House GOP Ushers In Corporate Takeover
Today, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) will accept the House Speaker's gavel from Democratic Party leader Nancy Pelosi (CA), marking the start of the 112th Congress and at least two years of Republican rule in the lower chamber. But while the GOP campaigned on a promise to govern on behalf of the American people, the reality is that not only did a top lobbyist help write the Party's campaign pledge, but its agenda will also be heavily influenced by big corporate interests -- and it starts at the top. Long before Republicans won control of the House last November, Boehner invited "senior Republican lobbyists and top officials from several large trade groups" to his office to discuss "their suggestions for a new GOP agenda." As the New York Times reported last September, "that sort of alliance" with top corporate lobbyists "is business as usual" for Boehner, who "maintains especially tight ties with a circle of lobbyists and former aides representing some of the nation's biggest businesses, including Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, R. J. Reynolds, MillerCoors and UPS." And the big business lobbyist tentacles stretch beyond Boehner throughout the power centers of his Party, representing a new corporate takeover of the House.
THE CORPORATE CHAIRMEN: Just after the GOP won control of the House in last November's midterms, the Center for Public integrity released a report examining the likely incoming chairmen of various House committees and found that they "have deep ties to the business community or the industries they will soon oversee." For example, incoming committee and subcommittee chairs Reps. Bill Young (FL), Howard McKeon (CA), John Mica (FL), Doc Hastings (WA), and Spencer Bachus (AL) all have either received substantial contributions from the industries that their committees oversee, or have former staff members lobbying for those same businesses. Bachus, the new Financial Services Committee chairman, even said last month that the government's role isn't to protect consumers but to "serve the banks." Now, House Republicans are turning to their business allies for advice on regulations. Incoming Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) wrote to 150 trade associations, companies and think tanks asking them to identify which government regulations interfere with business the most. "In fiscal year 2010, federal agencies promulgated 43 major new regulations," the California congressman wrote. "As a trade organization comprised of members that must comply with the regulatory state, I ask for your assistance in identifying existing and proposed regulations that have negatively impacted job growth in your members' industry."
INCOMING CORPORATE STAFFERS: The Washington Post reported last month that many of the incoming GOP members of Congress, several of whom had "won with strong support from the anti-establishment tea party movement," have "hired registered lobbyists as senior aides." At least 13 incoming GOP freshmen, including eight new House members, have hired industry lobbyists from the country's biggest lobbying firms, as well as insiders who previously advocated on behalf of U.S. corporate giants such American Electric Power, Duke Energy, and 3M, the nation's largest banks, and Koch Industries, the conglomerate owned by right-wing philanthropists Charles and David Koch. Moreover, Republicans aren't even trying to hide it. "I don't share the disdain for lobbyists that seems to be often in the public venue," said Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) last month defending the new hires. "You want someone with experience," he said.
BUSINESS AS USUAL: Incoming freshmen aren't the only ones turning to K Street for help running the new GOP-led House. Boehner announced last month that "he hired the medical device industry's chief lobbyist as his policy director," a move Sunlight Foundation spokesperson Bill Allison called "business as usual," adding that the new staffer, Brett Loper, is "in a much better position to help his old employer" -- the Advanced Medical Technology Association. New Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) announced last month that he hired a U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbyist who helped water down new Wall Street regulations last year as a senior staffer to oversee the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The Chamber led the fight last year to defeat Wall Street reform efforts and this particular lobbyist, Ryan McKee, made clear at the time what her intentions were. "We're fundamentally trying to kill this," she said. It appears the nation's largest banking trade association -- the American Bankers Association (ABA) -- is excited about its prospects in the 112th Congress. "We had been disappointed with a number of legislative outcomes with the past Congress, and so we look forward to better outcomes with this Congress," an ABA spokesperson said after the GOP midterm victories.
President Obama is reportedly considering naming JP Morgan Chase VP William Daley as his new chief of staff. Daley opposed the Democrats' recent push for health care reform and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While working for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2007, he championed financial deregulation and headed up JP Morgan Chase's lobbying against financial reform.
According to ABC News, Tea Party maven Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is "seriously weighing whether to seek Republican nomination for president in 2012." Bachmann will travel to Iowa to meet with "political forces" and "party elders close to the caucus process" before making her final decision.
President Obama will likely not issue a signing statement asserting his constitutional authority to bypass a recent congressional action barring him from bringing Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. for trial. Instead, Obama will strongly criticize the ban, but stop short of setting up a bypass, which would be an unprecedented assertion of executive authority over the Congress.
House GOP leaders are drawing fire from their political ally, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, over their intention to cut highway and mass-transit programs. With $41 billion a year at stake, the Chamber said in a letter last week "that subjecting highway spending to the uncertainty of annual budget cuts would lead to more job losses in the battered industry."
A small group of "unusually energized" hedge fund executives dumped $10 million into defeating Democrats before November's elections, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity and NBC News. The Wall Street moguls were able to escape initial public notice by funneling money through various third-party groups and other obscure organizations.
The Obama administration "will revise a Medicare regulation to delete references to end-of-life planning " included in the new health care law, an abrupt change because the new rule just took effect January 1. The New York Times notes that, while "administration officials cited procedural reasons for changing the rule, it was clear that political concerns were also a factor."
An immigration bill filed by Kentucky Republicans yesterday is even stricter than Arizona's controversial SB 1070 bill, which has been challenged in federal court by President Obama. Kentucky's bill, which Republicans hope to pass by the end of the week, includes a provision that would allow law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants for trespassing.
And finally: Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Tim Murray (D) is being hailed as a hero after he rescued two kids from a burning minivan, but his actions almost got him punched in the face. Murray was driving through his hometown of Worcester when he noticed smoke, called 911, and rushed to save the kids trapped in the car. However, the children's grandmother originally thought Murray was trying to kidnap them, and said she almost punched him.
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