Enter
It’s possible that some individuals are being less-thancandid about how much time
they spend lobbying, which is
difficult to judge from the outside, as it is hard to determine
the degree to which an employee’s duties have changed. But
the fact that a near majority of
deactivated lobbyists are still
with the same organizations
suggests that many of the
changes we see in the filings
may be due to technicalities or
minor tweaks in their responsibilities, with the result being
decreased reporting.”
Roll Call’s Kate Ackley was examining the “total lobbying tab
for 2011 and 2012” about a month
and a half ago, and she concluded
at the time that much “of the
work influencing government
takes place in the shadows, outside of the view of public disclosures.” Here’s one choice example
she elucidated:
“In some cases, lobbyists have
remained on the job, even
with the same firms, but have
deregistered, keeping their clients and their work secret. One
prominent example is Steve
LOOKING FORWARD
IN ANGST
HUFFINGTON
03.31.13
Ricchetti, who stayed with his
Ricchetti Inc., although no longer as a registered lobbyist, before joining the Obama administration last year. Lobbyists,
of course, can’t work for the
executive branch — President
Barack Obama banned them —
unless granted a waiver.”
46 percent of the
active 2011 lobbyists who
did not report any activity
in 2012 are still working
for the same employers for
whom they lobbied in 2011.”
(As you may be aware, that
“ban” provides for a lot of
exceptions!)
The CRP’s work brings Ackley
some confirmation of her February thesis, and her new piece
on the CRP report is a lot of fun
to read. Here’s my favorite part:
“One lobbyist, Mark Smith of the
Da Vinci Group, did not appear
on 2012 filings but continued to
describe himself on Twitter as a
‘proud lobbyist.’”
Well, not that proud,
I guess.