mafia stafF McConn

oops see staf mc conn

crossover guy hub? steven law Rove GPS

all sr staff cos cgcx

also manchin as kingmaker DINO

===

mcconnell mafia

an 12 24

Trump's pick to lead the Federal Trade Commission vowed in his job pitch to end current chair Lina Khan's "war on mergers," a signal to an eager corporate America that the incoming administration intends to be far more lax on antitrust enforcement.

Andrew Ferguson was initially nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as a Republican commissioner on the bipartisan FTC, and his elevation to chair of the commission will not require Senate confirmation.

In a one-page document obtained by Punchbowl, Ferguson—who previously worked as chief counsel to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)—pitched himself to Trump's team as the "pro-innovation choice" with "impeccable legal credentials" and "proven loyalty" to the president-elect.

Ferguson's top agenda priority, according to the document, is to "reverse Lina Khan's anti-business agenda" by rolling back "burdensome regulations," stopping her "war on mergers," halting the agency's "attempt to become an AI regulator," and ditching "novel and legally dubious consumer protection cases."

Trump announced Ferguson as the incoming administration's FTC chair as judges in Oregon and Washington state blocked the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons, decisions that one antitrust advocate called a "fantastic culmination of the FTC's work to protect consumers and workers."

According to a recent report by the American Economic Liberties Project, the Biden administration "brought to trial four times as many billion-dollar merger challenges as Trump-Pence or Obama-Biden enforcers did," thanks to "strong leaders at the FTC" and the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.

In a letter to Ferguson following Trump's announcement on Tuesday, FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter wrote that the document obtained and published by Punchbowl "raises questions" about his priorities at the agency mainly "because of what is not in it."

"Americans pay more for healthcare than anyone else in the developed world, yet they die younger," they wrote. "Medical bills bankrupt people. In fact, this is the main reason Americans go bankrupt. But the document does not mention the cost of healthcare or prescription medicine."

"If there was one takeaway from the election, it was that groceries are too expensive. So is gas," the commissioners continued. "Yet the document does not mention groceries, gas, or the cost of living. While you have said we're entering the 'most pro-worker administration in history,' the document does not mention labor, either. Americans are losing billions of dollars to fraud. Fraudsters are so brazen that they impersonate sitting FTC commissioners to steal money from retirees. The word 'fraud' does not appear in the document."

"The document does propose allowing more mergers, firing civil servants, and fighting something called 'the trans agenda,'" they added. "Is all of that more important than the cost of healthcare and groceries and gasoline? Or fighting fraud?"

As an FTC commissioner, Ferguson voted against rules banning anti-worker noncompete agreements and making it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions. Ferguson was also the only FTC member to oppose an expansion of a rule to protect consumers from tech support scams that disproportionately impact older Americans.

"Andrew Ferguson is a corporate shill who opposes banning noncompetes, opposes banning junk fees, and opposes enforcing the Anti-Merger Act," said Basel Musharbash, principal attorney at Antimonopoly Counsel. "Appointing him to chair the FTC is an affront to the antitrust laws and a gift to the oligarchs and monopolies bleeding this country dry."

https://www.alternet.org/2021/09/joe-manchin-2655063636/

Ever since he entered the U.S. Senate in 2010, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has made it abundantly clear that he will often cross party lines and vote with Republicans — and during the Biden era, the decidedly centrist Democrat has been a frequent source of frustration to the more progressive members of his party. Manchin is unpredictable, sometimes voting with fellow Democrats and sometimes voting with Republicans. And efforts by lobbyists to influence Manchin is the focus of a Washington Post report by journalists Theodoric Meyer and Jacqueline Alemany.

One of those lobbyists, Meyer and Alemany explain in an article published on September 20, is Jonathan Kott — a former Manchin senior aide who is now with the firm Capitol Counsel.

Kott told the Post, "Don't assume he's going to vote any way until he actually casts his vote. I went with him to almost every vote, and there were times when he made up his decision when he walked onto the floor. There's no way to sort of predict what he's going to do."

Kott, according to Meyer and Alemany, is "one of a handful of former Manchin aides now on K Street who now spend much of their time serving as professional Manchin whisperers, advising clients on how Manchin thinks and, in some cases, lobbying his office."

Meanwhile, Patrick Hayes, the 74-year-old Manchin's former chief of staff, is now with the lobbying firm Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid.

"Larry Puccio, Manchin's longtime friend and former chief of staff while he was West Virginia's governor and secretary of state, registered as a federal lobbyist for the first time in February," Meyer and Alemany note. "Some Manchin alumni who were already downtown, meanwhile, picked up new clients, includingHayden Rogers, a former Manchin chief of staff whom Qatar's government hired in March as a foreign agent. The country's contract with Rogers' firm is worth a hefty $30,000 a month."

If Democrats had a larger majority in the U.S. Senate, trying to sell Manchin on President Joe Biden's Build Back Better Agenda wouldn't be so high a priority. But the Democratic Senate majority is razor-thin, making Manchin a key swing vote — along with another centrist Democrat: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

"Divining which way the Senate's swingiest vote will go is the Washington parlor game of the moment," Meyer and Alemany observe. "And Manchin isn't exactly making it easier for those who want to see inside his head.He recently called for a 'strategic pause' on President Biden's $3.5 trillion budget bill, and made it clear he won't support 'anywhere near' that number 'without greater clarity about why Congress chooses to ignore the serious effects inflation and debt have on existing government programs.'"

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/10/1770745/-Surprise-Surprise-GOP-Staffers-Who-Wrote-GOPTaxScam-Are-Cashing-In-With-K-Street-Lobbying-Jobs

the #GOPTaxScam is making Republican staffers who helped write it wealthy.

What a surprise, right? Not.

This is the Republican tax scam that lavished the wealthy few, including Donald Trump, Bob “Kickback” Corker with tax cuts. The scam that crippled the ACA into skyrocketing health care premiums. The tax scam that blew up the debt by $1.5 trillion dollars.

This is K Street’s gift to those who lavished them and their clients with tax cuts.

Top-level GOP aides who helped write the new tax law are now leaving the Hill in droves to cash in as lobbyists on K Street and other marquee private-sector destinations.

Powerhouse accounting firm PwC landed one of the biggest prizes, announcing Monday that Mark Prater, the Senate Finance Committee's longtime GOP chief tax counsel, is the new managing director of its tax policy services group.

Others who have made the switch include a top aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Brendan Dunn, who joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in May as a partner in its public law and policy practice. Some less visible tax aides from both chambers have also gone through the revolving door to companies hoping to rake in new business and more profits from the package of tax cuts and legal changes.

And it's not just a Hill phenomenon.

Down Pennsylvania Avenue, Shahira Knight, who was at the negotiating table on behalf of the White House as the tax bill developed, is heading to The Clearing House, a banking policy and lobbying group, that company said Monday. Knight has previously worked as a lobbyist, as well as a Ways and Means staffer.

For many like Prater and Dunn, the time is right: Tax cuts they helped develop and shepherd through Congress have been signed into law, and demand is peaking for their services outside of Congress, meaning they can earn much more than the roughly $170,000 annual salaries they were each making, according to data from LegiStorm.

Meanwhile to pay for the #GOPTaxScam the Republican Party is cutting $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program, at the direction of Donald Trump.

Children in need of health care paying for tax cuts and K Street jobs. Priorities.

This folks, is evil.

House Republicans voted Thursday to cut $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The measure passed the House of Representatives with only Republican votes, 210-206.

The CHIP program provides health insurance to millions of low-income children and pregnant women.

Trump tweeted in support of “historic” legislation that cut “wasteful spending.” He described the so-called rescissions package as a sign “we are getting our government back on track.”