E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Ron Darling and other riggers load nets full of balloons for the Republican National Convention festivities inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Friday.
A "salute" to oil baron David Koch. A fete bankrolled by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. And gala bashes for GOP super PAC donors and bundlers featuring rock stars like Kid Rock and ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder.
Those are only a handful of the big parties planned for Republican delegates, lawmakers and donors in Tampa starting this weekend. While some of the events are well advertised and open to the public, private schedules, prepared for GOP fundraisers and obtained by NBC News, show that this year's convention will once again provide a unique opportunity for lobbyists and big dollar donors to wine and dine lawmakers -- and press their agendas.
"It's a mega-fundraising, lobbying extravaganza. Everybody is in one place at one time," says Jack Abramoff, the onetime kingpin lobbyist whose 2006 conviction for corruption led to reforms aimed at cracking down on lobbyist influence peddling.
Abramoff, who was released from prison last year and will be attending this year's GOP convention as a commentator for "Inside Edition," said that, as far as he can see, lobbyists and their lawyers have merely figured out creative new ways to skirt the rules -- a point underscored by the dizzying array of parties all week in Tampa. "Nothing has really changed," he said.
Storm warnings notwithstanding, the action begins in earnest Sunday at 5:30 p.m. when one of Washington's biggest lobbying firms, Williams and Jensen (whose current clients include the American Bankers Association, Pfizer and Comcast, which owns NBC) hosts a kick-off reception and dinner for GOP delegates at a local eatery called Bern's Steakhouse.
Just a half hour later, another big D.C. lobbying powerhouse -- Fierce, Isakowitz and Blalock (current clients: the American Gaming Association, Ford Motor, J.P. Morgan and Time Warner Cable) -- hosts a dinner for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee at the Tampa Museum of Art.
Then later in the evening, oil giant Chevron and Aflac, the insurance firm, are co-hosts of a "Two Step, Soul and Rock 'N Roll" party at the Historic Cuban Club; AT& T throws a competing party at Armani's Grand Hyatt; and the American Action Network, an "issues advocacy group" headed by former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, teams up with Citizens United for a bash at Liberty Plaza.
But delegates may have to pace themselves. On Monday night, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce joins the Distilled Spirits Council for a "Celebrate the Spirit of Tampa" party at the Tampa Aquarium. On Tuesday, Barbour Griffith and Rogers, another of Washington's biggest lobbying firms (among its current clients: Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and the country of Qatar) hosts the delegates at Stump's Supper Club with a party honoring its founding partner, Haley Barbour, who, after serving as governor of Mississippi and toying with the idea of running for president, has rejoined the firm.
The next morning, Restore Our Future, the Romney super PAC, offers a private briefing for its mega donors by Sen. Marco Rubio. And that afternoon, the Republican Jewish Coalition throws a "Salute to Pro-Israel Elected Officials at the Crowne Plaza, where the coalition's major bankroller, casino kingpin Adelson, is expected to make a grand appearance. (That's not the only Adelson presence at the convention. According to a report in Yahoo News on Friday, the YG Network -- named for House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor's Young Guns -- has named a "Woman Up!" pavilion for Miriam Adelson, the mogul's Israeli-born wife.)
Craig Holman, a lawyer for Public Citizen, a campaign watchdog group that plans to "bird dog" the parties , says that this year's convention is showcasing new ways that lobbyists are bypassing ethics rules. Those rules -- enacted in 2007 after the Abramoff scandal -- barred lobbyists from throwing parties honoring "a member of Congress." So this year's parties don't honor individual members; they honor groups of members such as "A Salute to the House and Senate Energy and Commerce Committees" being thrown by a new consulting firm called GOP Convention Strategies at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. ("It's a Home Run!" reads the invite.)
But perhaps the most conspicuous honoree is not any member or delegate: It's David Koch, the billionaire oil man who helps run energy giant Koch Industries. Along with his brother, Charles, Koch has emerged as one of the biggest and most controversial financiers of conservative advocacy groups that gave rise to the Tea Party and other GOP causes. On Thursday, Americans for Prosperity -- one of the Koch-backed groups that has announced it plans to spend $151 million on this year's campaign, including a new blitz of TV ads attacking President Barack Obama -- will sponsor "A Salute to Entrepreneurs Building America."
There will be two men honored at the event: Art Pope, the group's chairman, and Koch.
Leave a Comment:
Yeah! All the people at the Democrat convention will be really, really poor! No rich celebrities or anything. There'll be no lobbyists either. Nor fund raising.
A "salute" to oil baron David Koch. A fete bankrolled by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. And gala bashes for GOP super PAC donors and bundlers featuring rock stars like Kid Rock and ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder.
Is anyone else as underwhelmed as I am? "ROCK STARS" Kid (I never wrote a song that I didn't "STEAL" the music for) Raaawwwwkkkk, and Don (I got all sour grapes when Joe Walsh had more charisma and was a better band leader than me, so I threw a tantrum and QUIT) Felder.
I find a strange irony in this peculiar lineup, which seems to mimic the GOP guiding persona: " I @!$%#ed up everything I touched but I'm OK because I can blame it all on that Black guy @!$%# who's running things, and never have to take responsibility for my own shortcomings".
It's pathetic really when you think about it in the larger context of the coming election. But it's MORE that pathetic, it's dangerous, because there is a large, psychotically deluded sector of our society that honestly believes that all their troubles and problems will somehow magically vanish once the black guy is banished from the White House, Women are finally DENIED health care and Reproductive rights. homosexuals are stuffed back into the closet, working middle class people are put back into their gilded age economic slavery, their children's future and educational rights forfeited, and their retirement, pension, home equity, and health care funding rightfully restored to the obscenely wealthy ruling plutocracy that has been forced to allow it to exist for the last century.
Of their own free (and apparently not coerced of drug induced) will, these..."Patriots" are going to take a stand against what they perceive as Socialism, and in so doing, give rise to the greatest fascist regime since Franco.
You baggers best consider carefully, the leadership you espouse, because THIS brand...requires your support for only a very short time. Once in power they fully intend to remove your opinion, and your influence in total from their governing process. So as much as you rail against and HATE the so called "Right Wing Liberal Socialists" at least take a moment to remember: We're the ONLY group, standing between you...and the form of government you're so dead set against.
MUCK FITT...SCREW Eddie Munster...Kid Rock SUX...and Sheldon Adelstein and the Koch Brothers...are Satan's gay Antichist's BUTT babies. VOTE FOR THEM AND VOTE YOUR OWN ECONOMIC SLAVERY!
Ube: please stop talking to yourself Sarah P. will all your spewing and hatred and make believe.
Ucanbetcher @$$ that come November...Your boy Twit and his sidekick Eddie Munster...are gonna get their @$$E$ kicked worse than a narc at a bike rally.
And your Man crush heart-throbs like Cantor, Boner, McConnell, and ll the rest of the lying traitorous shills who populate both houses?
Well,,,over half of them are gonna just be gone, and the ones who do manage to survive will just have to crawl back under their rocks until the next opportunity for stupidity to take over the government presents itself.
I read Tampa is enacting a GOP tax on call-girls and prostitution, and expect to bring in a couple extra $100million dollars in taxes while Willard and boys, and girls are in town. Anyone else read that.
Wheres Obamas Party?? I forget
Sarah, it's called the party of the citizens. You know, we the people!
Well, even though President Obama's covention hasn't taken place yet, I'm sure the call-girls/boys, prostitutes, both boys, and girls, will be completely worn out from all the religious freaks getting their freak on from Romney's party.
OBAMA/BIDEN....2012!!!!
The story neglects to mention that the leftist, communist, Marxist, socialist, extremist, violent, union, Obama-bot zombie, OWS'rs.........DEMOCRATS....... will be out in full force rioting and destroying everything in sight.
Just hope the Democrats, Commies, Socialists and Union Thugs do not have another Obama endorsed Rally like the last one at the Lincoln Memorial, It took three days to clean the mess up left by the Disrespectful Pigs.
Would be funny if no protesters showed up, guess they are too smart for that.
Prostitutes will be making fat cash from this American past time.
Business as usual, would never expect anything less.
Casino owner Adelson has promised the GOP $100,000,000.00 this year. How big of a chunk of the GOP does that much money buy? Wonder if he can get 15-20 percent of the GOP for that chunk of change? Is he even a US citizen? Isnt there a law against foreign nationals owning an American political party?
Nope, the Republican Supreme Court said FOREIGN corporations are US citizens too (as long as one US citizen owns one share of their stock)! They can buy ALL the republicans that they want!... unlimited!
Sounds very Un-American to me.
Businesses are created and run by people and in America people are guaranteed freedom of speech, therefore the right also extends to business.
This country has always had a lunatic fringe, conspiracy theorists, etc. We all kind of sighed, shook our heads and were grateful that they were just a fringe. Then the Republicans invited them in and gave them dinner. Now they have acquired this wacky kind of legitimacy.
Knowing they're out there is one thing, knowing the Republicans have given them power is another thing altogether. The problem, of course, is that the Republicans are scared to death of them. They may have just been invited to dinner, but they've taken over the kitchen and the living room and the bedroom and the normal, sane Republicans no longer own the house. They've been co-opted. A lot of them were pushed out of office by some know-nothing Tea Party nut. Congratulations, Republicans. You have authored your own demise. The asylum is now officially in the hands of the inmates.
You wouldnt like G. Washington either....FOAD!
The Koch brothers father was a co-founder of the John Birch Society. The nuts (in this case) didn't fall far from the tree. They'll all be singing the Tea Party Hymn "I'm Dreaming of a White President". Sick people, the party of the filthy rich with a emphasis on FILTHY!
Awwww Pooor Baby... After 2010..You still don't realize that you Dems are irrelevant and nobody is listening to you spew your hatred. Were all laughing at you...and you dont even realize it....You'all stay happy here in your own little make-believe world .....until November.....then Bye!
Ubetcha....If the GOP wins in November how much of the Presidency does Adelson own for his $100,000,000.00 payment to the GOP.
Sarah P.: Isn't it way past your bedtime? you're repeating yourself. I guess someone showed you how to cut and paste! How special for you
This confirms a patttern I've noticed in the Republican party. They approach politics as if it were a football game. You pick your team (GOP) , then you stay loyal to it, try to bash your opponent, if you win party like crazy, and if you lose just disparage and blame the other team. There is very little thought, insight, or self-reflection. It's all about winning and ego. The ridiculous money spent on all those balloons is a metaphor for perceived dominance. Such a wasted expense from the party that claims to tout the virtues of austerity -- except when it comes to themselves.
There are over 500 American billionaires (more than the world combined). THEY are the GOP constituents! The rest are victims of propaganda, and failed religious promises (abortion, gay marriage, etc..)!
We dont blame BUSH...Thats you dumbo Libs...FOAD!
OMG!! You brought up "he-who-shall-not-be-mentioned!".... You stinking liberal!
Ubetcha....W is gonna be there too? Think Dick is coming too? He did buy a new heart with some of the money Halliburton gave him to start the Iraq war for them.
http://www.examiner.com/article/albrights-position-blaming-bush-forever-backed-by-cbpp-report-on-debt-deficit
* (CENTER ON BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES)
Like most low rent brown shirts, Ubetcha's so miserably ignorant he doesn't realize his own party blames bush every day - and therefore stays as far away from the smelly little weed as possible.
Sorry to have to inform Ubetcha but the following will NOT be allowed to speak at the Miami, Florida GOP Convention...
Hope you are not too disappointed, but look at the bright side...
LOTS and LOTS of Retirees and Seniors will be standing outside Convention Hall protesting that little whipper-snapper Ryan who wants to take away their Social Security, Medicare and other earned benefits!
Oh, and God may make an appearance via his Hurricane Isaac, because he's really p-o'd at how the GOPs have been pandering to the Gays!
Let's be honest people!
Snookie turned them down..
And remember
This GOPera is all over when The Fat Christie sings!
Like the Republicans are the only Party that does this....IDIOTS!
Nuttin BIASED about this Article at all huh???
FiveThirtyEight Forecast
Updated 7:16 PM ET on Aug. 23
November 6, 2012 Election Forecast
Electoral votes
Obama 296.3 Romney 241.7
Chance Of Winning
Obama 68.6 Romney 31.4
Popular Vote
Obama 50.6 Romney 48.3
NOTE:
Rasmussen Polls Were Biased and Inaccurate;
On the 2008 General election, polls conducted by the firm Rasmussen Reports — which released more than 100 surveys in the final three weeks of the campaign, including some commissioned under a subsidiary on behalf of Fox News — badly missed the margin in many states, and also exhibited a considerable bias toward Republican candidates.
All you have to do, is check the Vegas odds. Yes, Obama will win. The bets are now on by how much. Will it be a landslide? A record landslide? These are the REAL bets! (Casinos weren't created by losing!)
Too bad the polls the libs cling to sample registered voters NOT likely voters. There's a big difference
I have noticed that those who trumpet family values, God, apple pie, the flag, abstinence, purity and virtue are often the ones who fail to practice their preaching. Why is it that the biggest televangelists are always the ones found in the motel rooms with the hookers and the gays?
It isn't that I'm such a puritan, but the irony of the those who judge others so harshly being the biggest sinners of all, is not lost on me. I think it is why I don't trust people who are always talking about what great Christians they are, or what great patriots they are, or how much they treasure family values. It seems that those who talk the loudest are usually the ones who are sinning in secret in ways I would never imagine.
It is why I am skeptical. It is why I don't need you to tell me what a great patriot you are. Just show me. If you are one of the mega-rich, don't tell me you love the country. Show me, invest your money in American business , not in China. You care about defenseless embryos? Then show me how much you love defenseless children. Make sure they have playgrounds, schools, medical care and food.
You want me to believe you are a Christian? Then practice a little bit of Christian love. Take care of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, those who are in prison, those who are sick. That's the message Christ brought. So where is the real Christianity? Where is the Christianity that works for the downtrodden and the persecuted?
It is easy to claim patriotism or Christianity. But just because you claim it, doesn't make it true.
I agree with whoever it was that said, "Religion and patriotism are the last refuge of the scoundrel."
Samuel Johnson, statement of 7 April 1775,
The biggest party tax write off in the world.
Biden won't be going to Florida. You think they heard from God that he's sick of Romney - Ryan?
#1)Who is paying for all this waste?
#2) Typical Government waste of our taxes
#3)Just another reason I am not voting for any Republican, any incumbent, and any career politician.
#4)How can these greedy @!$%#s justify spending all this money when our Country has been ruined by these very morons!
The only parts of the country that mean anything to them is (a) the part that has money they do not yet have and (b) the top 10-15%.
To understand them, look up the puritan doctrine of the Elect, or Election. With them, it's not a matter of grace, it's purely money.
"Blurs the line"....... Is the headline a joke? The republicker lickspittle filth is a wholly owned subsidiary of Big Money USA.
(Another political Parody song by Bruce-1628250, sung to the tune of "Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?")
You would have to attend one of these 'private' functions to meet the actual people who would run the country If the Republicans succeed. Romney/Ryan are just the cardboard cutouts set up to obscure the real power brokers.
Oh well, guess all the money bags are meeting in Tampa to see who has the most money to gloat about. What a farce, nothing to do for the middle class or the poor, just a name game at this convention. Happy hunting to all and may the Dems meet in a more common way and show who cares about the poor and the middle class. Glad I left Tampa before this fiasco begins.
Guaranteed that at least one of the GOP party goers will get caught in the mangrove bushes on Gandy Blvd or the Courtney Campbell Causeway. Watch for headlines in the Tampa Tribune.
I can hear the Koch Brothers talking several months back. We only have two votes between us. That's a waste of time. Let's just buy America, we have the money. It's been working for them at many of our States so far. It's been working in the republican house for them. Now they are trying for the slam dunk with this dude Romney. Where do you think Romney's energy plan came from? It would be my guess it was wrote word by word from the Koch Brothers. Kind of like Ken Lay of Enron did in the past in DC.)
It is America: Vote your choice in Nov.
President Obama (Not a Koch Brother's puppet)(For the American people)2012
"It's a mega-fundraising, lobbying extravaganza. Everybody is in one place at one time," says Jack Abramoff, the onetime kingpin lobbyist whose 2006 conviction for corruption led to reforms aimed at cracking down on lobbyist influence peddling.
So now you're making up the news? There have been no reforms aimed at cracking down on lobbyist influence peddling. In fact, there's more peddling going on now than there ever was. What the hell world do you live in?
Uretcha,Urethra, Ubetcha...sorry,Seems that you're trying to wear big boy pants tonight, but alas the fit is loose and your filth is everywhere now.
Punks like you come and go, little man, acolytes of the Chris Christie's of the world who confuse bullying with manhood.
You're a wretch and nothing more, insignificant and inconsequential.
So take yourself to bed and try to keep the fluid release to a minimum.
Love, mom
No doubt the GOP white elephant can wine dine, dance and visit prono parlors of Tampa , but the belly ache they are to this nation and their over indulgent shindig during these hard times will not be forgotten. Then their is Isaac the fury of mother nature that can drown all these malignant narcissists, chronic scapegoating , grab bagger, who have collectively brought this nation to this stage misery. Then can bake and eat their poisonous cake. Who cares, they can collective drown.
As the man said, nothing has changed except the names (to protect the innocent, I assume, if there were such a thing in Washington D.C.)
This is just another case of the fox guarding the chicken coop, and we're the chickens.
I hope you have a lobbyist in the air conditioning business, because you're going to need one when you all go straight to He]]!