Lobbyists;The Sharks Circle The Stimulus Package
Most Americans don’t want the stimulus check for a few reasons; they realize it’s a loan against their 2008 tax return, it will run up our debt even more and the stimulus checks with the Fed rates are only a band aid and not solutions. However, Bush and Pelosi have this strange delusion that people will go out and shop. Most Americans have more sense than Bush and Pelosi since they plan on using the money for bills which won’t stimulate the economy.
Congress needs to vote against this poorly constructed bill which will put American families in a tax hole next year and give more breaks to corporations. The Senate should focus on extending unemployment benefits and not cater to the needs of corporation. When lobbyist get involved it’s never a good sign for the general public.
The Hill: K Street lobbyists sense a major opportunity with the upcoming economic stimulus package and are hoping to attach some of their own priorities this week to the moving legislation.
- The chance to push their clients’ needs is too tempting for lobbyists to pass up, especially considering that the stimulus package could be one of only a handful of moving vehicles that pass in the election year.
- Many welcomed the news last week that the Senate intends to take a closer look at the deal brokered by the House and Bush administration. Slowing the process down allows a wide range of interest groups — from meatpackers to renewable-energy producers to financiers — more time to get in on what is now a $150 billion package.
- “It is a target of opportunity — not just for dollars, but for its capacity to get the message out,” said Howard Marlowe, president of Marlowe & Company.
- Lobbyists will not all be following the same playbook. Some groups are dressing up longstanding and often sweeping priorities, while others are attempting to shoehorn parochial goals into the bill.
- “Economic Stimulus Package — An Excellent New Opportunity,” reads one blast fax from the National Forest Counties and Schools Coalition to its members. The group wants to attach a measure that would provide funding for rural schools and roads.
- Meanwhile, the financial industry is pushing a tax change that would allow companies to “carry back” big operating losses from this year in order to trim previous tax bills. That would help Wall Street giants like Citigroup and Merrill Lynch that suffered huge losses due to the sub-prime mortgage mess.
- Other business lobbyists are concerned that a lobbying blitz could slow or even derail the bill, squandering a chance to bolster consumers.
- Lobbyists should temporarily set aside longstanding goals — such as slashing corporate tax rates — in order to get something done fast, argued Jade West, a lobbyist for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors who runs the Tax Relief Coalition.
- “This is not a ‘Gucci Gulch’ tax bill,” she said, referring to the book chronicling the heated lobbying on the 1986 tax reform. “They need to get money into the hands of consumers very quickly.”
January 29th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Since you mentioned my name, I wanted you to know that our firm lobbies for over 40 cities and counties throughout the country. That is our sole clientele. Each of them needs help with infrastructure. Amrica’s infrastructure is decaying rapidly. Roads, sewers. etc. Some of those needs are in projects already authorized by Congress but not yet funded. Those are potential candidates for a stimulus package. They are already vetted by federal agencies and could get underway 90-120 days after funding was provided. Some of these, by the way, require a non-federal cost share so it’s not “free” money. My comment about getting the message out there referred to getting the message to Congress and the public that we need to invest in our infrastrucrure again.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Mr. Marlowe:
Thank you for taking the time to stop by and explain your firm. However, this is an economic stimulus, i.e. consumer driven.,
Maybe you and your firm should have considered injecting your clients opinion in the domestic package and get them funded.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
To Mr. Marlowe, BS. There are many more appropriate avenues for you to seek your commissions and justify your existence. If people want to donate their rebates to your cause, more power to them but trying to attach your greed as a rider is disgusting.
The stimulus package is a single-focus project, not intended to cure all the ills of the world or to pad anyone’s bank account.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Harold K. Wilkes:
Bravo.
Lobbyist need to stay out of our way. They are the destruction of this country no matter who their clients are.
January 29th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
To Mr. Wilkes and the uninformed “nytexan”…it takes a BSer to know one.
Consider this: Mr Wilkes is affiliated with a native american casino, surely a fun place to visit. But perhaps he is too concerned that the government be lobbied to invest in real stimulus, such as major construction projects nationwide, and not a mere free check from the government.
Perhaps Mr. Wilkes is afraid that Americans will not have the opportunity to dump their $1,200 pittance in his establishment…single-focused, indeed!
January 29th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
VA Realist:
I hardly think that I am uniformed about the issue at hand which is the stimulus package. However, I maybe uniformed about who Harold K. Wilkes really is, which has nothing to do with the response to Howard Marlowe.
Maybe if you share exactly who you are and shed credible light on you information it would forward the discussion.
If as you say Mr. Wilkes is affiliated with a native american casino, he seems to be just as disgusted with the idea of lobbyist attacking their greed to the stimulus package.
So you point would be what; that people will be denied an opportunity to go to a casino? Please Wal-Mart is advertising “Stimulus Super Bowl” which is the same level of irritation and greed.
BTW:People are not receiving $1200, it is based on income and children. Checks will range from $300.00 to $1200 with children.
January 29th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
There are two critical points that we are circling around: 1) The value of the stimulus package, as agreed to by President Bush and Speaker Pelosi, and 2) the role of lobbyists and as you say how “They are the destruction of this country no matter who their clients are.”
Let’s tackle the first point – which, when all is said and done – you are correct. This particular package is a sham and a fraud. The simple matter is a few bucks will not do anything for the economy in the long run. At best some of the smarter folks will sock it away or pay off their tax or Christmas shopping bills. At worst, they’ll buy a Playstation 3 or put a down payment on a car that will only put them further in debt.
If the Congress wanted to really truly do something to invest in the economy, they would do well to do a massive fix for the mortgage crisis and invest in our nation’s infrastructure. $150 billion would go a long way to put some real dollars at work. It is generally considered that $1 billion invested in public works projects – and I mean real projects like rebuilding our bridges that are falling down or any of the thousands of levees at risk due to poor maintenance – translates to 47,000 new jobs. Imagine if we put half of the $150B package to use.
As for the role of lobbyists, not everyone in DC is a Jack Abramoff. The role of many and most lobbyists in town is to not only advocate for their particular cause, but to educate ill-informed decision-makers – such as the ones who crafted this raw deal for the American electorate.