Politicians like to say they hate lobbyists. This is false. They love lobbyists and they love being lobbied. What politicians Keeping disagreements and policy debates behind the closed doors of Capitol Hill and K Street animates Democrats' fight for campaign finance restrictions. But it also lies at the heart of the Republican leadership's war with Tea Party groups.
Take Byron Dorgan,
the former Democratic senator. In his 2006 book he
complained of “legions of lobbyists” bringing “barrels of political donations.”
Dorgan's wife, Kimberly, has since 1999 been a lobbyist for the life insurance
industry. At least five of Dorgan's former chiefs of staff are lobbyists.
Lobbyists were his second largest source of campaign contributions, according
to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
And today, Dorgan is the co-chair of the “government relations practice” at lobbying firm Arent Fox…… Cruz, in his filibuster that preceded the shutdown, said, “We hear more complaints about ‘I don't like all the phone calls I am getting from my constituents' than we do about Obamacare. It is apparently an imposition on some members of this body for their constituents to pick up the phone and express their views. It is viewed as somehow illegitimate.”……To Read More……
And today, Dorgan is the co-chair of the “government relations practice” at lobbying firm Arent Fox…… Cruz, in his filibuster that preceded the shutdown, said, “We hear more complaints about ‘I don't like all the phone calls I am getting from my constituents' than we do about Obamacare. It is apparently an imposition on some members of this body for their constituents to pick up the phone and express their views. It is viewed as somehow illegitimate.”……To Read More……
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