PA-05: A Discussion of Fundraising

Crossposted at EENR Blog

I feel I should point out that, on a personal note, I don't intend this as a smear diary.  Everything in here is true to the best of my knowledge.  The only reason I bring it up here is because the local press pays no attention to campaign finance and lobbyists as a general rule.

There's been a lot of discussion on here regarding fundraising and contributions from lobbyists and employees of lobbying firms.  We all know that these contributions can corrupt the democratic process.  I personally think that's one of the reasons that John Edwards was so popular in the blogosphere and why Obama gets a tremendous amount of support from the online community.  This is also an issue that should be considered and weighed in races downticket as well.  Follow me after the fold for more.

Before I continue, it is probably worthwhile to point out, once again, that I am the chief blogger for the Rick Vilello campaign in the PA-05.  However, I'd be concerned about this even if I wasn't.  Nonetheless, I know that many people will view this post with some skepticism, and I encourage it.  To that end, I would like to show you where I get all of my information in this post.  The vast majority of the information comes from this webpage.  It is the itemized FEC filing for the first quarter from the Cahir for Congress campaign.  If I make any statements in this posting that are factually incorrect, please let me know.

I suppose the first thing to point out regarding this filing is also the easiest.  There is a lot of money coming from outside of the district.  Indeed, 75.07% of the contributions to Bill Cahir's campaign come from outside of the Fifth District.  3 out of every 4 dollars.  For a campaign that is touting is widespread support throughout the district, it was certainly surprising to me that there wasn't more money coming from inside the district.  However, that's not my major concern.

My major concern is the fact that so much money is coming from employees of major lobbying firms.  I would now like to go through where many of these contributions are coming from.

Hogan & Hartson Employees: $8,650.05

Hogan & Hartson is one of the one of the top lobbying firms in Washington D.C.  Hogan & Hartson represents
defense contractors and pharmaceutical companies, as well as the Biotechnology Industry Organization.  And here is a list of some of their employees who used to be powerful government officials.

Former Leadership Positions

   * Bob Michel, former Republican Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives
   * John Porter, former Chairman of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education; former Vice-chair of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export, Financing and Related Programs; and former Chairman of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction
   * Paul Rogers, former Chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and the Environment
   * Scott McInnis, former Chairman of the U.S. House Resources Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health; former member of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means and the U.S. House Resources Committee
   * Clayton Yeutter, former U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and National Chairman of the Republican National Committee
   * Christine Varney, former General Counsel to the Democratic National Committee
   * Jeanne Archibald, former General Counsel to the U.S. Department of Treasury
   * Lance Bultena, former Counsel to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Foreign Commerce, and Tourism
   * Mike Gilliland, former Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Science, Technology and Space Subcommittee
   * Reid Stuntz, former Minority (Democratic) Staff Director and Chief Counsel, U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce
   * Mike House, former Chief of Staff to Sen. Heflin of Alabama
   * Bob Kyle, former Associate Director for U.S. National Security and International Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget
   * Jim McMillan, former Counsel in the U.S. Senate Republican Leadership Office and Counsel to Senator Bob Dole
   * Jeff Munk, former Legislative Counsel to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
   * Raymond Calamaro, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Policy Director to a U.S. Senator
   * Rebecca Watson, former Assistant Secretary for Land and Mineral Development at the U.S. Department of the Interior
   * John Stanton, former professional staff on what is now the House Committee on Financial Services
   * Christine Warnke, former Executive Assistant to the Secretary for the Majority, Office of Sen. Robert Byrd, then U.S. Senate Majority Leader

James Assey - $500.00
Vice-President - National Cable and Telecommunications Association

The NCTA is the lobbying arm of the cable television industry.  Located on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C., the NCTA has been lobbying Congress since 1952.

Andrew Rosenberg - $500.00
Senior Vice-President - Ogilvy Government Relations

You may not know the name Ogilvy Government Relations.  That's because it used to be known by a different name: The Federalist Group.  The Federalist Group was a major lobbying firm that focused solely on working with Republicans.  It was only in 2007, after the Democrats regained control, that they decided to change their tune and start funneling money and attention toward Democratic candidates and officials.

Nicholas Maduros - $250.00
Attorney - Quinn Gillespie & Associates

The names in Quinn Gillespie should be familiar.  Jack Quinn was counsel to President Bill Clinton.  The Gillespie is none other than Ed Gillespie, former chairman of the Republican National Committee.  Some of Quinn Gillespie's clients include Bank of America, College Loan Corporation, Verizon Wireless, and EADS North America.

Seyfarth Shaw Employees - $1,250.00

Seyfarth Shaw literally wrote the book on getting and keeping lucrative government contracts.  Their clients include defense contractors and companies in the health care industry.  And if you check out their Government Contracts Fact Sheet (available through the above link), you can see them brag about the contracts they have gotten for their clients from the government worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

There are other contributions from other lobbyists and lobbying groups, but I don't want to make this diary go on too long.  I would only add one other concern.  Until recently, Bill Cahir didn't even live in the Fifth District.  He was most recently living in Northern Virginia.  And this is a story written by a professed close friend of his.

But Cahir hasn't lived in the district since college.

Currently living in Northern Virginia, he plans to return to his birthplace, Bellefonte, to fulfill his dream of running for Congress.

"I have to be candid, I'm moving back to my hometown in the hopes of representing my home district and at the most critical time in our nation's histroy[sic]," said Cahir.

For everyone living in the Fifth District, all I ask is that you take this into account when you go into the voting booth on April 22.  If you want the candidate who isn't getting funded by Washington lobbyists, the candidate who will support the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, and the candidate who will co-sponsor H.R. 676, then you want Rick Vilello.  Thank you for taking the time to read this and don't forget to vote!

In addition, for anyone who would like to look at Rick Vilello's contributions, click here.  You should just have to click the Continue button and it will bring up a copy of the full FEC filing.  If the link doesn't work, please let me know and I will fix it as quickly as possible.