Hey liberal politician,
There is nowhere to hide, anymore.
Now isn’t that special...
Chicago politics goes national. Is anyone really surprised? Of course not.
That’s it. I’m registering democrat and starting up a worthless energy company of some sort!
I’LL BE RICH BITCHES!!!!!
The list, ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
The Lady of the Lake,
[angels sing]
her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur
from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I,
Arthur, was to carry Excalibur.
[singing stops]
That is why I am your king!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2323662/posts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/23/AR2009082302381_pf.html ^
Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009 8:03:53 PM by kcvl
Social Connections, Political Savvy and Boundless Energy Have Made Heather Podesta The It Girl of a New Generation Of Lobbyists
The chairman beams.
So many people just dying to see him, the business guys, the pols, the lobbyists — lots and lots of lobbyists. They circle Charlie Rangel — birthday boy, Democrat and, of course, House Ways and Means chairman — circles like rings on a tree planted in the party room here at Tavern on the Green. Simple math: the more powerful the pol, the more rings on the tree. This is a very thick tree.
Not a problem, though, for Heather Podesta.
“It’s like doing the tango!” she says, all smiles yet all business.
The lobbyist tango: She glides right in her red D&G heels and her periwinkle stockings, cutting through the outer rings with a smile here, a kiss-kiss there, a “Great to see you!” or two. Some guy yells out: “The most beautiful woman in the world!” She doesn’t blush, and she doesn’t linger. She wriggles left, gets blocked, reverses direction, gets blocked again, reverses direction again. She’s in.
“Great party!” Podesta tells the chairman.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” Rangel gushes back.
The chairman pecks the lobbyist’s cheek, and they’re done. Thirty seconds of face time. Mission accomplished.
“Doesn’t get any better than that,” Podesta says, amused by the surreal nature of the ritual she has mastered. “A kiss from the chairman.”
(Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s energy summit) and she’ll be turning around and flying west again in a couple of days (Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s donor shindig in Napa wine country).
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
‘Scarlet L’ for K Street returns as Obama sharpens 2012 rhetoric on lobbyists
By Kevin Bogardus - 10/12/11 09:27 AM ET
Lobbyists are bracing for a new round of rhetorical attacks from President Obama as he runs for reelection.
The Obama administration has proposed a number of new regulations, such as a lobbyist gift ban across the entire executive branch and a prohibition against lobbyists serving on federal advisory committees, that codify restrictions first instituted in the early days of the president’s first term.
The proposed rules have riled Washington lobbyists, who argue Obama is looking to score political points instead of authoring good policy.
“I don’t know whether a regulation requiring a lobbyist to wear a ‘scarlet L’ will pass through OIRA, but you never know with these folks,” Tony Podesta, head of the Podesta Group, told The Hill.
Podesta was referring to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which is housed in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and reviews proposed regulations before they’re finalized.
At the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver, Podesta and his lobbyist wife, Heather Podesta, handed out scarlet L’s to the K Street denizens in attendance — a gesture that poked fun at the Obama campaign’s ban on lobbyist campaign contributions and fundraising.
Podesta said he’s likely to attend the next convention in Charlotte, N.C., but he’s not sure whether he’ll bring back the scarlet L’s.
“We had fun doing it last time, and we always like to have fun. We haven’t placed an order yet, though,” Podesta said.
“Stay tuned,” said Heather Podesta, head of Heather Podesta + Partners.
Lobbyists expect to become a political target for Obama as he runs for reelection.
“This is going to be the same as the last time. This is going to be a proof point that he is going to use to prove that he is trying to change Washington, that he’s an outsider, to bolster the narrative that he’s not Beltway,” one Democratic lobbyist said of the proposed regulations.
Since lobbyists are forbidden from contributing to or fundraising for Obama’s campaign, as well as the party’s convention, it’s likely their access at the event will be greatly limited, too.
“It’s almost impossible for lobbyists to participate in the convention,” said the lobbyist. “A lot of people are not going to go because they feel they’re not welcomed.”
Since 2009, President Obama has sought to place several restrictions on lobbyists. Those moves won praise from watchdog groups, which said the White House was paying heed to the ethics and influence-peddling issues that Obama talked about on the campaign trail.
The administration has slowed the revolving door between government and the private sector by forbidding lobbyists from taking jobs in the executive branch; banning individuals who have left the administration from then lobbying their ex-colleagues; and restricting lobbying on the stimulus package.
Last week, OMB finalized guidance that would bar lobbyists from serving on federal advisory committees.
“It’s consistent with the steps we’ve taken from day one to expand government accountability and transparency,” said Meg Reilly, an OMB spokeswoman. “The president has taken steps from the start to close the revolving door between the federal government and special interests, to end the culture of powerful lobbying influence and to dramatically expand the level of transparency in government.”
Reilly also pointed to the White House releasing its visitor records and pushing federal agencies to release as much government data as possible to the public.
Howard Marlowe, president of the American League of Lobbyists, said Obama has found bashing K Street to be good politics.
“Since the early days of his 2007 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Obama has found it politically expedient to bash lobbyists. With the advance of the 2012 elections and the decline of his popularity, the president’s at it again,” said Marlowe, also president of lobby firm Marlowe & Co.
Many of the limitations that Obama has proposed are centered on who is registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA). Marlowe said that has led to lobbyists leaving the disclosure system.
“We have already seen lobbyists disappearing from public sight by deregistering. These ‘consultants’ can do their work without telling the media and the public who they are, what issues they are working on, who is paying them and how much,” Marlowe said.
Lisa Rosenberg, a lobbyist for the Sunlight Foundation, said the Obama administration has missed the forest for the trees by focusing on lobbyists while ignoring the pervasive influence of money in politics.
“Part of what this administration is capturing by focusing on the ‘scarlet L,’ the LDA definition of a lobbyist, is the medium to the little guys. The real influence is going on with bundlers, CEOs and big fundraisers, and they continue to get a free ride under this administration,” Rosenberg said.
Sunlight, a watchdog group, has been supportive of many of the White House’s actions to usher in more government transparency and restrict lobbying. But Rosenberg said the new regulations fit into “sound-bite politics” for Obama.
“As we get closer to his reelection bid, he has backed off from money in politics while super-PACs are being formed in support of him. I think it is a complete reversal,” Rosenberg said.
The president pushed for passage of the Disclose Act, which would have required all political groups disclose their donors. That bill failed to pass last Congress, and the president has yet to sign a draft executive order that would require government contractors to disclose all of their political contributions.
“The draft executive order is still undergoing review,” said Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman. “Broadly speaking, the president is committed to improving our federal contracting system, making it more transparent and more accountable. He believes that American taxpayers deserve that, and that is why he has asked Congress to pass a full disclosure law.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR2009020303082.html
The Scarlet Lobbyist
Washington Post, The (DC) - Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Author: Ruth Marcus
Big money buys seats at lawmakers’ dinner tables - Pricey private events can offer up clout
Washington Times, The (DC) - Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Author: Joseph Curl, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Want to dine with five U.S. senators? Then just drop by Wednesday night and, oh, by the way, bring $30,400.
That’s what it costs to be a “co-chair” of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s Women’s Senate Network party, thrown by power lobbyist Heather Podesta .
“What do you get when you put the minds of key Democratic Women Senators, the brush strokes of Women Artists, the recipes of Women Chefs, and the design of a Woman Architect together in the same house?” Mrs. Podesta said in an e-mail addressed “Dear friends.”
Who knows? But it will cost you to find out, according to the e-mail, which lays out contributions required for access to the event.
“This is kind of awkward, but we actually don’t talk about our fundraisers,” said DSCC communications director Eric Schultz. “We keep our private events private.”
For the DSCC dinner, to be held at the $2 million Woodley Park home of Mrs. Podesta and lobbyist husband Tony, five senators will be in the house: Amy Klobuchar, Mary L. Landrieu, Jeanne Shaheen, Maria Cantwell and Kay Hagan. “Our meal will be prepared by some of the nation’s best women chefs,” the hostess’ e-mail said.
“The woman senators try to get together on a regular basis,” said Erikka Knuti, communications director for Mrs. Klobuchar. “They’re pretty private. I don’t know what they talk about. The senator doesn’t tell me.”
Well, what do attendees of such parties really get for their money?
“Those people who gave $30,000 have a seat at the table, the dining table with you, and they sit down and they explain to you what they want, what they’re concerned about and perhaps even specific legislation they care about,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen, a Washington watchdog group.
“And they don’t have to say to the candidate, ‘I bring in a lot of money for you,’ because the candidate knows that,” he said.
The party and the money it will collect are completely legal. Although an individual can contribute $2,400 to a candidate or incumbent politician, the maximum a person may give to a national party or political action committee in any one year is $30,400.
The Podestas are one of the most prominent socialite couples in Washington, and they wield significant clout. Newly released records show they have been in and out of the Obama White House a combined eight times from Inauguration Day through July.
(snip)
Looting the Treasury in broad daylight. The scope is unprecedented (but not unexpected).
Unreal.
According to White House visitor logs, Heather Podesta visited the White House eight times in Obama’s first six months alone.
Brookfield, meanwhile, is a Toronto, Ontario-based asset management company that manages a global portfolio of assets valued at over $120 billion. The firm’s assets include not only renewable power generation but also real estate, including some of Manhattan’s most famous skyline buildings.
Brookfield also happens to own Zuccotti Park, the park where the Occupy Wall Street protesters are currently holed up.
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=354433#ixzz1aftveXRS
Brookfield Asset Management. It boasts a board of nine directors, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s long-term girlfriend.
The Energy Department’s promise to Brookfield
the grant was finalized to build the 99 megawatt Granite Reliable wind project in New Hampshire’s Coos County, making it the state’s largest wind plant.
The article failed to mention that Podesta himself is a Washington lobbyist in his family firm which bears his name. Furthermore, Podesta's long history as a Washington Democrat operative includes a stint in the White House as Clinton's chief of staff, where he was a major player in the granting of the controversial pardons at the end of Clinton's term.
bank robbers is what they are
oh, for Pete’s sake ... it’s only $135.8 Million. What’s the fuss about?