Lawmakers
Cash In As
Lobbyists
By Jim
Hightower
01/07/08
"ICH" -- - Old
Congress
critters
never die;
they just
flitter away
to K Street.
Take Dennis
Hastert.
Actually,
he’s already
taken. The
longtime
Republican
lawmaker
retired last
November,
but rather
than return
to Illinois,
he has
alighted
just a few
blocks from
the Capital
at the
blue-chip
lobbying
firm of
Dickstein
Shapiro. The
firm lured
Hastert with
more than
half a
million
bucks in
annual pay,
designating
him
“strategic
counselor”
on the
legislative
needs of its
corporate
clientele.
Dickstein
Shapiro
brags that
it lobbies
for more
than 100 of
the Fortune
500
corporations
– a lineup
that
includes
tobacco
giants, drug
companies,
the nuclear
industry,
mercenaries
like Triple
Canopy, and
such brand
names as
AT&T and
Time Warner.
Hastert will
feel right
at home in
this crowd,
for he was
always a
faithful
legislative
errand
runner for
corporate
America.
Indeed,
corporate
interests
essentially
ran the
place when
Hastert was
Speaker of
the House,
with the
likes of
super-lobbyist
Jack
Abramoff
given a free
hand to cut
corrupt
deals. While
Dennis no
longer has
the muscle
to ram
through a
corporation’s
agenda, he
certainly
has his old
buddy
network and
insider
knowledge to
get favors
done – this
time for
personal
gain.
Hastert is
hardly the
only Capital
Hill alum to
cash in on
his public
trust. In
recent
years, more
than 200
former
members have
made the
lucrative
metamorphosis
from
lawmaker to
lobbyist,
and
Congress’s
feeble
ethics rules
even let
members
openly shop
for lobbying
jobs while
they’re
supposed to
be doing
their
legislative
work. This
is a
revolving
door system
that special
interests
are happy to
exploit –
last year,
they paid
nearly $3
billion to
hire
Washington
influence
peddlers.
That’s $17
million for
every day
Congress was
in session.
And Congress
critters
wonder why
their public
approval
rating is a
humiliating
11 percent.
Notes
“It’s So Much Nicer on K Street,” The New York Times, June 6, 2007
“Revolving Door: Hastert’s New Gig,” www.opensecrets.org, June 5, 2008
“Dennis Hastert to Join Gay and Transgender Inclusive Law Firm,” www.openleft.com, May 30, 2008
“Message From Our Chairman,” www.dicksteinshapiro.com
“Hastert to join D.C. lobbying firm,” www.swamppolitics.com, May 30, 2008
“Former Speaker Hastert to join lobbying firm,” www.thehill.com, May 30, 2008
Jim Hightower, All Rights Reserved - http://jimhightower.com
