Lobbyists

President Barack Obama promised that his inauguration would be different from those of previous presidents, but change doesn’t come easily when it requires shaking influence in Washington.

Rep. Michele Bachmann’s latest campaign tv ad, “Bachmann: A Lobbyist’s Worst Nightmare”, depicts the Republican congresswoman as someone who can’t be bought by lobbyists.

But that hasn’t stopped the 6th District Republican from putting the “for sale” sign outside her office and raking in $843,079 from political action committees through Oct. 15 in this election cycle—at least $182,255 of which came from lobbyists, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Patton Boggs will lobby on behalf of Minneapolis in Washington, D.C.

Recently, the Minneapolis City Council opted to hire the international lobbying giant Patton Boggs to advocate for its interests at the nation’s Capitol. Patton Boggs, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., is an old-school, heavy-hitter in political and corporate affairs, with offices scattered around the [...]

The campaign of Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., took funds from the DCI Group, a lobbying group criticized for its dealings with the oppressive military regime of Myanmar, Federal Elections Commission records show. The Coleman campaign took $6,000 from DCI Group senior leadership and partners and its political action committee.

Sen. John McCain’s campaign took a hit [...]

Doug Goodyear was tapped by Sen. John McCain last week to be the manager for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. On Saturday, Goodyear who is also the CEO of DCI Group resigned under mounting media scrutiny over his firm’s lobbying for the military regime of Myanmar. DCI earned $3 million last year lobbying [...]

The telecommunications industry is working hard to kill a cell phone reform bill at the Minnesota legislature that would guarantee customers accurate information about billing and service area coverage. And it’s using an industry front organization masquerading as a grassroots citizens’ group to do the deed.

Cell phone billing practices and service area coverage limits are [...]