Lobbyists & Politicians Party Hearty
Residents of small towns throughout New Jersey, and the rest of America, can now crash the parties of their elected leaders.
Members of the United States Congress and of the United States Senate do pretty well raising money at parties down in Washington D.C, but most local residents are never invited or even know about them.
The Sunlight Foundation, which uses technology and creativity to make government accountable, sponsors PoliticalPartyTime.org which posts invitations of fundraising events held to benefit politicians.
A brief review of the website by The Journal allowed a peak into the fundraising efforts of Congressman Scott Garrett and Senator Robert Menendez. Frank Lautenberg, who has tens of millions of dollars of his own, is less active on the party circuit;but he still is popular with lobbyists in the healthcare industry who express their affection through contributions.
With respect to Menendez and Garrett, they rely on the services of two lobbyist firms, Capitol Counsel and Potomac Advocates. Politicians are not the bread and butter of these firms, but rather act as the bait for clients with deep pockets. This phenomenon is of major concern to those seeking government reform as it exemplifies the incestuous relationship of Washington politicians and lobbying firms with billions to spend.
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Readers can click here to see a partial list of clients for Potomac Advocates which sponsors parties for Scott Garrett, whose congressional district includes Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff, NJ.
Robert Menendez uses the services of Capitol Counsel, and readers can click here to see a partial list of their clients. Capitol Counsel tends to have more Democratic operatives, like the former chief of staff to Senator Menendez – Michael Hutton, working for their firm.
The Journal was unable to determine how many, if any, New Jersey voters were invited to these fundraising events held in Washington, D.C. With tickets costing between $500 and $1000, it may be assumed that many New Jersey residents might find traveling to Washington for dinner and drinks to be a bit inconvenient and/or expensive.
The invitations requested that RSVPs be sent to representatives of the respective lobbying firms, so one may conclude that the lobbying firm took care of sending out invitations to the contributors who attend these fundraisers. It is interesting to note that the representatives choose not to use an email address associated with their lobbying firm.
Menedez Invitation
Senator Menendez held a fundraiser on March 3rd 2010 at Morton’s Steakhouse. For those New Jersey voters who did not get the invitation, they can click the image to see prices ranging from $500 to $2500 for cocktails and dinner.
The invitation mentions nothing about Capitol Counsel, but the hosts listed are partners in the Washington lobbying firm. In addition to not mentioning the firm for whom the party’s hosts really represent, the RSVP further seeks to hide Capitol Counsels sponsorship by using a gmail address of an executive assistant at their firm.
The fundraising coordinated for Congress Scott Garrett can be just as expensive. A fundraiser coordinated by Potomac Advocates cost between $500 & $2000, and no dinner. The Wine Tasting event, whose invitation can be seen by clicking here, does not list the hosts as Potomac Advocates; instead RSVPs go to Lisa Clinkenbeard at Lisa@slbrown.com.
Garrett Invitation
The domain for SLBrown.com is registered to S. L. Brown & Associates in Topeka Kansas with a password protected website…at least mostly protected. The content not protected tends to towards the literary and/or personal with nothing resembling business or politics. In any event, Lisa Clinkenbeard is the wife of an associate at Potomac Advocates and has been the point person for many of Garret’s recent fundraisers.
Interestingly enough, in another fundraiser coordinated by Lisa Clinkenbeard, one of the hosts is Dan Crowley who is often cited as an example of the Republicans’ effort to fill prominent lobbying jobs with GOP lawmakers and aides.
The website for Crowley’s firm states: “…the Legal Times and National Law Journal ranked K&L Gates as among the United States’ five most influential law firms in lobbying and government policy work in 2009. This capability affords our clients the opportunity to shape regulatory and legislative initiatives…”
Lobbyists can often provide insightful information on proposed legislation, but acting as a fundraising entity for politicians is very different.
Additional Links:
Database on lobbying documents maintained by federal government.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/Public_Disclosure/LDA_reports.htm
Data search from the Federal Election Commission
http://www.fec.gov/disclosure.shtml
Nonpartisan guide to money’s influence on U.S. elections
http://www.opensecrets.org/
PoliticalPartyTime.org encourages citizens to forward invitations they receive, and also makes available the following widgets to help keep people informed of information as it becomes available.