Posted on 02/22/2008 7:32:48 PM PST by neverdem
Sen. Barack Obama, who has refused donations from federal lobbyists and paints his Democratic presidential rival as a Washington insider for accepting their contributions, took hundreds of thousands of dollars from partners at dozens of firms that lobbied Congress in 2007.
The partners — who often share in a law firm's overall profits — gave at least $214,000 to the Obama campaign from October through December, according to a review of Federal Election Commission records and lobbying-disclosure reports with the Senate.
Partners at the Chicago-based law firm of Kirkland Ellis LLP, which has a lobbying arm in Washington, gave Mr. Obama more than $70,000 in contributions last year. The firm represented a pharmaceuticals company and the Futures Industry Association.
Mr. Obama also has accepted tens of thousands from partners Covington & Burling, which was paid nearly a half-million dollars last year to lobby for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, or PhRMA. None of the donations came from three partners at the firm who worked as PhRMA lobbyists.
As a rule, the Obama campaign says it won't accept donations from PhRMA, current federally registered lobbyists, or political action committees. It does accept contributions from state lobbyists, past federal lobbyists and employees of firms that lobby Congress.
"He's kind of saying, 'Look, I want to distance myself from the current system,' but he's not saying he's not going to take any money from anyone who employs lobbyists," said Steven Weissman, associate director of the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute.
"That was a sincere gesture but it's a gesture, it's not a significant subtraction from his money," he said. "Lobbyists are only a very small part of the overall campaign money, but the ones who employ these people are more important. Nobody is willing to refuse their money."
A campaign spokesman said Mr...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
It may be they collect individual donations from employees and bundle them. But they also may have a big chunk on money in their budget that they can use for lobbying and for contributions to politicians favorable to UC—it is a big institution.
Does this mean Obama is a hypocrit?
Yes, but there is only one McCain/Feingold law.
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