Meredith Attwell Baker, one of two Republicans on the Federal Communications Commission, was not on Comcast’s payroll when she voted to approve its controversial acquisition of NBC Universal, the television powerhouse. But she soon will be. Four months after she endorsed the deal — chastising the F.C.C. for delaying its approval and imposing too many conditions on the merger — she has been hired to be NBC’s top Washington lobbyist.
Ms. Baker’s swift shift from regulator to lobbyist for the regulated will only add to Americans’ cynicism about their government. The fact that it is legal and that she is just one of many doesn’t make it better. Over a third of the 120 lawmakers who left Congress after the last election have taken lobbying jobs, according to a report by the Center for Responsive Politics. Former F.C.C. Chairman Kevin Martin joined the lobbying firm Patton Boggs soon after he stepped down in 2009.
President Obama was right to bar from his administration anyone who had lobbied an executive agency in the preceding two years, though he handed out far too many waivers. He is right to bar departing members from lobbying the executive branch so long as he is in office. But such cooling-off periods — like those barring former lawmakers from immediately lobbying their former colleagues — are easily evaded. In the case of Ms. Baker, she can still lobby Congress, and there is no ban on her overseeing a shop of lobbyists working the F.C.C.
Congress should expand the definition of lobbying beyond face-to-face encounters to any effort to influence government decisions for their clients. It should also set tight caps on what former officials, including former lawmakers, can earn from lobbying before they must register as lobbyists. Americans don’t need any more reasons to mistrust Washington.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/opini … ntemail1=y
by Tim Mitchell 4 months ago
The link next is a Google landing page for the browser search "Trump addresses Congress Mar 4, 2025.https://www.google.com/search?client=fi … s+mar+2025How to watch Trump's speech for his 2025 joint address to Congress by CBS News (Mar 4, 2025)https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-watch-...
by Readmikenow 9 days ago
It's about time!"CIA Director John Ratcliffe referred Brennan for criminal investigation to the FBIEXCLUSIVE: Former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are under criminal investigation for potential wrongdoing related to the Trump–Russia probe, including allegedly...
by SparklingJewel 15 years ago
"...There are more than 12,500 registered lobbyists -- about 23 for every member of Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics -- and some are getting richer while others stagnate or even dip a bit because of all of this pesky recession talk. But those who operate at the...
by rhamson 10 years ago
Be allowed to lobby Congress. Robert Reich posed this question recently and the answers were all over the place from globalization to isolationism as a way to "cure" it from happening.
by ga anderson 10 years ago
Probably a tough discussion to have, since the exact details can't be confirmed, but here are a few "understood" parts.1. "The deal" would have a limited life. Current gossip has it as a 10-year deal.2. The general consensus of the political insider gossip is that Iran will get...
by Audrey Selig 11 years ago
How can PRES get away with doubling down his bypasses of Congress and making own decisions?Are these actions impeachable?
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