Old but might want to post >> House Majority Whip Exerts Influence by Way of K Street (Roy Blunt(R-Mo.), ~ Family Benefits ~ Blunt's lobbyist son ~ Matt Blunt,the governor, May 17, 2005

[Guest guest]

From a silent sister:This could be titled "How Your Congress Thinks"FYI: The reason the implant mess still exists (after over 40 years) lays at the feet of Congress who oversee the actions of the FDA . . . Special interest groups dictate to Congress. This is the way they do it.Please be informed before you vote!Rogene------------------------------------------

Blunt's

lobbyist son includes among his clients Altria-owned Kraft Foods, Philip

, and 36 percent Altria-owned Brewing, along with SBC Missouri,

Burlington Northern and UPS. Hartley has among his clients Verizon (paying

$320,000 a year), SBC ($120,000) and BellSouth ($120,000).

============================================================= House Majority Whip Exerts Influence by Way of

K Street By

B. Edsall

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, May 17, 2005; A19 House

Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the man one step behind Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in

the Republican leadership, has built a political machine of his own that

extends from Missouri deep into

Washington 's

K Street lobbying

community. Blunt,

who entered politics as a protege of former senator D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.),

has assembled an organization of whips and lobbyist vote counters that has

delivered more than 50 consecutive victories for the GOP leadership on tough

fights over issues including tax and trade bills, District of Columbia school

choice and tort reform -- without a single defeat. Working

outside the glare of public attention, Blunt has maximized the organization's

influence by delegating authority to Washington business and trade association lobbyists to help negotiate deals with

individual House members to produce majorities on important issues. Blunt's

organization in scope has begun to rival "DeLay Inc." -- the

political fundraising committees, extensive favor-giving and alliances with

Republican lobbyists that the majority leader has used to become one of the

most influential leaders in memory. Business

and trade association lobbyists representing a broad range of corporate

interests have used their leverage in lawmakers' districts to persuade them to

cast difficult votes for Republican budgets and against politically popular

Democratic amendments. These

lobbyists are "willing to work with leadership, in a broad generic way . .

... [and] we have a commitment from them to whip the vote on the outside,"

said Gregg Hartley, who ran the operation for Blunt until going to

K Street himself. Building 'Blunt Inc.' Blunt,

55, was handpicked by DeLay in 1999 to become chief deputy whip and then

assumed the majority whip's post in 2003 after DeLay became majority leader.

Blunt has been a loyal defender of DeLay, despite the majority leader's

mounting ethics problems. Many

lawmakers and political analysts agree that Blunt would probably succeed DeLay

if the majority leader were forced to step down. Blunt declined to comment for

this article. One of his aides said Blunt refused to be interviewed

"because he supports Tom DeLay and believes DeLay will remain majority

leader." DeLay,

in turn, said: "Roy Blunt has done a tremendous job. . . . His leadership

is vital to our cause." Both

"Blunt Inc." and "DeLay Inc." reflect the growing

importance of commanding multimillion-dollar funds and having reliable

loyalists in Washington 's

lobbying community. Blunt and DeLay are fundraising powerhouses. Their

political organizations use multiple fundraising committees, have rewarded

family members and have provided an avenue to riches for former aides now in

the private sector. In

Missouri , the

Blunt organization is a family affair. His son Matt, 34, is governor, and his

son , 29, is a top state government lobbyist whose client list is studded

with major donors to his father. Here

in Washington ,

Blunt has converted what had been an informal and ad hoc relationship between

congressional leaders and the Washington corporate and trade community into a

formal, institutionalized alliance. Lobbyists are now an integral part of the

Republican whip operation on par with the network of lawmakers who serve as

assistant whips. Blunt

began moving up the leadership ladder two years after taking office in 1997. A

former Missouri secretary of state, Blunt was chosen by DeLay to become chief deputy whip after

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) voiced concern that there "was a

vacuum in the outreach to K Street ,"

Hartley said. Blunt was given the responsibility for the day-to-day meetings

with lobbyists and for targeting members wavering in their votes on specific

bills, said Hartley, who is now a lobbyist with Cassidy & Associates. In

effect, Blunt, in his second term, became the House GOP's key liaison with the

lobbyists who not only represent clients in virtually every member's district, but

also direct the flow of individual and political action committee contributions

from the 1,600 corporations and 1,200 trade associations with PACs. K Street Committee At

the top of the Republican leadership's

K Street lobbying arm, there is a de

facto "executive committee," a hard-core base of about 25 lobbyists. Among

them are Ed Gillespie, former Republican Party chair; Mark Isakowitz, formerly

with the National Federation of Independent Business; Poole, Blunt's

former senior legislative assistant; former DeLay aide Tony Rudy; Lyle

Beckwith, senior vice president of the National Association of Convenience

Stores; and Ralph Hellmann, senior vice president of the Information Technology

Industry Council. Rep.

Mike (R-Mich.), Blunt's deputy whip, said he meets regularly with the

lobbying community and, as different bills come up, "we go over lists to

see who knows this member, how can we get that person feeling more comfortable,

can we get him more information." These drives are conducted "on

bills that are big -- tax, energy, bankruptcy, class action, tort reform. The

whole world swoops in," said. For each bill, a steering committee is created that "hands out

assignments, coordinates activities." Blunt's

mobilization of the lobbying community proved crucial in winning passage of the

2004 bill eliminating business export tax breaks ruled in violation of

international agreements by the World Trade Organization. The

measure faced daunting opposition. Rank-and-file Republicans, especially those

from midwestern industrial states with large manufacturers in their districts,

saw constituent companies taking a tax hit. Eliminating the $50 billion tax

break would mean millions in annual losses for such major companies as Boeing,

Caterpillar, United Technologies, Honeywell and Emerson. Any

new tax breaks to make up for the $50 billion loss over 10 years would create a

whole new set of winners and losers, and every losing company was gearing up to

make its views known to Congress. "When

we started, the whip count on that bill looked as bad as I have ever

seen," said. "The coalition [of business and trade association lobbyists] was

incredibly important to get us over." The

solution to breaking the logjam: Every major lobbying interest got something, and the Republican opposition in the House collapsed. The manufacturing

companies got a three-percentage-point corporate tax cut. Industrial state

Republicans from Minnesota to

Pennsylvania voted for

the bill 52 to 5. Another group of multinational, U.S.-based companies,

including General Electric, Coca-Cola, General Motors and Time Warner, won a

major tax reduction on overseas revenue. On the final vote, Republicans favored

the bill, 203 to 23, while Democrats opposed it 154 to 48. The

task of rounding up the votes was delegated by Blunt's whip operation to a

coalition of lobbyists, all of whom had clients with huge stakes in the

outcome.

J. Kies, representing an array of Fortune 500 companies with facilities in

virtually every congressional district -- General Electric, Caterpillar,

General Motors, Edison, Microsoft ,

U.S. Steel --

helped win a host of breaks for his clients and collected fees of $8.69

million. Karl Gallant, a former DeLay aide, represented the Coalition for

U.S.-Based Employment, made up of Boeing, Caterpillar, Honeywell, Microsoft and

United Technologies, and other companies seeking favorable tax treatment. His

firm, the Strategy Group, received $1.32 million in tax-related fees. As

new tax breaks were added to the bill, the vote count "just got better and

better," said , who worked closely with Blunt on the mobilization of

lobbyists. "It was incredible." Family Benefits The

network of political committees with ties to Roy Blunt is complex and

elaborate. His campaign committee has raised $8.58 million since 1996. His

leadership committee, the Rely on Your Beliefs Fund (ROYB Fund), has raised

$1.68 million since 2000. A separate ROYB 527 Committee collected $1.67 million

from 2000 through 2002. Over

the years, seven companies with business before Congress stand out as the most

reliable Blunt supporters: Altria, SBC Communications, Union Pacific,

Burlington Northern, Verizon, United Parcel Service and BellSouth have together

given more than $1.2 million to political committees tied to Blunt. Altria is

the largest contributor, giving more than $270,000. Blunt, a vocal social

conservative, divorced Roseann Blunt, his first wife, to marry Altria lobbyist

Abigail Perlman in October 2003. Blunt's

lobbyist son includes among his clients Altria-owned Kraft Foods, Philip

, and 36 percent Altria-owned Brewing, along with SBC Missouri,

Burlington Northern and UPS. Hartley has among his clients Verizon (paying

$320,000 a year), SBC ($120,000) and BellSouth ($120,000). Matt

Blunt, the governor, has awarded one of the few remaining patronage plums in

the state -- franchises to collect fees for driver's license renewals, tax

payments for new cars and processing motor vehicle titles and registrations

that can provide recipients with as much as $1 million over four years -- to

the wife of U.S. Attorney Todd P. Graves, Graves, and to Graves's

brother-in-law, Todd Bartles. The

U.S. attorney's office has

jurisdiction over Blunt's congressional district and the state capitol. Responding

to a complaint from the Missouri Democratic Party, Margolis, associate

deputy attorney general in Washington ,

wrote to Todd Graves: "I have determined that there is no existing

conflict of interest that requires further action at this time." Margolis

noted the procedures for Graves to recuse

himself "from any existing or future matters in which a conflict of

interest exists."

[Guest guest]

From a silent sister:This could be titled "How Your Congress Thinks"FYI: The reason the implant mess still exists (after over 40 years) lays at the feet of Congress who oversee the actions of the FDA . . . Special interest groups dictate to Congress. This is the way they do it.Please be informed before you vote!Rogene------------------------------------------

Blunt's

lobbyist son includes among his clients Altria-owned Kraft Foods, Philip

, and 36 percent Altria-owned Brewing, along with SBC Missouri,

Burlington Northern and UPS. Hartley has among his clients Verizon (paying

$320,000 a year), SBC ($120,000) and BellSouth ($120,000).

============================================================= House Majority Whip Exerts Influence by Way of

K Street By

B. Edsall

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, May 17, 2005; A19 House

Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the man one step behind Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in

the Republican leadership, has built a political machine of his own that

extends from Missouri deep into

Washington 's

K Street lobbying

community. Blunt,

who entered politics as a protege of former senator D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.),

has assembled an organization of whips and lobbyist vote counters that has

delivered more than 50 consecutive victories for the GOP leadership on tough

fights over issues including tax and trade bills, District of Columbia school

choice and tort reform -- without a single defeat. Working

outside the glare of public attention, Blunt has maximized the organization's

influence by delegating authority to Washington business and trade association lobbyists to help negotiate deals with

individual House members to produce majorities on important issues. Blunt's

organization in scope has begun to rival "DeLay Inc." -- the

political fundraising committees, extensive favor-giving and alliances with

Republican lobbyists that the majority leader has used to become one of the

most influential leaders in memory. Business

and trade association lobbyists representing a broad range of corporate

interests have used their leverage in lawmakers' districts to persuade them to

cast difficult votes for Republican budgets and against politically popular

Democratic amendments. These

lobbyists are "willing to work with leadership, in a broad generic way . .

... [and] we have a commitment from them to whip the vote on the outside,"

said Gregg Hartley, who ran the operation for Blunt until going to

K Street himself. Building 'Blunt Inc.' Blunt,

55, was handpicked by DeLay in 1999 to become chief deputy whip and then

assumed the majority whip's post in 2003 after DeLay became majority leader.

Blunt has been a loyal defender of DeLay, despite the majority leader's

mounting ethics problems. Many

lawmakers and political analysts agree that Blunt would probably succeed DeLay

if the majority leader were forced to step down. Blunt declined to comment for

this article. One of his aides said Blunt refused to be interviewed

"because he supports Tom DeLay and believes DeLay will remain majority

leader." DeLay,

in turn, said: "Roy Blunt has done a tremendous job. . . . His leadership

is vital to our cause." Both

"Blunt Inc." and "DeLay Inc." reflect the growing

importance of commanding multimillion-dollar funds and having reliable

loyalists in Washington 's

lobbying community. Blunt and DeLay are fundraising powerhouses. Their

political organizations use multiple fundraising committees, have rewarded

family members and have provided an avenue to riches for former aides now in

the private sector. In

Missouri , the

Blunt organization is a family affair. His son Matt, 34, is governor, and his

son , 29, is a top state government lobbyist whose client list is studded

with major donors to his father. Here

in Washington ,

Blunt has converted what had been an informal and ad hoc relationship between

congressional leaders and the Washington corporate and trade community into a

formal, institutionalized alliance. Lobbyists are now an integral part of the

Republican whip operation on par with the network of lawmakers who serve as

assistant whips. Blunt

began moving up the leadership ladder two years after taking office in 1997. A

former Missouri secretary of state, Blunt was chosen by DeLay to become chief deputy whip after

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) voiced concern that there "was a

vacuum in the outreach to K Street ,"

Hartley said. Blunt was given the responsibility for the day-to-day meetings

with lobbyists and for targeting members wavering in their votes on specific

bills, said Hartley, who is now a lobbyist with Cassidy & Associates. In

effect, Blunt, in his second term, became the House GOP's key liaison with the

lobbyists who not only represent clients in virtually every member's district, but

also direct the flow of individual and political action committee contributions

from the 1,600 corporations and 1,200 trade associations with PACs. K Street Committee At

the top of the Republican leadership's

K Street lobbying arm, there is a de

facto "executive committee," a hard-core base of about 25 lobbyists. Among

them are Ed Gillespie, former Republican Party chair; Mark Isakowitz, formerly

with the National Federation of Independent Business; Poole, Blunt's

former senior legislative assistant; former DeLay aide Tony Rudy; Lyle

Beckwith, senior vice president of the National Association of Convenience

Stores; and Ralph Hellmann, senior vice president of the Information Technology

Industry Council. Rep.

Mike (R-Mich.), Blunt's deputy whip, said he meets regularly with the

lobbying community and, as different bills come up, "we go over lists to

see who knows this member, how can we get that person feeling more comfortable,

can we get him more information." These drives are conducted "on

bills that are big -- tax, energy, bankruptcy, class action, tort reform. The

whole world swoops in," said. For each bill, a steering committee is created that "hands out

assignments, coordinates activities." Blunt's

mobilization of the lobbying community proved crucial in winning passage of the

2004 bill eliminating business export tax breaks ruled in violation of

international agreements by the World Trade Organization. The

measure faced daunting opposition. Rank-and-file Republicans, especially those

from midwestern industrial states with large manufacturers in their districts,

saw constituent companies taking a tax hit. Eliminating the $50 billion tax

break would mean millions in annual losses for such major companies as Boeing,

Caterpillar, United Technologies, Honeywell and Emerson. Any

new tax breaks to make up for the $50 billion loss over 10 years would create a

whole new set of winners and losers, and every losing company was gearing up to

make its views known to Congress. "When

we started, the whip count on that bill looked as bad as I have ever

seen," said. "The coalition [of business and trade association lobbyists] was

incredibly important to get us over." The

solution to breaking the logjam: Every major lobbying interest got something, and the Republican opposition in the House collapsed. The manufacturing

companies got a three-percentage-point corporate tax cut. Industrial state

Republicans from Minnesota to

Pennsylvania voted for

the bill 52 to 5. Another group of multinational, U.S.-based companies,

including General Electric, Coca-Cola, General Motors and Time Warner, won a

major tax reduction on overseas revenue. On the final vote, Republicans favored

the bill, 203 to 23, while Democrats opposed it 154 to 48. The

task of rounding up the votes was delegated by Blunt's whip operation to a

coalition of lobbyists, all of whom had clients with huge stakes in the

outcome.

J. Kies, representing an array of Fortune 500 companies with facilities in

virtually every congressional district -- General Electric, Caterpillar,

General Motors, Edison, Microsoft ,

U.S. Steel --

helped win a host of breaks for his clients and collected fees of $8.69

million. Karl Gallant, a former DeLay aide, represented the Coalition for

U.S.-Based Employment, made up of Boeing, Caterpillar, Honeywell, Microsoft and

United Technologies, and other companies seeking favorable tax treatment. His

firm, the Strategy Group, received $1.32 million in tax-related fees. As

new tax breaks were added to the bill, the vote count "just got better and

better," said , who worked closely with Blunt on the mobilization of

lobbyists. "It was incredible." Family Benefits The

network of political committees with ties to Roy Blunt is complex and

elaborate. His campaign committee has raised $8.58 million since 1996. His

leadership committee, the Rely on Your Beliefs Fund (ROYB Fund), has raised

$1.68 million since 2000. A separate ROYB 527 Committee collected $1.67 million

from 2000 through 2002. Over

the years, seven companies with business before Congress stand out as the most

reliable Blunt supporters: Altria, SBC Communications, Union Pacific,

Burlington Northern, Verizon, United Parcel Service and BellSouth have together

given more than $1.2 million to political committees tied to Blunt. Altria is

the largest contributor, giving more than $270,000. Blunt, a vocal social

conservative, divorced Roseann Blunt, his first wife, to marry Altria lobbyist

Abigail Perlman in October 2003. Blunt's

lobbyist son includes among his clients Altria-owned Kraft Foods, Philip

, and 36 percent Altria-owned Brewing, along with SBC Missouri,

Burlington Northern and UPS. Hartley has among his clients Verizon (paying

$320,000 a year), SBC ($120,000) and BellSouth ($120,000). Matt

Blunt, the governor, has awarded one of the few remaining patronage plums in

the state -- franchises to collect fees for driver's license renewals, tax

payments for new cars and processing motor vehicle titles and registrations

that can provide recipients with as much as $1 million over four years -- to

the wife of U.S. Attorney Todd P. Graves, Graves, and to Graves's

brother-in-law, Todd Bartles. The

U.S. attorney's office has

jurisdiction over Blunt's congressional district and the state capitol. Responding

to a complaint from the Missouri Democratic Party, Margolis, associate

deputy attorney general in Washington ,

wrote to Todd Graves: "I have determined that there is no existing

conflict of interest that requires further action at this time." Margolis

noted the procedures for Graves to recuse

himself "from any existing or future matters in which a conflict of

interest exists."