Friday, June 04, 2010
Vin Weber, champion financial industry lobbyist
Many ex-lawmakers who have joined the “Shadow Congress”—those who have gone into lobbying after leaving office—have accepted lucrative assignments to help push the agendas of the financial sector.
Analysis of federal disclosure records by Public Citizen and the Center for Responsive Politics revealed that 73 former members of Congress have lobbied on behalf of banks, investment firms, insurance companies and real estate businesses since 2009. Republican senators Bob Dole of Kansas and Trent Lott of Mississippi were among this group, along with ex-representatives Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois), Dick Armey (R-Texas), Dick Gephardt (D-Missouri), Bill Archer (R-Texas) and Bob Livingston (R-Louisiana).
Former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minnesota) leads the list with thirteen different clients, including Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
In addition to hiring former elected officials, the financial sector has employed scores of ex-staffers from Capitol Hill and federal agencies. Altogether, the total of well-connected Washington veterans paid to lobby for the industry was pegged at 1,447.
The leading employers of revolving door lobbyists, as of the beginning of 2009, were Citigroup (60), Visa (50) and the American Bankers Association (49).
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Banking on Connections: Financial Services Sector Has Dispatched Nearly 1,500 “Revolving Door” Lobbyists Since 2009 (OpenSecrets.org and Public Citizen) (pdf)
Is Congress Just a Stepping Stone to a Life of Lobbying? (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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