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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

Lobbying the White House

Campaign donors and former government officials help 4,600 companies 
influence the executive branch

By Alex Knott

WASHINGTON, September 21, 2005 — Not many companies change their names to 
accommodate a recent hire, but not every new employee has the standing of 
Kirk Blalock. In a town where influence is predicated on who you know, 
Blalock's connections are a conspicuously valuable commodity. As special 
assistant to the president, he often counseled George W. Bush and crafted 
political strategies with now-Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove. And as 
deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liaison, he coordinated 
the Bush administration's outreach to the business community—a role that 
gave him unique stature along Washington, D.C.'s K Street corridor.

Summary of Study Findings

Perhaps that's why in October 2003, just 11 months after Blalock left 
public service for Fierce & Isakowitz, the 25-year-old lobbying shop made 
him a name partner. It proved to be a profitable decision: Since Blalock's 
arrival, the firm has nearly doubled its annual revenue to more than $6 
million, with its new marquee partner involved in much of the business. In 
fact, during Blalock's freshman year at what is now Fierce, Isakowitz & 
Blalock, he personally registered to lobby on behalf of 33 clients. Of 
those, 22 listed the White House as a lobbying target.

Blalock was part of a team that lobbied the White House for the American 
Forest & Paper Association in support of the Healthy Forests Initiative, a 
legislative plan that was billed as a common-sense way to reduce the threat 
of destructive wildfires. The proposal was applauded by Blalock's 
timber-business client as a way to address the "crisis" facing the nation's 
federal forests, but roundly criticized by environmental organizations as 
being a mere giveaway to the timber industry. On Dec. 3, 2003, over the 
vehement protests of those environmentalists, President Bush signed the 
Healthy Forests Restoration Act into law.

Lobbying the White House, as the American Forest and Paper Association did 
in that legislative fight, has become an increasingly preferred tactic in 
Washington. More than one in five of those lobbying the federal government 
since 1998 have lobbied the offices of the White House, according to a 
study by the Center for Public Integrity. More than 4,600 companies, trade 
associations and interest groups have directly lobbied the 14 offices of 
the White House, including those of the president and vice president. In 
fact, over the past seven years, the White House has been lobbied by more 
parties than have the Federal Communications Commission and the departments 
of Education and Veterans Affairs combined.
From Pennsylvania Avenue to K Street and back

The rest of the sordid story is at:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/lobby/report.aspx?aid=731