsored by USTelecom on Monday night;
• An “FSR Literacy” luncheon on Tuesday sponsored by a host of financial companies.

Republican National Convention
• A health care luncheon on Tuesday sponsored by Eli Lilly;
• A host of parties sponsored by AT&T, including a “Texas honky tonk,” a Young Guns” reception, and an African American voter reception and a Hispanic voter reception;
• A reception sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters;.
• Hospitality suites sponsored by Honeywell, Anheuser Busch, and Citi;
• A wrap party hosted by the lobbying firm Patton Boggs.

The lists were unearthed in the data collection for a new Sunlight project, called Party Time, headed by a veteran money-in-politics reporter and investigator, Nancy Watzman. Party Time, which will make its debut the week of August 18, compiles the thousands of invitations to congressional fundraisers that are sent out by fax, email and snail mail to lobbyists, Political Action Committee (PAC) representatives and others around Washington, D.C. and beyond. Visitors to the Web site will be able to find out about the events, often before they happen.

I should add that the lists Quinn & Gillespie compiled are not a complete list of events. Check back the week of August 18th to find out more.

*–Apologies to St. Paul and Bob Collins.

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Congress doesn’t spin records, they spin in revolving doors. And those doors are spinning faster than ever, according to a study from Public Citizen. The Politico reports on the study, which shows that between 1998 and 2004 a whopping 43 percent of retired lawmakers became lobbyists:

A study done in the post-Watergate era estimated that only 3 percent to 10 percent of retiring members of Congress became lobbyists.

But, from 1998 to 2004, 283 retired lawmakers became lobbyists — a whopping 43 percent of all retiring members, according to a study done by Public Citizen, a nonpartisan watchdog group.

In 2005, eight members joined lobbing firms, although only four ultimately registered to advocate on Capitol Hill. A year later, another nine members followed.

With another seat-cleansing November election apparently in the making, the lobbyist ranks are likely to swell again later this year.

While reforms passed in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act were meant to stop the flow of lawmakers and staffers down the block to K Street, the cases of Al Wynn, Dennis Hastert, Trent Lott, and Richard Baker all show that the desire to cash in on connections on the Hill is not abating.

Unlike the video below, the revolving door in Washington doesn’t appear to be ready to break anytime soon:

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The food industry’s heavy lobbying over the past few years to reduce regulation and paperwork has turned into a “monkey’s paw” of sorts. As the AP says, “Be careful what you wish for; lest it may happen,” is certainly the lesson to be gleaned from the stupifying, and expected, blowback the food industry is receiving right now from their long lobbying effort. Here’s the run-down:

The food industry pressured the Bush administration to reduce paperwork that would have aided health investigators “quickly trace produce that sickens consumers.” The Bush administration also killed a plan to require electronic filing that would enable regulators and investigators to more rapidly search for the source of a food contamination outbreak in the case of an outbreak. The food industry spent millions on lobbying to stop these regulations, as evidenced in this chart from OpenSecrets.org:

The food companies worried about the costliness of these proposals and labeled them “burdensome,” saying that they could disrupt the availability of consumers’ favorite foods.”

Now, according to the AP, during the current salmonella outbreak the food industry has lost $250 million, food supplies have been disrupted, and 1,300 people have gotten sick in 43 states and the District of Columbia. So, even without the regulations the food industry got their food disruption, consumers can’t eat tomatoes or jalapenos (which are chief ingredients in salsa), and a lot of people got to get sick.

The AP calls these “unintended consequences.” I’d say they are totally predictable and the public should take their scorn out on the food industry and their lobbyists for engaging in activities that have made eating more dangerous.

This whole episode reminds me of this scene from Kentucky Fried Movie, where a satirical science film posits a world without zinc oxide:

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While many major K Street firms are still increasing their profits, the total improvement of profits over last year was 2.8% in the first half of the year, a significantly smaller increase than recorded over previous years. Doing best these days are firms tilted heavily towards the majority Democrats or those with a strong bipartisan staff. The biggest growth rate was seen by the Podesta Group, a Democratic firm, pulling in 47.4% more than the 2007 first half.

The presidential election year and the slow economy have a lot to do with the K Street slowdown. (Of course, by slowdown, I mean smaller increases in profits; not exactly a slowdown, except in terms of the previous exponential growth rates posted over recent years.) Top ten earners were:

Patton Boggs - $20.5 million (+5.7%)

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld - $17.8 million (+17.1%)

Van Scoyoc Associates - $14.5 million (+16%)

Cassidy & Associates - $12.1 million (-1.6%)

Dutko Worldwide - $10.4 million (-4.1%)

Hogan & Hartson - $10.2 million (+8.5%)

BGR Holdings - $10.2 million (-11.4%)

Ogilvy Government Relations - $9 million (-27.2%)

Williams & Jensen - $8.6 million (+6.0%)

K&L Gates - $8.0 million (+23.5%)

Both Roll Call and The Hill filed reports on this.

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GOOD Magazine has a knack for taking political stories or data and turning them into to clever images. In this case, they’ve taken lobbying data from Open Secrets and turned it into something of a middle school bulletin board (this also may work as it’s own form of commentary in equating Congress with a middle school).

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