It is called K Street: a line of sparkling office blocks and fancy restaurants north of the White House. It is the heart of the lobbying industry in Washington DC, servicing clients and politicians from all over the US and one of the most powerful stretches of tarmac in the world.
It also might be one of the most corrupt: how corrupt was revealed last week when a scandal exploded exposing the ugly role of lobbying in US politics and threatening to bring down some of the biggest names in public life.
The man at the center is Jack Abramoff, Washington's lobbyist extraordinaire, who pleaded guilty last week to criminal charges and fleecing his clients. The plea means he will be naming names in an influence-peddling scandal that runs all the way to the White House.
Abramoff was employed by wealthy Native American tribes who ran reservation casinos. He was supposed to lobby politicians on their behalf, but instead stole millions of dollars from them. Now the case has put a rare spotlight on the entire lobbying system and some of the most powerful men in Washington are running for cover. They stretch from President George W. Bush himself, to top Republican officials, to the heads of thinktanks, to senior congressmen from both parties.
Abramoff represents how much of Washington works. That system is fuelled by two things: money and lobbyists.
There are believed to be more than 30,000 lobbyists in Washington, outnumbering elected federal politicians by almost 60 to one. The money they deal in tops US$2 billion a year. The US constitution is often praised for its checks and balances between the president, Congress and the Supreme Court. But where money equals power, no one predicted the unofficial fourth branch of US government: K Street.
Few politicians escape the lobbyists' influence. Both Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry spent around US$250 million each fighting last year's presidential race. But the figures lower down the political ladder are huge too. One study estimated the average senator in Washington needs to spend about US$20 million to defend a seat successfully. Politicians need money and only corporations and wealthy individuals can provide it. Between 1998 and 2004 lobbyists spent US$13 billion to promote their clients' desires.
Watchdogs have revealed how lobbyists have positioned themselves as organizers for politicians' fundraising efforts. An investigation by the Center for Public Integrity anti-lobbying group found lobbyists were treasurers for 800 "political action committees" which funnel funding to politicians to help them get elected.
It also found lobbyists were treasurers of 68 politicians' campaign committees, which had raised US$500 million since 1998.
At the heart of Washington's lobbying industry is the "revolving door": lobbyists take up powerful positions in government at the same time as politicians end their careers by getting lobbying jobs to cash in on their political contacts.
Some of the highest officials in the White House are former lobbyists. Andy Card, one of Bush's most trusted advisors and the President's chief of staff, is a former lobbyist for the car industry. In all, 12 ex-lobbyists work in the White House. Going the other way, federal officials and politicians head to K Street.
Since 1998 more than 2,200 former federal employees have become lobbyists, including 273 former White House staffers and 250 ex- members of Congress or heads of government departments.
Many believe only legislation will bring meaningful reform. But that has been tried before. For reformers, the salutary tale of Congressman Dick Zimmer stands out.
Zimmer became an anti-lobbyist hero in 1995 when he tried to push through the "Revolving Door Act" to curb the ability of those leaving office to cash in on their contacts and flock to the lobbying industry. But the bill was defeated and six years later Zimmer himself left politics. He became a lobbyist. K Street had won again.
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
A US federal judge on Tuesday ordered US President Donald Trump’s administration to halt efforts to shut down Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, the news broadcasts of which are funded by the government to export US values to the world. US District Judge Royce Lamberth, who is overseeing six lawsuits from employees and contractors affected by the shutdown of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), ordered the administration to “take all necessary steps” to restore employees and contractors to their positions and resume radio, television and online news broadcasts. USAGM placed more than 1,000
RSS