News from The Hill on the Obama administration and lobbyists.
A day after bashing lobbyists, President Barack Obama’s administration has invited K Street insiders to join private briefings on a range of topics addressed in Wednesday’s State of the Union.
The Treasury Department on Thursday morning invited selected individuals to "a series of conference calls with senior Obama administration officials to discuss key aspects of the State of the Union address."
What's funny is that Obama will bash the lobbyists in public, then scurry to them off-the-record.
A handful of lobbyists told The Hill on Thursday morning that they received the invitations and were planning to call in.
Some lobbyists say they are extremely frustrated with the White House for criticizing them and then seeking their feedback. Others note that Democrats on Capitol Hill constantly urge them to make political donations.
One lobbyist said, "Bash lobbyists, then reach out to us. Bash lobbyists [while] I have received four Democratic invitations for fundraisers."
...
Lobbyists say the Obama White House has held many off-the-record teleconferences over the past year.
For example, lobbyists and others were invited to a teleconference with "senior Obama administration officials" on Monday to discuss the administration’s plan to improve the lives of middle-class families.
The invitation, which is addressed to "Friends," emphasizes in bold and italics that "this call is for background information only and not intended for press purposes." It advises callers to tell the operator "you’re joining the ‘White House Briefing Call.’ "
Another lobbyist said these types of teleconferences occur "all the time."
And that is why many on K Street are exasperated with Obama’s use of lobbyists as a punching bag. Some have said they understood why he used strong rhetoric on the campaign trail but are irritated the White House solicits their opinions while Obama’s friends in Congress badger them for political donations.
At the same time, Senate Democrats spent a nice cozy weekend in Miami Beach with over 100 senior lobbyists. Ben Smith at Politico.com reports:
The guest list for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee's "winter retreat" at the Ritz Carlton South Beach Resort doesn't include the price tag for attendance, but the maximum contribution to the committee, typical for such events, is $30,000. There, to participate in "informal conversations" and other meetings Saturday, were senators including DSCC Chairman Robert Menendez; Michigan's Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow; Bob Casey of Pennsylvania; Claire McCaskill of Missouri; freshmen Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mark Begich of Alaska; and even left-leaning Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Across the table was a who's who of 108 senior Washington lobbyists, including the top lobbying officials for many of the industries Democrats regularly attack: Represented were the American Bankers Association, the tobaco company Altria, the oil company Marathon, several drug manufacturers, the defense contractor Lockheed, and most of the large independent lobbying firms: Ogilvy, BGR, Quinn Gillespie, Heather Podesta, and Tony Podesta.
Boy, ever get the feeling the left is being told what it wants to hear about lobbyists and the Democrat's horror (horror!) vis-a-vis corporate money in politics?
Take Bob Menendez for example:
"In the upcoming elections, voters will face a choice between Republicans who are standing with Wall Street fat cats, bankers and insurance companies -- or Democrats who are working hard to clean up the mess we inherited by putting the people’s interests ahead of the special interests," Menendez said in a press release last Wednesday.
The contrast between Menendez's words and how he spent his weekend is a mark of how, even in the age of Obama, who has barred contributions from lobbyists, Democrats -- and particularly Congressional Democrats -- are riding a new wave of corporate support, the natural fruit of their majority status.
Add to this K Street's explosive growth last year, which I wrote about earlier, and you've got a continuation of Democrat hypocrisy that is poised to overwhelm their rhetoric. Keep this up, we could be looking at a Republican Speaker after the midterms.