Laurie Bennett

Carnival Stepped Up Lobbying After Costa Concordia Disaster

May 10, 2012 By Laurie Bennett 1 Comment

After the Costa Concordia wrecked off the Tuscany coast in January, killing 32 people, lobby spending by its corporate parent soared. Carnival’s lobby bill in Washington last quarter totaled $522,000 – three times the amount spent the prior quarter. In its lobby reports to Congress, the company listed three areas of concern: unearned passenger revenue […]

Filed Under: Lobbying Client Tagged With: Carnival Corp., Costa Concordia, cruise ships, maritime, ship safety, tourism, travel

China Paid Patton Boggs $307K in Late 2011

May 8, 2012 By Laurie Bennett Leave a Comment

International tensions present problems and opportunities for U.S. lobbyists and lawyers. Patton Boggs has occupied the U.S.-China relations minefield since 2005, when the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China hired the firm to help strategize congressional relations. Filings with the Justice Department show that China paid Patton Boggs more than $307,000 in the last […]

Filed Under: First Street 30, Lobbying Tagged With: China, foreign agent, Patton Boggs, Thomas Hale Boggs Jr.

U.S. Companies Register to Lobby EU

May 4, 2012 By Laurie Bennett 1 Comment

As the influence business goes global, more governments are adopting or considering ways to track lobbying activity. Canada, Australia, Germany and several other nations have registries. The UK is planning one. The European Union, encompassing 27 European countries, has a voluntary system called the “Transparency Register.” Launched last year, it replaced an earlier version that […]

Filed Under: Lobbying Organization Tagged With: Apco Worldwide, Australia, Canada, European Union, Germany, lobbying registration, Transparency Register

Drones in U.S. Air Space: The Next Lobby Frontier

May 1, 2012 By Laurie Bennett 9 Comments

Although drones are usually associated with military strikes, the debate over domestic uses for unmanned aircraft rages on many fronts. Proponents argue that drones will bring vast improvements to search and rescue, border patrol and other law enforcement efforts. Use has already been approved for several police departments around the country. Authorities in Arlington, TX, […]

Filed Under: Lobbying Client Tagged With: AAI Corp, Aurora Flight Sciences, Bell Helicopter, Blackwater, Cyber Defense Systems, defense, Defense Technologies, drones, General Atomics, Homeland Security, Honeywell, L-3 BAI Aerosystems, national security, privacy, Raytheon, Telford Aviation, UAV, unmanned aircraft

Despite Closeness to White House, Buffett Still Believes in Lobbying

April 27, 2012 By Laurie Bennett Leave a Comment

Now that he’s an integral part of the president’s tax-fairness stump speech, you would think Warren Buffett wouldn’t need to spend millions of dollars lobbying Washington. Nevertheless, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out this week, one of the subsidiaries of his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., spent more than $1 million to lobby Congress to […]

Filed Under: Lobbying Client, Member of Congress Tagged With: Benjamin Moore, Berkshire Hathaway, BNSF Railway Company, Fruit of the Loom, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, NetJets Inc., PacifiCorp, Shaw Industries Group, Warren Buffett

Unions, Outspent in Washington, Battle in States

April 25, 2012 By Laurie Bennett 1 Comment

Labor union lobbying, which has increased gradually over the last decade, reached a high last year at nearly $51 million. Data analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics show that 106 unions employed 399 lobbyists in 2011. Here are the top 10 spenders: Union D.C. Lobbying 2011 National Education Assn $7,676,415 AFL-CIO $3,600,000 American Fedn […]

Filed Under: Lobbying, Lobbying Organization Tagged With: AFL-CIO, AFSCME, collective bargaining, organized labor, SEIU, teachers, unions

Blue Cross Blue Shield Pursues Agenda on Many Fronts

April 23, 2012 By Laurie Bennett Leave a Comment

The influence strategy of Blue Cross Blue Shield is as complex and multi-faceted as the organization itself. BCBS provides health insurance to 100 million people through 38 local companies and one national association. It pursues policy at many levels – in Washington, in the states, in the political arena, in the courts and in the […]

Filed Under: Lobbying Organization Tagged With: Access to Professional Health Insurance Act, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now Act, Health Care, Health Care Choice Act, Insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare Decisions Accountability Act, Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, Obamacare, Patient's Access to Treatments Act, Preserving our Hometown Pharmacies Act, State Flexibility Act

Derivatives Lobby Prepared for Major Victory

April 18, 2012 By Laurie Bennett Leave a Comment

Banks, energy companies and other derivatives dealers are poised to win a big one today, with approval of a federal rule exempting most of them from new government oversight. As The New York Times reports, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are expected to okay a much-weakened version of a […]

Filed Under: Lobbying Tagged With: CFTC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, derivatives, Dodd-Frank, financial, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, wall street

For-Profit Colleges Have Uncounted Government Connections

April 16, 2012 By Laurie Bennett Leave a Comment

Dianne Feinstein's connections to for-profit colleges

Just as the bottom line for many for-profit colleges is directly linked to government funding, the executive offices and board rooms of many of these companies have direct links to government itself. Two sitting U.S. senators are married to individuals with sizeable investment stakes. What is First Street? What is a political intelligence platform? Explore […]

Filed Under: Lobbying Organization Tagged With: Career Education Corporation, Dianne Feinstein, education, Education Management Corporation, for-profit colleges, ITT Educational Services, Olympia Snowe, Title IV, Veterans Education Assistance Act

For-Profit Colleges a New Lobby Force in Washington

April 16, 2012 By Laurie Bennett 3 Comments

Bridgepoint Education, a publicly traded company that runs for-profit colleges, spent $3.6 million on lobbying in 2011. That was more than five times the amount spent the year before. Bridgepoint was one of the companies behind a successful lobbying drive to weaken new rules for government education funding. (1) Like all the companies in the […]

Filed Under: Lobbying Client, Revolving Door Tagged With: Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, Bridgepoint Education, Capella Education, education funding, Education Management, for-profit colleges, Title IV, Veterans Education Assistance Act

Carnival Stepped Up Lobbying After Costa Concordia Disaster

China Paid Patton Boggs $307K in Late 2011

U.S. Companies Register to Lobby EU

Drones in U.S. Air Space: The Next Lobby Frontier

Despite Closeness to White House, Buffett Still Believes in Lobbying

Unions, Outspent in Washington, Battle in States

Blue Cross Blue Shield Pursues Agenda on Many Fronts

Derivatives Lobby Prepared for Major Victory

For-Profit Colleges Have Uncounted Government Connections

For-Profit Colleges a New Lobby Force in Washington

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