Negotiations on a Pacific trade deal are taking place right now in San Diego, and hundreds of representatives of business, trade association and citizen watchdog groups are present and pushing for their interests in a deal that many have charged has been kept too secret. This meeting — which began July 2 and ends July […]
Secret Trans Pacific Partnership Negotiations Draw Lobbying Interest and Public Ire
July 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
K Street Fleeing From DISCLOSE Act
July 9, 2012 By 2 Comments
The Supreme Court decision upholding its 2010 ruling in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission on June 25, made it clear that corporations, labor unions and individuals can continue to pour unlimited sums of money into congressional and presidential elections this year. Less clear is whether — or when — there will be enough support […]
Barclays Fallout Hits Washington
July 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The Barclays scandal has laid waste to the bank’s top echelons, with the resignations of the chairman, the chief executive and the chief operating officer. The repercussions have also reached the Mitt Romney campaign, which was relying on former CEO Robert E. Diamond Jr., an American, to co-host a London fundraiser. A Romney spokesperson confirmed […]
Will The Internet Lobby Ignite Debate Over Americans With Disabilities Act?
July 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
In July of 1990, then-President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which made it illegal to discriminate against those with a disability. The law was intended to create civil rights law protections for people with disabilities and allow them to be updated in terms of scientific and medical research and […]
Big Beverage and the Big Apple
July 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
For the beverage industry, New York City is now the front line. As the New York Times notes, a new coalition called New Yorkers for Beverage Choices is fighting Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s effort to ban the sale of supersized drinks. The push back is being organized by the soft drink industry’s major trade group, the […]
Health Lobby Ready to Kick In
June 28, 2012 By 3 Comments
Lobbying by many health insurance and health services companies has understandably declined since President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Should we expect K Street’s floodgates to open with the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the act’s constitutionality? Almost certainly, particularly coming in the midst of the presidential election. An early signal is in […]
Lobbyists join Democrats and Republicans in Debate Over Immigration and the DREAM Act
June 25, 2012 By 2 Comments
Prospects of immigration reform — dim as they have been in past years and getting dimmer with Congress’s increasing difficulty to reach compromise on any major or seemingly minor issue — have kept millions of dollars flowing through D.C. lobbying firms and coalitions. And President Barack Obama’s latest directive halting the deportation of certain immigrant […]
CISPA Lobbying and Protecting Privacy in the age of Facebook, Twitter, Cyber Threats and Malware
June 25, 2012 By 2 Comments
SOPA and PIPA are not the only online privacy debates on Capitol Hill. Last November, a billed aimed at protecting against cyber threats, called Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) was introduced. Since its introduction, CISPA has come under fire for violating boundaries of internet privacy and neutrality. It is still unclear if President […]
