2016 Postmortem

WillyT

(72,631 posts) Tue Mar 8, 2016, 02:59 PM Mar 2016

But No... Political Donations Don't Buy Influence... Do They ??? - Whoop, There It Is !!!

Hillary Clinton 2016: DC Lobbyists Set To Raise Cash For Hillary Victory Fund
By Andrew Perez & David Sirota - IBT
02/29/16

<snip>

The Democratic National Committee’s recent move to end its ban on contributions from federal lobbyists was widely seen as a boost to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which has ties to the Washington lobbying community. Clinton already appears to be taking advantage of the shift.

On Mar. 21, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and a handful of lobbying titans are scheduled to host a fundraiser for the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising account for the Clinton campaign, the DNC and 32 state parties. According to an invitation obtained by the Sunlight Foundation, Podesta’s co-hosts include Steve Elmendorf, Jeff Forbes and Susan Brophy — all of whom were government officials before becoming lobbyists at top D.C. firms. The event with Podesta — whose brother is a corporate lobbyist and fundraising bundler for Clinton — follows a recent fundraising blitz by Clinton in which her campaign raised money from financial, energy and other industries that expect to have business before the next president.

The DNC’s prohibition on lobbyist donations was instituted in 2008 at the behest of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, who told voters: “They will not fund my party.” Clinton’s current Democratic primary opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has pushed her to demand the DNC reinstate the lobbyist contribution ban. Clinton is already the top recipient of money from lobbyists in the 2016 campaign, the New York Times reported.

One of the lobbyists headlining the upcoming event, Elmendorf, donated $33,400 to the Hillary Victory Fund in October, months before the DNC said publicly it had lifted its contribution ban. A former chief of staff to then-Democratic House leader Richard Gephardt, Elmendorf is registered to lobby for Wall Street mega-bank Citigroup and entertainment and media company News Corporation.

Records show that Elmendorf previously lobbied for Goldman Sachs — a firm that’s been criticized by Sanders, and which paid Clinton $675,000 in speaking fees. (She has refused to release transcripts of those speeches.) Elmendorf also lobbied Congress on behalf of the Colombian government to pass the Colombia Free Trade Agreement — a deal that Clinton opposed before pressing lawmakers to support it in her role as secretary of state. Elmendorf has raised $172,320 worth of donations for Clinton's campaign, according to Yahoo.

Both Elmendorf and Forbes — a founding partner at Forbes-Tate — have represented telecom giant Verizon as it’s fought the Obama administration’s net neutrality rules, which would prevent internet providers from blocking or slowing access to some websites.

<snip>

Link: http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/hillary-clinton-2016-dc-lobbyists-set-raise-cash-hillary-victory-fund-2327589