rev dr bak

new

fail?

EPA appointee faces blowback in move to academia

Sean Reilly, E&E News reporter

Published: Friday, November 22, 2019

Last month, former deputy EPA air chief Clint Woods took a newly minted job at Ohio State University to forge "strategic partnerships" with outside organizations.

PEOPLE

EPA appointee faces blowback in move to academia

Greenwire: Friday, November 22, 2019

https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/search_result.php?admin=George+W.+Bush&id=9

...

Dept of the Interior

Canfield, H Spofford IV

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Environmental Protection Agency

Ayres, Judith

Beck, Andrew

Bliley, Christopher P

Milofsky-McLure, Tessa

Whitman, Christine Todd

Executive Office of the President

Andrews, Mary Catherine

Bartolomucci, H Christopher

Bellinger, John B III

Clarke, Victoria 'Tori'

Forsgren, Dennis Lee Jr

Graham, Leah Harrelson

Greene, William

Griffin, Tim

Groves, Jennifer Choe

Howard, John W "Jack"

Kozberg, Lindsey Caren

McIntyre, Jennifer Brosnahan

Mitnick, John Marshall

Nagle, Margaret Stewart

Padilla, Christopher A

Sherer, Lindley Kratovil

Spicer, Rebecca Miller

Williams, Christopher

Williamson, Richard S

Wilson, Katie

Wingate, Heather K

Wolff, Candida Perotti

Yates, Steve

Zadrozny, John

Zoellick, Robert

Dept of Energy

Johnston, Ann Thomas G

Turner, Majida Mourad

Whitelaw, Aimee

Young, Chris

Zelermyer, Salo

revdoor219

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is expected to join the board of directors for weapons systems and aircraft maker Boeing on April 29 – a continuation of the Washington revolving door system between government and private corporations.

“It’s an honor to have the opportunity to contribute to Boeing’s continued success as a cutting edge industry leader and a great American company,” Haley said in a statement.

News of the Boeing appointment came less than 24 hours after Haley announced she was forming a new policy group, “Stand America Now.”

View image on Twitter

Nikki Haley

@NikkiHaley

Excited about starting a new policy group, @StandAmericaNow. We will focus on how to keep our country safe, strong, and prosperous. Join me as we stand up for America’s freedoms and values. http://www.standforamericanow.com

2,010

2:06 PM - Feb 25, 2019

542 people are talking about this

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Haley, who was Governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 before accepting the ambassador’s position in the Trump administration, left her U.N. post at the end of 2018 after almost two years at the position. She’s been mentioned as a possible future presidential contender and is frequently referred to as a possible foil for the president she served under.

For now, though, Haley seems intent on cashing in. She’ll join Boeing’s board as the company deals with difficult decisions about its future growth.

Per Reuters:

Haley’s nomination comes as Boeing grapples with a major decision: whether to launch an all-new jetliner known as NMA, a midsize plane that would serve a niche market falling between narrow- and wide-body aircraft.

The company’s work on airliners was not, however, the main source of concern for critics of Haley’s appointment. Rather, commenters on social media wryly noted the appropriateness of the former ambassador making a lateral move to a company that deals in war. Boeing is one of the largest defense contractors in the U.S., pulling in $20.5 billion in Pentagon for 2018.

District Sentinel

@TheDCSentinel

The “adult in the room” who could “talk tough” at the UN just became a war profiteer. Love this country! https://twitter.com/nbcpolitics/status/1100384757408501761?s=21 …

NBC Politics

@NBCPolitics

Boeing says its board of directors has nominated Nikki Haley to be elected to the board at the company's annual meeting of shareholders April 29.

6:53 AM - Feb 26, 2019

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Glenn Greenwald

@ggreenwald

Congrats to @NikkiHaley on having her incessant warmongering pay off so quickly & lucratively. And congrats to @Boeing for obtaining her influence. It is at all a problem that politicians convert their access into massive personal wealth upon leaving? https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/26/boeing-nominates-former-trump-un-ambassador-nikki-haley-to-board.html …

1,415

9:06 AM - Feb 26, 2019

REVOLVING DOOR REFERS TO PEOPLE MOVING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR, ALMOST ALWAYS TO BENEFIT THEMSELVES AT THE EXPENSE OF THE PUBLIC GOOD. It hit new heights (lows) in Bush 43 administration, which installed not just industry ppl in order to compromise regulatory agencies but industry PR flacks with no real expertise to neutralize them. See especially CEQ

newer content in tag revolvdr

see pension plan

https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/critics-respond-to-nikki-haley-joining-boeings-board-incessant-warmongering-pays-off/

“It’s an honor to have the opportunity to contribute to Boeing’s continued success as a cutting edge industry leader and a great American company,” Haley said in a statement.

News of the Boeing appointment came less than 24 hours after Haley announced she was forming a new policy group, “Stand America Now.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/29/headlines#102910 rev door fed

matt T RS bankster no jail hilton head conf SEC

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-isnt-wall-street-in-jail-20110216

2011 http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-washington-revolving-door-2011-4?op=1

The list of Wall Streeters who have ended up with government jobs, and vice versa, is long.

Some would argue that the incestuous nature of the relationship and the revolving door between Washington and downtown Manhattan is dangerous.

Others are glad to have people in the Capitol making decisions about the economy who have actually been involved in it practically.

The Wall Street-to-Washington-and-back revolving door has been swinging at least since 1934 (when Joseph Kennedy was appointed Chairman of the SEC by President Roosevelt, after a successful career on Wall Street), and it's still going.

In just the last couple of months, the government has found appointees on the Street and banks have pulled new employees from the SEC and the Fed.

To give you a better idea of the swarm of people who have served time on Wall Street and K Street or Pennsylvania Avenue, or all three, we rounded up a few of our favorites and some of the newest converts.

View As: One Page Slides

Joseph Kennedy

On Wall Street: President of the Columbia Trust Bank; employee of stock brokerage firm Hayden, Stone & Co; independent investor

For the government: First Chairman of the SEC; Ambassador to Great Britain

Martin Feldstein

For the government: Served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the NBER; chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and chief economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan.

On Wall Street: Sat on boards of AIG Financial Products and JPMorgan

Back to the government: Board member of President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Robert Rubin

On Wall Street: Chairman and COO of Goldman Sachs

For the Government: Secretary of Treasury under Bill Clinton

Back on Wall Street: Vice Chairman of Citigroup, Special Limited Partner with Insight Venture Partners

Laura Tyson

On Wall Street: Board director of Stanley Morgan

For the government: Chair of the US President's Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration. She also served as Director of the National Economic Council.

Hank Paulson

On Wall Street: Goldman Sachs CEO

For the government: Secretary of Treasury under George W. Bush and President Obama

Carlos Gutierrez

For the government: George W. Bush’s Commerce Secretary

On Wall Street:: Vice Chairman of Cit's Institutional Clients Group

Faryar Shirzad

For the government: On the staff of the National Security Council at the White House; special assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs; deputy assistant to the President and deputy national security advisor for International Economic Affairs under George W. Bush

On Wall Street: Vice President and Director of International Public Policy at Goldman Sachs

Larry Summers

For the government: Director of the White House National Economic Council for President Barack Obama, Secretary of the Treasury under Obama

On Wall Street: Paid keynote speaker at banks including Goldman and JP Morgan; will be keynote speaker at annual Alpha Hedge Bermuda Global Hedge Fund Summit; consultant to hedge funds including D.E Shaw.

Read more at the Business Insider >

David Markowitz

For the government: SEC Assistant Regional Director; Staffer on New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's team

On Wall Street: Associate General Counsel and a senior member of the litigation and regulatory proceedings group at Goldman Sachs

Mark Patterson

On Wall Street: Chief Goldman Sachs lobbyist

For the government: Chief of Staff in Obama's Treasury Department.

Lewis Sachs

For the government: Former NY Federal Reserve Advisor (and a longtime friend of Tim Geithner)

On Wall Street: Partner at Mariner Investment Group, a holding group for various hedge funds

Back to the government: Senior Economic Adviser to President Obama

Daniel Zelikow

On Wall Street: Managing Director in the Government Institutions Group within J.P. Morgan's Investment Bank.

For the government: Various senior roles within the U.S. Department of the Treasury under President Clinton, including Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia, the Americas and Africa; headed task force that oversaw $20 billion emergency financing program for Mexico in 1995 (and is one of Tim Geithner's oldest and dearest friends)

Back on Wall Street: Head of International Public Sector Group at JPMorgan.

eg 715 gs

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/goldman-sachs-revolving-door/

https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/search_result.php?priv=Goldman+Sachs

Antelo, Cristina Goldman Sachs Former

Bolten, Joshua Goldman Sachs Former

Brayboy, Joyce Goldman Sachs Current

Carter, Ashton B. Goldman Sachs Former

Connolly, Ken Goldman Sachs Current

Corzine, Jon S Goldman Sachs Former

Dalton, John Goldman Sachs Former

Donohue, Andrew Goldman Sachs Former

Edwards, Eric H Goldman Sachs Former

Farrell, Diana Goldman Sachs Former

Friedman, Stephen Goldman Sachs Former

Gensler, Gary Goldman Sachs Former

Gregg, Judd Goldman Sachs Former

Heyman, Bruce Goldman Sachs Former

Hormats, Robert D Goldman Sachs Former

Jeffery, Reuben III Goldman Sachs Former

Kashkari, Neel Goldman Sachs Former

Laudien, Lori E Goldman Sachs Former

Levitt, Arthur Goldman Sachs Former

Lubke, Theo Goldman Sachs Current

Machida, Ado Goldman Sachs Former

Malan, Todd M Goldman Sachs Current

McBride, Jonathan Goldman Sachs Former

Murphy, Philip Goldman Sachs Former

Niemeyer, Matt Goldman Sachs Current

Paese, Michael Goldman Sachs Current

Patterson, Mark A Goldman Sachs Former

Paulson, Henry Goldman Sachs Former

Rominger, Eileen Goldman Sachs Former

Rubin, Robert W Goldman Sachs Former

Shah, Sonal Goldman Sachs Former

Shirzad, Faryar Goldman Sachs Current

Siewert, Jake Goldman Sachs Current

Sommer, Judah C Goldman Sachs Former

Storch, Adam Goldman Sachs Former

Thomas, Marti Goldman Sachs Former

Thompson, Michael D Goldman Sachs Current

Wall, Joe Goldman Sachs Current

Woodward, Joan Kois Goldman Sachs Former

Zoellick, Robert

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/elizabeth-warren-challenges-presidential-candidates-stop-revolving-door-between-wall

CRP’s revolving door data, which we will continue to update, shows that 42 of the 75 who left Capitol Hill at the end of the last Congress or sometime during that two-year term are currently employed — 18 of them by lobbying firms or law firms that also lobby.

They include, among others, former Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who lost his bid for re-election and is now a “strategic advisor” at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), one of only two incumbent GOP House members to lose his seat in the 2014 Republican wave and now a senior adviser at Kelley, Drye & Warren; and Reps. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) and Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who were both poached by powerhouse firm Squire Patton Boggs. Matheson retired, while Kingston lost his bid for a Senate seat to David Perdue (R).

n an interview with OpenSecrets Blog, Matheson described his current role as “building client relationships and offering strategic advice” during the cooling-off period when he can’t directly lobby Congress (that’s one year for former House members, two years for former senators) — while also noting that he “can still interact with executive branch agencies.”

Asked about the fact that so many former lawmakers are now at firms seeking to influence Congress on behalf of paying clients, Matheson defended the practice. Lobbying is “a very regulated and transparent industry,” Matheson said. “[F]ormer members have a perspective to bring to the table in terms of navigating the public policy process.” He added that the cooling-off period is appropriate both “substantively and for the optics.” (For a rundown of former members whose cooling-off periods ended at the start of the 114th Congress, see our project with the Sunlight Foundation.)

One former House member snared a gig as the head of something called the Better Medicare Alliance — not a lobbying firm, but a group that is all about influencing Capitol HIll. Allyson Schwartz, who made a bid last year to be governor of Pennsylvania but lost in the Democratic primary, became president and CEO of the group, which was formed by health insurance companies to try to stave off scheduled cuts to the Medicare Advantage program.

Robert L. Walker, a former chief counsel and staff director on both the House and Senate Ethics Committees and currently of counsel at Wiley Rein, is not surprised by the post-congressional career path chosen by many of these former members. “It used to happen, it does happen, and will continue to happen,” Walker told the Blog. He added that each shift should occur “in an appropriately transparent and ethical way…that’s always been the challenge.”

Others who are recovering from their service in the House and Senate are making use of their subject matter expertise in ways that don’t appear to involve lobbying or lobbying-ish activities. Former House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.), for example, is now a senior education advisor at Cengage Learning, a provider of online educational services; former Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) is using his familiarity with the tax system as a senior policy advisor at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Both Miller and Camp retired from Congress, but defeat is no obstacle to big paychecks in the private sector, as proven by onetime House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), whose loss in Virginia’s GOP primary was one of the most unexpected outcomes of 2014. Cantor is now a vice chairman and managing director at investment banking firm Moelis & Co.

An eclectic mix of former lawmakers landed at think tanks or nonprofits. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), a former physician, is at the conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute, and Rep. Jon Runyan (R-N.J.), who played 14 seasons in the NFL, became chairman of the board at the Wish Upon a Hero Foundation; neither Coburn nor Runyan ran for re-election. A West Virginia duo consisting of former Rep. Nick Rahall (D) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D) are focusing on more global issues: Rahall, who lost his seat in November after serving 19 terms, is on the board of directors of the World Affairs Council, while Rockefeller, who retired, is at the Council on Foreign Relations as a distinguished fellow.

And then, of course, there are former Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and John Kerry, who were awarded plum public sector positions. Baucus, of Montana, has been U.S. Ambassador to China since early last year. Kerry, who represented Massachusetts in the Senate since 1985, served just a few weeks in the 113th Congress before becoming Secretary of State.

Whatever the former members of the 113th have to say about their service in Congress, one thing seems pretty clear: Capitol Hill is not a bad stepping stone to future employment.

Categories: About the Center Congress Education Health services/HMOs Influence & Lobbying InsuranceIssues and Legislation Lawyers/law firms Lobbying Politicians & Elections Revolving Door Site Spotlight

Tags: alex lazar, Allyson Schwartz, Ambassador to China, Better Medicare Alliance, Brownstein Hyatt et. al,Cengage Learning, Council on Foreign Relations, David Camp, Eric Cantor, House Education and Labor Committee, Jack Kingston, Jay Rockefeller, Jim Matheson, John Kerry, Jon Runyan, Kelley Drye et al,Manhattan Institute, Mark Begich, Max Baucus, Melvin Watt, Moelis & Co, Nick Rahall,pricewaterhousecoopers, Revolving Door, secretary of state, squire patton boggs, Terry Lee, Tom Coburn,Ways and Means Committee, west virginia, Wish Upon a Hero Foundation, World Affairs Council

more: http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/05/departed-members-of-the-113th-congress-find-new-homes-on-k-street-and-elsewhere/

new scam: 2nd blue dog to be rx lobby

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/06/us/politics/06pomeroy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

...Now, after losing re-election last year despite hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from grateful hospital executives, doctors and other industry officials, he has moved on to Plan B: promoting their cause as a lobbyist.

While that kind of shift is familiar in Washington, in Mr. Pomeroy’s case there is a special twist. House members are banned from lobbying on Capitol Hill for a year after leaving office (Mr. Pomeroy’s term ended in January), but Mr. Pomeroy, a Democrat, has teamed up with his former chief of staff, who is not subject to the restriction, as a lobbying partner.

Just as Mr. Pomeroy once pushed in Congress to expand federal health care programs and block regulatory proposals that industry executives considered burdensome, he and his former aide, Bob Siggins, now are pressing the Obama administration and Congress to drop a planned change in Medicare rules that could force dozens of long-term care hospitals to close or curtail services. Mr. Pomeroy’s clients, Select Medical Holdings and Vibra Healthcare, operate such facilities across the country.

His role as an industry champion shows the enduring power of being a well-placed friend in the capital. At least 160 former lawmakers currently work as lobbyists in Washington, according to First Street, a Web site that tracks lobbying trends in Washington, with many more exerting influence as consultants or advisers.

Typically, retired lawmakers sit on the sidelines for a year before signing on corporate lobbying clients, but Mr. Pomeroy’s leap was unusually swift. Of the 30 or so members who left Congress along with him and joined law firms, consulting firms, businesses or trade associations that lobby Congress, only five had formally registered as lobbyists as of mid-July, according to a New York Times review of lobbying records. That short list includes Mr. Pomeroy, and the former representatives Steve Buyer, Republican of Indiana, and Walt Minnick, Democrat of Idaho, each of whom has moved to a lobbying practice in unison with his former chief of staff.

b2 epa went to B&G and crowell; note also b2 ceqa recruited from corp PR deniers

Edward D. Krenik – Edward D. Krenik was the associate administrator for congressional and

intergovernmental affairs at the EPA from 2001 to 2003.123

After leaving the administration in 2003, Mr. Krenik joined Bracewell and Giuliani,124 and in

2008 became a registered lobbyist.125 He has lobbied on the behalf of oil producers Valero126and

Tesoro Corporation.127

tom franks: co that gets bid is not lowest but are pro-gop, then give kickback to gop, related /funds? revolving door

"sarcastic staffing decisions" ploy to create cynicism (dates back to watergate)

big pharma chair demo house?

"how to close down dept of labor " book

linda chavez fail chao (labor regs more words than bible); chief economist: entre prison (911 conspir gig) ; intell design

CEQ as poster child? literally wrote the book?

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/02/revolving-door-works-for-staffers-too.html

he revolving door goes two ways, and it works for staffers as well as for members of Congress. The more well-traveled direction is from government to corporation, trade group or other organization, often for more money than an individual can make working for Uncle Sam.

It's less common for people to go the other way, from the private sector to government, unless they've been elected to serve on Capitol Hill. But it does happen. In fact, according to an analysis by Remapping Debate and the Center for Responsive Politics, 41 high-ranking staffers for new members of Congress came from organizations that have a lobbying presence in Washington.

Hiring a staffer with experience in lobbying can be extremely helpful for a new lawmaker who needs to quickly build connections and might be concerned about securing funds for re-election. In many cases, legislators seemed to pick like-minded staffers, or at least ones with an extensive Rolodex who might be able to advance their pet causes.

updates: http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/

Elwell, Dan Airlines for America

Frumberg, Emily Polaris Government Relations

Farnsworth, Larry Terry, Lee

McCarthy, Andrea CATO Institute

Sroka, T Neil Democracy for America

Howard L. Berman, Covington & Burling

Another casualty of the 2012 elections has joined the influence industry, as former Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-CA) has accepted a position as senior advisor at high profile K Street firm Covington & Burling. A former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and member of the House Judiciary Committee, Berman is joining the firm’s public policy and global affairs office. Read more...

Top Lobbying Firms

Use the search options on the upper right to discover which public relations firms have signed up former White House employees, which lobbyists have brought their interests with them to the powerful appropriations committees, which interests are employing former members of Congress to lobby on their behalf...and much more.

A former 18-year member of Congress who was a longtime friend of the tobacco industry while in office has become a paid consultant and registered lobbyist for tobacco giant Reynolds American.

Steve Buyer, a Republican congressman from Indiana from 1993 to 2011, had been the beneficiary of over $100,000 in Reynolds donations over the years and pushed the company’s legislative goals.

In 2009, he gave a famously colorful speech on the House floor endorsing smokeless tobacco: "You could have smoked that lettuce and you still end up with the same problems. You could cut the grass in your yard, dry it, and roll it up in a cigarette, and smoke it — and you're still going to have a lot of problems," he said. "It is the smoke that kills, not the nicotine.”... http://www.propublica.org/article/congressman-who-compared-cigarettes-lettuce-becomes-rj-reynolds-lobbyist

case study: JPM:

This morning, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, faced a Senate hearing over more than $2 billion in bank losses caused by risky hedges that blew up. Dimon said that the hedges—investments meant to protect the bank—had grown into “complex and hard-to manage risks.” The losses “let a lot of people down, and we are sorry for it.”

Many lawmakers are holding up the losses as evidence of the need for stronger financial regulation. The chairman of the Senate banking committee, Tim Johnson, D-S.D., in his opening remarks, asked for “a full accounting” of JP Morgan’s losses.

But through campaign contributions and well-connected staff, JP Morgan appears to have already taken its own accounting of the Banking committee. Here’s a picture of connections between the company and the committee:

Revolving Door

One current staffer on the Senate banking committee, Dwight Fettig, is a former lobbyist for JP Morgan. In 2009, the bank hired him to work on “financial services regulatory reform.” Meanwhile, JP Morgan is stacked thick with former committee staff.

Naomi Camper – Currently a lobbyist for JP Morgan. Prior to that, from 2001-2004,she was an aide to Senator Johnson.

Kate Childress –A JP Morgan lobbyist since 2008, she is also a former aide to Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who sits on both the Senate Banking and Finance committees.

Steven Patterson –A JP Morgan lobbyist and formerly a staff director for economic policy for the Banking committee.

Nate Gatten— A JP Morgan lobbyist based in London who was reportedly called back to Washington recently to help with the company’s damage control. He is a former lobbyist for Fannie Mae, and, in the 1990s, was a banking aide to former Senator Robert Bennett, R-Utah, who also sat on the committee.

P. Michael Nielsen – A lobbyist with a firm run by former Senator Bennett, he has been retained by JP Morgan for help with federal probes, according to Bloomberg. He wasalso a senior policy adviser to the committee from 2007 to 2010.

American Banker also reported that three other outside lobbyists currently working for JP Morgan were once affiliated with the committee:

Jason Rosenberg – A lobbyist at The Glover Park Group and formerly an aide to Jon Tester, D-Mont., who sits on the committee.

Jenn Fogel-Bublick – A lobbyist at McBee Strategic Consulting and formerly a Democratic counsel on the committee.

Mike Chappell – A lobbyist for Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock and a former press assistant to Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., another committee member.

A former senator on the committee, Mel Martinez, R-Fl., is also now the JP Morgan exec in charge of Florida, Central America, and the Caribbean. Martinez was elected to the Senate in 2004 and went to the bank in 2010. Bloomberg reported that he was called to Washington after the losses were reported.

Lobbyists for JP Morgan appear to be keeping busy. The bank spent $7.6 million on lobbying last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Campaign Contributions:

JP Morgan has also been a generous donor to banking committee members, both Republican and Democratic.

JP Morgan is the second largest campaign contributor to Johnson, the committee chair, and to the top Republican on the committee, Richard Shelby of Alabama, over the past twenty years, according to a tally from American Banker.

JP Morgan employees have donated more than $80,000 to Johnson since 1998 and more than $136,000 to Shelby since 1990.

So far in 2012, Dimon has personally donated to committee members Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Mark Warner, D-Va. In 2008, he gave $2,000 each to Johnson and Shelby.

Six of the 22 members of the banking committee have not received any money from JP Morgan PACs or employees in recent election cycles. Two of those members are retiring and aren’t collecting campaign funds.

It’s not clear what the committee will do beyond the hearings. Numerous federal agencies are investigating JP Morgan’s losses, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Department of Justice, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Next Tuesday, Dimon will testify in front of the House Committee on Financial Services.

This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license.

database: http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/index.php

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) -- Donald H. Kent , homeland security lobbyist

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) -- Spencer Stokes, energy lobbyist

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) -- Douglas Stafford, anti-union

Rep. Charlie Bass (R-N.H.) -- John W. Billings, food industry, former aide to Bass

Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.) -- Rod Grams, former U.S. senator, financial services roundtable lobbyist

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) -- John Goodwin, National Rifle Association lobbyist

he government-industry revolving door puts industry-friendly experts in positions of decision-making power. Often individuals rotate between working for industry and working for the government in regulatory capacities, arrangements that are fraught with potential for conflicts of interest.

"Under current law, government officials who make contracting decisions must either wait a year before joining a military contractor or, if they want to switch immediately, must start in an affiliate or division unrelated to their government work. One big loophole is that these restrictions do not apply to many high-level policy makers..., who can join corporations or their boards without waiting."[1]

Examples

Edward C. (Pete) Aldridge, Jr. - In the month before he left the Pentagon to join the board of Lockheed Martin, Aldridge approved a $3 billion contract to build 20 Lockheed planes, "after having long criticized the program as overpriced and having threatened to cancel it."[2] While on the Lockheed board, Aldridge was named to head President Bush's commission on space exploration. "Lockheed is one of NASA's biggest contractors, and only Senator John McCain, ...objected and called for Mr. Aldridge's removal, complaining of conflict of interest."[3]

David Bernhardt

Government: Director of Congressional and Legislative Affairs, Department of the Interior

Industry: Previously an attorney with Brownstein, Hyatt, and Farber, Bernhardt; lobbied Congress and federal administrative agencies on behalf of mining, oil, chemical companies and power plants

Robin Batterham - Batterham worked as a senior executive for global mining company, Rio Tinto, three days a week and as Chief Scientist advising the Australian Prime Minister two days a week. In early 2005 he resigned as Chief Scientist to work full time for the mining company.

Dale Bosworth

Claude Burcky - "Two senior United States trade negotiators who sealed the trade deal with Australia have accepted plum jobs representing US medical and drug companies. ... Claude Burcky, who was [Ralph] Ives's [see below] head negotiator for intellectual property trade issues, is now director of global government affairs at the pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories. Mr Ives and Mr Burcky took their jobs after negotiating the trade deal." The U.S.-Australian Free Trade Agreement was criticized by U.S. health care reformers as "designed to undercut access to affordable medicines for Americans and Australians," while maintaining pharmaceutical company profits.[4]

Nicholas E. Calio

John T. Chain

Government: Commander of the Strategic Air Command; retired in February 1991.

Industry: Member of the board of Northrop Grumman Corporation since 1991; Executive Vice President for Burlington Northern Railroad from March 1991 to February 1996; President of Quarterdeck Equity Partners, Inc. since December 1996; Chairman of the Board of Thomas Group, Inc. since May 1998; director on the boards of RJ Reynolds, Inc., ConAgra Foods, Inc., and Kemper Insurance Company.

Vice-president Dick Cheney - Cheney denied that he had any ties with Halliburton Company after he left his position as CEO of the company in 2000. An investigation by the Congressional Research Service revealed that while VP Cheney received deferred compensation from Halliburton to the tune of $500,000 to $1,000,000. While Cheney was Secretary of Defense for George Herbert Walker Bush, the Pentagon contracted infamous Halliburton subsidiary Brown & Root "to study the cost effectiveness of outsourcing some military operations to private contractors. Based on the results of the study, the Pentagon hired Brown & Root to implement an outsourcing plan." Cheney became the CEO of Halliburton in 1995. Questions about "sweetheart deals" with Halliburton arose as the company was awarded no-bid contracts for reconstruction in Iraq. The contracts were estimated to be worth about $1.5 billion. Probes into Halliburton led to allegations of overcharging the military for importing oil from Kuwait into Iraq, $6 million in kickbacks for the awarding of contracts to a Kuwaiti company and $180 million in bribes to land a natural gas project contract in Nigeria while Cheney was CEO. Reported by MSNBC/AP on 9 April 2004 to be "making a pitch for Westinghouse's U.S. nuclear power technology" while in China on the taxpayer tab.

Kathleen Clarke

James L. Connaughton

Government: Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (Senior environmental advisor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Environmental Policy)

Industry: Previously a lobbyist for power industry and large electricity users. "A former lobbyist for utilities, mining, chemical, and other industrial polluters, Connaughton, represented the likes of General Electric and ARCO in their effort to escape responsibility for cleaning up toxic Superfund sites. Now he heads up pollution-policy development for the administration and coordinates its implementation. He has led the charge to weaken the standards of getting arsenic out of our drinking water, and he has steadily advised Bush to ignore, divert, stall, dismiss, and otherwise block out all calls for action against the industrial causes of global warming."[5]

Richard Crowder - On Dec 20, 2005, Richard Crowder was confirmed by the US Senate as the US Trade Representative Chief Agricultural Negotiator. For three years prior to this appointment, Crowder was the CEO of the American Seed Trade Association - a lobby group for US agricultural corporations. Prior to 2002, from 1994 to 1999, Crowder was Senior Vice President, International, of DEKALB Genetics Corporation - an agricultural genetics and seed biotechnology corporation which is now part of Monsanto. From 1989-1992, he also occupied a government post, serving as Under Secretary of International Affairs & Commodity Programs for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. [6]

Gordon R. England

Government: Secretary of the Navy from May 2001 to January 2003; Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security from January 2003 to October 2003; Secretary of the Navy since October 2003.

Industry: Executive vice president of General Dynamics Corporation from 1997 to 2001; executive vice president of the Combat Systems Group; president of General Dynamics Fort Worth aircraft company, which later became Lockheed Martin; president of General Dynamics Land Systems Company; principal of a mergers and acquisition consulting company.

Alan K. Fitzsimmons

Government: Wildlands Fuels Coordinator, Department of the Interior

Industry: Founder, 1992, consulting firm Balanced Resource Solutions, writing extensively for conservative think-tanks and free-market groups; claimed “ecosystems are not real”

Government: Previously assistant to the Deputy Director of the National Park Service (1983-1985), the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks (1985-1989), and the Deputy Under Secretary for Policy, Planning and Development at the Department of Energy (1989-1992)

Ronald Fogleman: While serving on the Defense Policy Board, which advises the Secretary of Defense (Donald H. Rumsfeld at the time) on military strategy, was hired by Boeing Company as a consultant while it was seeking Pentagon approval for a $20 billion contract for aerial refueling tankers. "An internal Boeing e-mail message indicated that the men, Adm. David Jeremiah, a retired vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a member of five corporate boards, and Gen. Ronald Fogleman, who retired from the Air Force, were to lobby Mr. Rumsfeld's office."[7]

Ed Gillespie - Gillespie, a prominent Republican party leader and campaign advisor to George W. Bush, also owns his own lobbying and PR firm, Quinn Gillespie & Associates. Shortly after Bush took office, Gillespie went to work for a few days for the U.S. Commerce Department, where he arranged for the department to hire as its press secretary one of his own employees at Quinn Gillespie, Jim Dyke. Gillespie finished his work at the Commerce Department on February 15, 2001, and the following day he was back at work at his own office at Quinn Gillespie.

John D. Graham

Government: Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Office of Management and Budget

Industry: Is on leave from position as Professor of Policy and Decision Sciences in the Faculty of Public Health at Harvard University, financed by corporate polluters

"Graham is the de facto boss of all regulatory programs for the entire government -- any change in enviro rules must pass through his strangling hands. An avowed enemy of pollution regulations, he previously headed a quasi-academic front group that consistently issued reports claiming that environmental protections are too costly for industry -- not a surprising stance since he and his 'risk-assessment' center were financed by more than 100 corporate entities, including the American Petroleum Institute, Dow, Dupont, Exxon, Monsanto, and 3M."[8]

Julie Goon

Government: Special Assistant for Medicare Outreach, Department of Health and Human Services

Industry: Previously worked as health industry lobbyist as Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, American Association of Health Plans.

J. Steven Griles

Government: Deputy Secretary, Department of the Interior, where he worked closely with the industries he is supposed to regulate on polluting and exploitive policies like the Clear Skies initiative. (2001-)

Industry: Lobbyist for coal, energy, oil, gas, mining and manufacturing industries (1989-2001)

Government: In a variety of positions, primarily in the Department of the Interior, Griles worked on policies such as pushing for oil drilling off the coast of California and selling land contracts for oil and shale extraction at give-away prices. (1970-1989)

"A disciple of the infamous James Lee Watt, for whom he worked in the Reagan years, Griles went on to be a lobbyist for the National Mining Association, Edison Electric, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, and other energy giants. Appointed the overseer of America's 500 million acres of public lands, Griles was hailed by the NMA as 'an ally of the industry,' and the mining association welcomed him as 'a breath of fresh air' -- for polluters, of course, not for us air breathers! Even though he is a public official now, he still draws $284,000 a year from his former lobbying firm, which represents corporations he supposedly regulates. Also, he has continued to meet behind closed doors with his former (and perhaps future) industry clients. The inspector general is investigating him for the blatant conflicts of interest posed by these meetings, which he had pledged to avoid in a 'recusal agreement' he signed to get his government job."[9]

Jeffrey Holmstead - "assistant EPA administrator for air quality. Previously a lobbyist with the firm of Latham & Watkins, Holmstead represented electric utilities trying to fight air pollution restrictions, and he represented the Farm Bureau conglomerate in its fights against pesticide controls. Now inside, he's a key player pushing Bush's Clear Skies initiative, which will allow a 520 percent increase in toxic mercury pollution, a 225 percent jump in carbon dioxide pollution (a global warming contaminant), and a delay in the enforcement of smog and soot pollution until 2016. In charge of writing a new rule to limit mercury poisoning of children by electric power plants, Holmstead embraced a watered-down rule that essentially was written by his old lobbying firm of Latham & Watkins."[10]

Marianne L. Horinko

William Horn - "chairman of the fish and wildlife commission. In charge of charting policies governing America's priceless National Wildlife Refuge System, Horn's background is not as wildlife protector, but as a corporate lobbyist representing interests wanting to exploit our public refuges for their profit. He has lobbied for Florida Power & Light, Yukon Pacific Corporation (which wants to build a gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to the port of Valdez, then export the gas to Asia), and the Nuclear Energy Institute. For a hint about his attitude toward preserving pristine wildlife areas, note that he has been the lead attorney for such outfits as the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, New Jersey Beach Buggy Association, and Sun Valley HeliSki company."[11]

Ralph Ives - "Ralph Ives was promoted in April [2004] to assistant US trade representative for pharmaceutical policy after leading the trade negotiations with Australia. Next month he becomes vice-president for global strategy at AdvaMed, an industry group that says its members produce half of the world's medical technology products."[12]

David E. Jeremiah: While serving on the Defense Policy Board, which advises the Secretary of Defense (Donald H. Rumsfeld at the time) on military strategy, was hired by Boeing Company as a consultant while it was seeking Pentagon approval for a $20 billion contract for aerial refueling tankers. "An internal Boeing e-mail message indicated that the men, Adm. David Jeremiah, a retired vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a member of five corporate boards, and Gen. Ronald Fogleman, who retired from the Air Force, were to lobby Mr. Rumsfeld's office."[13]

Michael Johns

Government: White House speechwriter to President of the United States George H.W. Bush

Industry: Vice president, Gentiva Health Services

Paul G. Kaminski

Government: Under Secretary of U.S. Department of Defense for Acquisition and Technology from 1994 to 1997.

Industry: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Technovation, Inc. since 1997; Senior Partner, Global Technology Partners, LLC, since 1998; director of Anteon International Corporation; director of General Dynamics since 1997.

Andrew D. Lundquist

Executive director of the National Energy Policy Development Group, a Cabinet-level task force chosen by President George W. Bush and headed by Vice President Dick Cheney

Later became a registered lobbyist for clients that stood to benefit from the energy policy he helped formulate, including Toshiba Corp., BP, Kennecott Energy Co., and Duke Energy Corp.

Deborah Platt Majoras - left her government post as U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair to become vice president and general counsel for Procter & Gamble, the largest U.S. consumer products company. [14]

Jack W. Martin

Jeffery S. Merrifield - Twelve days after leaving his position as Commissioner for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Merrifield joined the The Shaw Group, Inc. as vice-president of the company's power group. The watchdog group Project on Governmental Oversight noted that, in his last few months at the NRC, "Merrifield vigorously championed several major policy initiatives that directly benefited his future employer," including a change that reduced government and public oversight of new nuclear power plant construction, [15] and changes to the approval process for new nuclear plant construction that scaled back public hearings and public comment periods. [16]

Margaret Miller

William G. Myers - "solicitor of the Interior Department. The government's top lawyer for cases involving exploitation of our public lands by mining and agribusiness corporations, Myers previously was a lawyer and lobbyist representing mining and agribusiness corporations. At interior, he has pushed for new rules to allow more cattle grazing, to limit endangered species protections, to require fewer environmental impact statements for the lands under his stewardship, and to open public lands in five Western States to oil drilling. Myers is under investigation by ethics officials for meeting with his former corporate clients, despite having signed a conflict-of-interest agreement to avoid such contacts. Meanwhile, George W has nominated this possible law violator to be a federal appeals judge."[17]

Catherine A. Novelli

Theodore B. Olson

Harvey L. Pitt - Pitt, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from August 3, 2001 until his forced resignation in November 2003, served a tumultuous tenure amid multiple accusations of conflict of interest. His problems worsened with exposure of major corporate scandals such as those of Enron and WorldCom. Pitt’s appointment of William Webster to head the accounting board led to his resignation after it was determined that Pitt withheld information from other SEC commissioners about Webster's involvement with a company facing fraud charges. Prior to his appointment as SEC Chairman, Pitt was an attorney for the accounting industry.[18] [19]

Peter Pitts

Former associate commissioner for external affairs of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "Pitts served as the senior communications adviser to the FDA Commissioner. He provided strategic policy and program direction for the agency’s entire range of communications and interaction with stakeholders and other external audiences, including media. He oversaw the office of public affairs, office of the ombudsman, office of special health issues, and the advisory committee oversight and management staff."

Joined Manning Selvage & Lee in June 2004 as senior vice president of health affairs. "Pitts will focus on three areas: counseling pharmaceutical, biotech and food companies on integrated marketing communications in a highly regulated environment; driving thought leadership on food and health issues facing the industry, including new drug development, drug importation, direct-to-consumer advertising, obesity and food labeling; and creating innovative consumer wellness programs for health and food companies."

Pitts worked in marketing for the Lifetime Network, Reader's Digest, McCall's, the New York Post, the Washington Times, Insight Magazine, and the Hudson Institute before working at the FDA.[20]

Bennett Raley

Government: Assistant Secretary of Water and Science, Department of the Interior

Industry: Previously a water and property rights lawyer; member of Wise Use Movement front groups.

"A longtime, extremist 'corporate rights' advocate who previously lobbied to kill our nation's Clean Water Act, Raley now is the top official in charge of water issues at the interior department. In 2002, he teamed up with Karl Rove in a flagrant political maneuver to provide extra water for agribusiness from a federal water project in eastern Washington, even though agency scientists warned that this would be disastrous for wild salmon under federal protections in the Klamath River. Career agency professionals were forced to bow to White House political pressure, and thousands of fish died. When responsible officials tried to divert some of the Klamath basin water back to the endangered salmon populations, Raley again waved in Rove to apply top-heavy political pressure and back them off."[21]

Joseph W. Ralston

Government: Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from March 1996 to April 2000; Commander, U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, NATO, from May 2000 to January 2003; retired from active duty on March 1, 2003.

Industry: Vice Chairman of The Cohen Group since March 2003 when he retired from active duty; director on the board of Lockheed Martin since April 2003; director of The Timken Company since 2003; director on the board of URS Corporation since October 2003.

Mark Rey

Government: Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agriculture

Industry: Previously a timber industry lobbyist

"Rey, who now is caretaker of America's 156 national forests, has spent his entire career as a timber industry lobbyist and congressional staffer hell-bent on fattening industry profits by letting corporations clear-cut the public's trees. He headed the American Forest and Paper Association, the leading proponent of logging our national forests, prior to becoming a senate staffer and authoring an infamous 1995 act that suspended all environmental laws to give the green light for corporations to clear cut old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest. He also wrote a bill that would have eliminated local citizen committees that oversee timber harvests. As forest chief, Rey has been the key force behind Bush's 'Healthy Forests' scam that would allow nearly unlimited clear-cutting in pristine national forests."[22]

Jessie Roberson

James G. Roche

Government: Secretary of the Air Force since 2001.

Industry: Various positions at Northrop Grumman from 1984 to 2001.

Colin Roskey

Government: Senate Finance Committee counsel

Industry: Lobbyist with the law firm Alston & Bird, with clients including Jerome Stevens Pharmaceuticals of Bohemia, New York; Adams Laboratories of Chester, New Jersey; Mylan Laboratories of Morgantown, West Virginia; HealthSouth, a healthcare services company; and the American Clinical Laboratory Association, a trade group.[23]

Thomas Sansonetti - "assistant attorney general for environment and natural resources. Now the public's lead lawyer for defending our environmental protection programs in court, Sansonetti is a Republican Party political operative and a lobbyist from Wyoming who represented coal companies and other energy corporations in their efforts to undermine these same environmental protections. He previously was chief lawyer for the Republican National Committee, and, as a lobbyist, he pushed in Washington to let each coal company increase its mining on federal lands by one-third. Another of the far-right corporatists that Bush has put in charge of the machinery of government, Sansonetti, is a proud member of the government-hating, laissez-faire Federalist Society, which is amply funded by ultra-conservative, corporate foundations."[24]

Eugene Scalia - An anti-labor lawyer with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP who became Solicitor of Labor in January 2002 through a George W. Bush recess appointment after the Senate refused to confirm the nomination. He resigned in January 2003, shortly after the appointment expired, in order to avoid what would have been a bruising Senate confirmation hearing.

Patricia Lynn Scarlett

Government: Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget, Department of the Interior

Industry: President and CEO Reason Foundation, funded by a variety of industry groups; senior fellow at the anti-public interest, pro-business Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment

"This overseer of overall policy affecting our nation's public resources is no fan of the public even holding resources and doesn't like regulation of private efforts to exploit the public's resources. She has written that 'environmentalism is a coherent philosophy that rivals Marxism.' Most of Scarlett's career has been spent with the Reason Foundation, a think tank that vigorously opposes government regulations and is funded by such corporations as Chevron, Dow, Enron, ExxonMobil, Phillip Morris, and Shell Oil, as well as by the American Petroleum Institute, American Plastics Council, and American Chemistry Council."[25]

Matt Schlapp

Government: Head of the White House’s Office of Political Affairs

Industry: Executive Director of Federal Affairs, directing lobbying in "the Washington office of oil-and-gas conglomerate Koch Industries, the latest example of high-level administration and congressional staffers making post-election leaps to the lobbying world." [26]

Thomas Scully

Controversy arose over the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Bill after the revelation that Thomas Scully, the former Medicare and Medicaid Services chief received an ethics waiver from the Department of Health and Human Services so he could "negotiate jobs with private companies while ... shaping federal policies important to the potential employers." Industry offered Scully several lucrative job offers, and after leaving Medicare, he accepted positions with an investment company that profits from health care and as a healthcare lobbyist with the law firm of Alston & Bird. Immediately after Scully went through the revolving door, the Bush administration changed the rule for ethics waivers, decreeing only the White House can issue them.[27][28]

As a lobbyist for Alston & Bird, Scully's clients include Jerome Stevens Pharmaceuticals of Bohemia, New York; Adams Laboratories of Chester, New Jersey; Mylan Laboratories of Morgantown, West Virginia; HealthSouth, a healthcare services company; and the American Clinical Laboratory Association, a trade group.[29]

John M. Shalikashvili

Mike Smith

Simon Stevens: former health advisor to British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who in May 2004 is set to head up the UK office of the Minneapolis-headquartered United Health Group (UHG). UHG is seeking contracts from the government funded National Healthcare Service. [30]

Billy Tauzin: Former chair of the the Energy and Commerce Committee, which had oversight of the drug industry, who after retiring from Congress in late 2004 started as head of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in January 2005.

Michael Taylor - Taylor, a former attorney for Monsanto, went to work for the United States Food and Drug Administration, where he helped draft FDA's policy declaring that genetically modified foods are "generally regarded as safe" (GRAS). While at the FDA, Taylor also wrote the policy that exempted biotech foods from labeling. His former law firm, which still represented Monsanto, then began suing dairies that labeled their milk rBGH-free (Monsanto’s bovine growth hormone to increase milk production). After these policies were written, Taylor left the FDA and eventually went back to work for Monsanto.

Carmen Toohey - "special interior assistant for Alaska. Cam, as he is known, is Gale Norton's handpicked aid to oversee environmental policies affecting the vast federal landholdings in our nation's largest state. For the Bushites, policy priority Number One in Alaska is, of course, to turn loose their oil buddies to build roads, move in drilling rigs, and extend pipelines across the majestic Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Cam is well-versed on this priority and completely in tune with it, for he comes to his government job from having led Arctic Power, a lobbying group supporting corporate interests that want to open our public refuge to their private profit schemes."[31]

Daniel E. Troy - Marking a dramatic shift in U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy, Troy, formerly a representative of U.S. pharmaceutical firms and now lead counsel for the FDA, informed drug companies that he would provide aid in torpedoing certain lawsuits, especially those with claims of medications causing unexpected or harmful side effects.[32]. As of Septmeber 2, 2008, Troy will be lead counsel for the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline according tot he Wall Street Journal [33]

Ann M. Veneman

Government: U. S. Secretary of Agriculture (2001-2004)

Industry: Private law practice; provided legal representation to the Sierra Nevada Access and Multiple Use Stewardship Coalition, a place-based consensus-building program for a section of California's forested areas (1999-2001)

Industry: Served on the International Policy Council on Agriculture, Food and Trade, a group funded by Cargill, Nestle, Kraft, and Archer Daniels Midland; member of the Bennett Agriculture Round Table, and Food Foresight

Government: Named head of California’s Department of Food and Agriculture (1995-1999)

Industry: Served on the board of directors for Calgene Inc (makers of genetically-engineered Flavr Savr tomato, bought by Monsanto in 1997)

Government: U.S. Department of Agriculture under George Herbert Walker Bush (1986-1993)

Rebecca Watson - "assistant interior secretary for land and minerals. Directing the Bureau of Land Management, Watson is responsible for the rules and fees for gold mining companies, drillers, and other corporations wanting to profit on the wealth of minerals and other public resources within our federal lands. Her qualifications for the job are not as a public defender, but as a Montana lawyer representing mining and logging corporations that either wanted unfettered access to these public treasures or that didn't want to pay for the environmental damage done by their exploitative procedures. Watson has represented Golden Sunlight Mines, Fidelity Exploration, Plum Creek Timber, and other companies regulated by the agency she now heads. She also worked on the litigation committee of the right-wing Mountain States Legal Foundation, a litigious, corporate-funded group of legal activists that tries to run over any environmental protection that pinches even a dime's worth of ill-gotten corporate profits."[34]

Thomas E. White

Government: Secretary of the Army from May, 2001 until forced to resign April, 2003

Industry: Senior executive at Enron Corporation, 1990-2001

Government: Retired as Army brigadier general in 1990

Christine Todd Whitman - After resigning as Secretary of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (a post she held from January 2001 to May 2003), Whitman formed the Whitman Strategies Group consulting firm. The firm's first client was FMC Corporation, "a chemical company negotiating with the EPA over the cleanup of arsenic-contaminated soil at a factory near Buffalo, N.Y." In a May 2005 interview, Whitman said she had not worked directly with FMC, but would likely advise them on "how to improve their image" and gain "access to the people they need to speak to." FMC "is responsible for 136 Superfund sites across the country ... and has been subject to 47 EPA enforcement actions." [35]

Donald C. Winter - To serve as Secretary of the Navy, President Bush Jr. nominated Donald Winter, currently the Vice President of Northrop Grumman, which builds many of the Navy's warships and receives billions of dollars to build other weapons. [36]

Michael W. Wynne - Bush Jr. also nominated Michael Wynne as Secretary of the Air Force. Wynne was one of several people who were blamed by a Pentagon inspector general for a failed 23.5 billion dollar deal with Boeing, which many lawmakers call the most significant case of contract abuse in decades. [37]

SourceWatch resources

Bush administration cronyism and incompetence

Bush regime environmental record

Enron

Kith & Kin Inc.

Regulatory lapdogs

External Links

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Is the Revolving Door Big Enough?: 400 Former House Staffers Registered to Lobby in Past 2 Years

Suzanne Merkelson 2.23.2012

What happens when you leave your job on the Hill? You’re welcomed with open arms on K Street. At least, that was the case for nearly 400 former House staffers who left Congress to register as lobbyists from 2009 to 2011, according to a new Sunlight Foundation study. Sunlight’s Leo Drutman writes:

More than two in five former House staffers who registered as lobbyists went to one of Washington’s many lobbying firms. One in five went to lobby for a for-profit corporation, and another one in five went to lobby for a business or trade association. In other words, corporate America is capturing the lion’s share of former Hill staffers’ expertise. A large number also represent state and local governments and universities in their work for lobbying firms.

This graph illustrates the overwhelming pull K Street has on staffers departing the Hill:

Where Former House Staff Go

http://www.republicreport.org/category/lobbying/page/4/

http://www.republicreport.org/category/lobbying/

see also

Average Congresscritter gets 1,452% raises when they turn corporate lobbyist

By Cory Doctorow at 5:55 pm Saturday, Mar 17

Republic Report has released figures documenting the fact that the average member of Congress gets a 1,452% salary hike when she or he leaves office and becomes a corporate lobbyist. They point out that politicians are allowed to negotiate these raises while they are in office, and don't have to disclose this fact when they're working on legislation that will benefit their future employers. One of the poster children for this is former Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) who fought against financial reforms to the derivatives market, then joined the board of a derivatives-trading company and was given an advisory role at Goldman Sachs.

Our research effort uncovered the partial salaries of twelve lawmakers-turned-lobbyists. Republic Report’s investigation found that lawmakers increased their salary by 1452% on average from the last year they were in office to the latest publicly available disclosure:

Former Congressman Billy Tauzin (R-LA) made $19,359,927 as a lobbyist for pharmaceutical companies between 2006 and 2010. Tauzin retired from Congress in 2005, shortly after leading the passage of President Bush’s prescription drug expansion. He was recruited to lead PhRMA, a lobbying association for Pfizer, Bayer, and other top drug companies. During the health reform debate, the former congressman helped his association block a proposal to allow Medicare to negotiate for drug prices, a major concession that extended the policies enacted in Tauzin’s original Medicare drug-purchasing scheme. Tauzin left PhRMA in late 2010. He was paid over $11 million in his last year at the trade group. Comparing Tauzin’s salary during his last year as congressman and his last year as head of PhRMA, his salary went up 7110%.

Former Congressman Cal Dooley (D-CA) has made at least $4,719,093 as a lobbyist for food manufacturers and the chemical industry from 2005 to 2009. Republic Report analyzed disclosures from the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), an industry lobby — for companies like Kellogg — where Dooley worked following his retirement from Congress. We also added in Dooley’s salary from the American Chemistry Council, where Dooley now works as the president. The Chemistry Council represents Dow Chemical, DuPont, and other chemical interests. Dooley’s salary jumped 1357% between his last year in the House and his last reported salary for the Chemistry Council in 2009.

Former Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) makes approximately $1.5 million a year as the chief lobbyist for the movie industry. Dodd, who retired from the Senate after 2010, was hired by the Motion Picture Association of America, the lobbying association that represents major studios like Warner Bros. and Universal Studios. Although the MPAA would not confirm with Republic Report Dodd’s exact salary, media accounts point to $1.5 million, a slightly higher figure than the previous MPAA head, former Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman. Dodd received about a 762% raise after moving from public office to lobbying.

ANALYSIS: When a Congressman Becomes a Lobbyist, He Gets a 1,452% Raise (on Average)

http://boingboing.net/2012/03/17/average-congresscritter-gets-1.html

B2 CREW reoport:

CREW compiled a list of CEQ, OSTP and EPA officials appointed under President Bush, using

United States Government Manuals from 2001-2009. CREW then cross referenced that list with

the Senate Office of Public Record’s lobbying disclosures database. Google and Lexis-Nexis

also were utilized to further round out biographical information. While aiming to be exhaustive,

because information is not always readily available, CREW may not have identified every

official, uncovered every position held by former officials, or found complete biographical

information.

Key findings:

• 22 former officials with CEQ, OSTP, and EPA have gone onto lobbying or

government relations

• 14 of these former officials have been registered lobbyists

• 7 of these former officials work for companies or trade associations involved in

the energy production industry

• 3 of these former officials founded their own lobbying or government

relations firms

Typically we think of revolving door as between industry and government. This can be honorable public service, as when executives became part of the war effort in WWII (Tuxedo Park). Moreover, some regulatory entities are in fact quasi-governmental (FAA, FCC?). Legit in that often people in industry have the best info. However, Regean invited industry to help dismantle regulation and reporting, removing public ability to constrain behavior. These acts are done in the name of economic efficiency and even freedom (provate property rights limited by ES Act, for example).

We also see politicians and their staff leaving gov't service and go to work for industry to lobby for legislation and to teach them to avoid the regulations they once were in charge of enforcing. Think tanks and even academic posts (e.g., Starr at Pepperdine) also provide a defecto pension/safety net, even for those who leave under a ethics cloud).

LONGTIME PLAYERS/FUNDERS CAN BE GIVEN AMBASSADORSHIPS (short duration but high prestige)

grenpeace:

Since my last post about the Bush Administration and its cozy relationship with logging industry lobbyists, the “revolving door” between the two has spun again.

The latest whirl has Jan Poling, a high-level lawyer for the Forest Service, landing in the lap of the nation’s most powerful timber industry lobbying group – the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA).

As Poling takes her post as general counsel for AF&PA, she’ll run into lots of familiar faces. There will be, of course, industry friends who kept her company during her stint at the Forest Service. But there will also be Dave Tenny, Bush’s former “deputy undersecretary of agriculture for natural resources and environment” (does that title even fit on a business card?) who, like Poling, swapped his job at the Bush administration for one at AF&PA this year.

To bring the door back full circle, I’ll point out Dave Tenny’s new job at AF&PA – vice president of forestry and wood products – is the same one that Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey held before Bush put him in charge of the Forest Service.

J. Steven Griles

Industry: Lobbyist for coal, energy, oil, gas, mining and manufacturing industries (1989-2001)

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Government-industry_revolving_door

For starters, many White House watchers have already documented this administration's strong ties to the fossil-fuel lobby. The president tops the list of past oil company executives, followed by Vice President Dick Cheney, former CEO of Halliburton, the country's largest oil-field services firm. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice served on Chevron's board of directors, while Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans worked for a Denver oil and gas company, Tom Brown, Inc. Philip Cooney, chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, was formerly head of the climate unit of the American Petroleum Institute, the main lobbying arm of the oil industry, and a group that is among the most rabid critics of climate science.

boiling pt

http://www.grist.org/article/gelbspan-boiling/

Published on Tuesday, June 29, 2004 by the Inter Press Service

Report Shows Revolving Doors Between Gov't, Business

by Emad Mekay

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of U.S. military and government officials routinely leave their posts for jobs with private contractors who deal with the government, a process that has eroded the lines between government and the private sector, according to report released by a watchdog group on Tuesday.

?There is a revolving door between the government and large private contractors where conflict of interest is the rule, not the exception,? said the report by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), a Washington-based group that monitors military expenditures.

?The revolving door has become such an accepted part of federal contracting in recent years that it is frequently difficult to determine where the government stops and the private sector begins,? adds the report, titled ?The Politics of Contracting?.

The document says that the current contracting system where current and former public servants use their positions for private gain means powerful private contractors can potentially rig the system in their favor.

The group examined the current top 20 federal government contractors from January 1997 through May 2004 and found that in fiscal year 2002, those top 20 contractors received over 40 percent of the 244 billion dollars in total contracts awarded by the federal government.

The group says that it also identified 291 instances involving 224 high-ranking government officials who moved to the private sector to serve as lobbyists, board members or executives of the contractors.

The report found that at least one-third of the former senior government employees who went to work for or served on the board of a government contractor were in official positions allowing them to influence government contracting decisions, and that accountability rules were not enough to control them.

?Generally, revolving door laws do not apply to the most senior policymakers who ultimately have the most power in shaping programs and policies that benefit contractors,? says the report.

The issue is gaining interest in the U.S. Congress. Arizona Senator John McCain, a leading Republican, is expected to hold hearings in mid-July that would be the first congressional oversight of the revolving door question in nearly a decade.

But the report says that some congressmen are also part of the revolving door practice. At least two-thirds of the former members of Congress who are lobbying or have lobbied for the top 20 government contractors, served on authorization or appropriations committees that approved programs or funds for their future employer or client during their tenure in Congress.

Among the companies benefiting from the tolerated practice are top U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin, which now employs 57 former senior officials, aerospace giant Boeing which employs 33, Air Force contractor Northrop Grumman at 20, Raytheon at 23 and General Dynamics which employs 19.

The nonprofit watchdog gave the example of Richard Perle, a former Pentagon official who served as assistant secretary of defense in the Ronald Reagan administration and was a member of the Defense Policy Board from 1987-2004, serving as its chair from 2001 to 2003.

He resigned as chairman in March 2003, after a conflict of interest controversy involving a consulting job he took with the bankrupt telecommunications firm, Global Crossing Ltd.

The report says that during the summer of 2003, Perle expressed his support for a Boeing tanker contract -- a deal that would direct billions of dollars to the company. His support for the tankers came just 16 months after Boeing pledged to invest 20 million dollars with Perle's venture capital firm, Trireme Partners, notes the report.

The report also cites how Pentagon official Darleen Druyun, who supervised and directed the management of the Air Force's weapons acquisition program, moved through the revolving door to become Boeing's deputy general manager for missile defense systems.

?Darleen Druyun is the poster child for the ills of the revolving door,? said the report.

The report recommends ?revolving door protections?, especially when it comes to high-level officials.

dow:

Barbara Hackman Franklin, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, is a Director of Dow Chemical.[78]

Harold T. Shapiro, former presidential appointee to the Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, is a Director of Dow Chemical.[79]

John C. Danforth, former U.S. Senator, sits on Dow’s Board of Directors.[80]

Clayton K. Yeutter, former head of USDA and former U.S. Trade Representative, is now a Director of Mycogen Corporation, which is majority owned by Dow AgroSciences.[81]

Kathleen M. Bader, member of the Homeland Security Advisory Panel, is Corporate Vice President at Dow.[82]

dupont

Government connections DuPont CEO and Chairman Charles Holliday Jr. has served on President Bush’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council.[68] Richard H. Brown, a member of DuPont’s board of directors, serves on the President’s National Security Telecommunication Advisory Committee.[69] Director William K. Reilly is a former administrator of EPA and Director Charles M. Vest serves on the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology.[70]

TiHP JHT p 9

b2: tobacco, conagra, edison elect, enron, exxon, GE, ibm, lockheed, monsanto, northrup, occidental , raytheon, tesoro, union pac rr

eg John D graham harvard ctr risk analysis

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_D._Graham

As founding director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, his acceptance of funding from America's largest corporate polluters, including Dow Chemical, DuPont, Monsanto, Alcoa, Exxon, General Electric and General Motors, was considered a conflict of interest. No environmental or consumer group is represented on the center's advisory board.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Harvard_Center_for_Risk_Analysis

c boyden gray

Elizabeth Stolpe, previously in-house lobbyist for Koch Industries, is now Associate Director For Toxics & Environmental Protection at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

B2 2004

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/Advocates-Become-Regulators23may04.htm

The Power Elite

Now that the upper class, corporate community, and policy-planning network have been defined and described, it is possible to discuss the leadership group that I call the "power elite." I define the power elite as the leadership group of the upper class. It consists of active-working members of the upper class and high-level employees in profit and nonprofit institutions controlled by members of the upper class through stock ownership, financial support, or involvement on the board of directors. This does not mean that all members of the upper class are involved in governing. Some are only playboys and socialites; their social gatherings may provide a setting where members of the power elite mingle with celebrities, and sometimes they give money to political candidates, but that is about as close as they come to political power.

Conversely, not all those involved in the power elite are members of the upper class. They are sons and daughters of the middle class, and occasionally, the blue-collar working class, who do well at any one of several hundred private and state universities, and then go to grad school, MBA school, or law school at one of a handful of elite universities -- e.g., Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, MIT, Johns Hopkins, University of Chicago, and Stanford. From there they go to work for a major corporation, law firm, foundation, think tank, or university, and slowly work their way to the top.

The idea of the power elite intertwines class theory and organizational theory, two theories which are often thought of as distinctive or even as rivals. The basis for the intertwining of the two theories is to be found in the role and composition of the boards of directors that govern every large profit and nonprofit organization in the United States. It is on boards of directors that the values and goals of the upper class are integrated with those of the organizational hierarchy. Upper-class directors insure that their interests are infused into the organizations they control, but the day-to-day organizational leaders on the board are able to harmonize class interests with organizational principles.

It is important to stress that I am not saying that all experts are members of the power elite. People have to be high-level employees in institutions controlled by members of the upper class to be considered part of the power elite. Receiving a fellowship from a foundation, spending a year at a think tank, or giving advice to a policy-discussion organization does not make a person a member of the power elite. It also may be useful to note that there are many experts who never go near the policy-planning network. They focus on their teaching and research, or work for groups that oppose the policies of the power elite. In short, experts and advisers are a separate group just below the power elite in the pecking order.

With the composition of the power elite clearly stated, it is now possible to show how it dominates the federal government in the interest of the upper class and corporate community.

The Power Elite and Government

Members of the power elite directly involve themselves in the federal government through three basic processes, each of which has a slightly different role in ensuring "access" to the White House, Congress, and specific agencies, departments, and committees in the executive branch. Although some of the same people are involved in all three processes, most leaders specialize in one or two of the three processes. These three processes are:

The special-interest process, through which specific families, corporations, and industrial sectors are able to realize their narrow and short-run interests on taxes, subsidies, and regulation in their dealings with congressional committees, regulatory bodies, and executive departments;

The policy-making process, through which the policies developed in the policy-planning network described earlier are brought to the White House and Congress;

The candidate selection process, through which members of the power elite influence electoral campaigns by means of campaign donations to political candidates.

Power elite domination of the federal government can be seen most directly in the workings of the corporate lobbyists, backroom super-lawyers, and industry-wide trade associations that represent the interests of specific corporations or business sectors. This special-interest process is based in varying combinations of information, gifts, insider dealing, friendship, and, not least, promises of lucrative private jobs in the future for compliant government officials. This is the aspect of business-government relations described by journalists and social scientists in their case studies. While these studies show that the special interests usually get their way, the conflict that sometimes erupts within this process, occasionally pitting one corporate sector against another, reinforces the image of widely shared and fragmented power in America, including the image of a divided corporate community. Moreover, there are some defeats suffered by the corporate rich in the special-interest process. For example, laws that improved auto safety standards were passed over automobile industry objections in the 1970s, as were standards of water cleanliness opposed by the paper and chemical industries.

...

WRA

Table 2: The 15 most central organizations in the corporate/foundation/think tank/policy-planning group/university/charity/advisory committee network.

Organization Sector/Subsector Centrality score

Committee for Economic Development Think Tank 140.81

University of Chicago University 3.66

Conference Board Think Tank 3.60

Verizon Business 3.29

Proctor & Gamble Business 3.21

National Bureau of Economic Research Think Tank 3.01

Network Reliability and Interoperability Council Government Advisory Board 2.41

President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee Government Advisory Board 2.38

Allied Signal Business 2.36

Exxon Mobil Business 2.36

President's Export Council Government Advisory Board 2.32

Columbia University University 1.66

Ford Foundation Foundation 1.66

Sara Lee Corporation Business 1.66

National Petroleum Council Government Advisory Board 1.66