Posted on 03/06/2006 9:44:05 AM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON – It has to be rough right now, being a lobbyist in the nation's capital.
Perhaps it is also rough being Brian Bilbray. He's the congressman-turned-lobbyist-turn-ed-congressional candidate who must convince voters that he is part of the solution to the ethically challenged climate on Capitol Hill, rather than part of the problem.
As tales of bribery dominate the headlines and lawmakers scramble to curb the influence lobbyists have on Congress, Bilbray finds himself unique among the 50th District candidates for his experience as a member of Congress, and as a lobbyist seeking to influence members.
“If you're a lobbyist, you've got the Washington version of the scarlet letter tattooed on your back right now,” said Keith Ashdown, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a government watchdog.
Bilbray, a Republican, registered as a lobbyist a few months after losing his re-election bid in 2000 to Susan Davis, D-San Diego. He had held the seat for six years. Federal law banned former members such as Bilbray from lobbying Congress for one year after leaving office. He spent that first year lobbying the Bush administration on immigration issues, which was allowed.
Bilbray acknowledges that his competitors in the April 11 special election to replace disgraced former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham are likely to use his lobbying experience against him.
“I'm sure they will,” he said. “Everyone is trying to say that everyone in Washington is tainted.”
Cunningham was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in federal prison for accepting bribes in exchange for steering government work to defense contractors.
In the five years Bilbray has been a part of what is known as the “K Street” crowd, he has commuted between his San Diego County home and Washington, working out of a Virginia home that he bought while in Congress. Relative to other lobbyists in town, Ashdown said, Bilbray's earnings are “not that impressive.”
“He hasn't made a lot of money,” Ashdown said.
In 2004, Bilbray reported earning at least $200,000 from three clients – the Federation for American Immigration Reform, often known as FAIR; the San Diego Regional Airport Authority; and the Viejas Band of Kumyaay Indians. He earned an undisclosed amount listed as “less than $10,000” from a fourth client, Conquer Cancer & Alzheimer's Now. In the past, he has also represented Los Angeles County, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Benedetto Advocacy & Communications, which has worked on the Bajagua border-sewage treatment project.
One of Bilbray's most lucrative clients has been FAIR, a group that fights illegal immigration, much as Bilbray did while a congressman. Bilbray represented the organization on the issues of drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants, amnesty proposals and reimbursing hospitals for the costs of treating illegal immigrants.
From May 2002, when he started lobbying for FAIR, until July 2005, the last month for which lobbying reports were available, Bilbray earned almost $300,000 from FAIR. He stopped working for the group in December, about the time he announced his candidacy, said Paul Egan, FAIR director of government relations.
“It was something I believed in, and not just because someone was paying me,” Bilbray said of lobbying for FAIR. He said he lobbied for the Bajagua project for the same reason.
With Bajagua, Bilbray earned about $35,000 in 2001 to lobby the White House and State Department. In December 2001, when Bilbray testified before a House committee on the Bajagua border-sewage plan, he did not identify himself as a company lobbyist, but as the ex-lawmaker who wrote the bill paving the way for Bajagua to get the contract. Bilbray recently told The San Diego Union-Tribune that he didn't think his ties to Bajagua were relevant to mention because he had been asked to testify as the bill's author.
The Hill, a Capitol-area newspaper, reported last summer that several sources, including one GOP lawmaker, complained that Bilbray used his floor privileges as an ex-member to lobby in the House chamber. Bilbray denied the allegation. “I've never done that. That's not right,” he said.
Several Washington scandals, including Cunningham's, have focused new attention on relationships between those in Congress and the people hired to influence their votes. The most high-profile lobbying corruption case of late involves Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to defrauding his clients and conspiring to bribe members of Congress.
Bilbray was also among those who benefited from trips that Abramoff arranged for members of Congress, once accepting an Abramoff trip to the Pacific Islands.
Bilbray said he knew Abramoff through a surfing buddy, and that the relationship was “very tenuous.”
Some find it notable that Bilbray has listed himself on voter registration documents as an “immigration reform advocate,” rather than a lobbyist. In an agreement with the California Secretary of State's office, Bilbray switched the designation to “immigration reform consultant.”
“I do feel that if you're a lobbyist, that's what you say you are,” said Nikki Symington, a publicist who spent more than a decade representing various Indian tribes. “But who's going to say they're a lobbyist running for Cunningham's seat?”
The campaign of a rival candidate, Eric Roach, is suing to force Bilbray to be identified on the ballot as a lobbyist.
Bilbray said his ballot designation accurately describes his lobbying work, which he said focuses more on public relations and strategy rather than lobbying of Hill lawmakers.
There have been calls for tighter controls on the money and favors that lobbyists give lawmakers. Some in Congress want to place curbs on lobbyists-turned-lawmakers, similar to those restrictions on people who leave Congress to lobby.
A proposal by Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., would force lobbyists-turned-lawmakers to refrain for two years from becoming “personally and substantially” involved in matters benefiting former employers or clients. A Senate committee last week did not include Dayton's plan in a lobbying reform bill, but Dayton plans to pursue the idea.
If such restrictions become law, they could prevent Bilbray from dealing with issues such as immigration reform if he is elected to Congress.
“Does that mean I couldn't vote on any immigration issues?” Bilbray asked. “Right – when hell freezes over.”
Others questioned whether such a law would be constitutional.
“I'm just not sure that you can constitutionally curb an elected official's capacity to represent the preferences of his constituents,” said Egan of FAIR.
Bilbray was my rep once. We can do better.
Go Howard!
http://www.kaloogianforcongress.com/
What about Clinton working for the UAE?
Yes we can .. and never forget Bilbray BETRAYED US on the CFR deal. We all told him to vote against it and he didn't - it cost him the election - and I don't see any reason to add another RINO to the congress - we already have enough.
Chris Simcox, Co-Founder, National Minutemen Endorsed Him.
The San Diego Minutemen Endorsed Him.
USA Border Alert Endorsed Him.
San Diego Border Alert Endorsed Him.
...added to that a number of pre-existing endorsements from anti-illegal immigration leaders including Ron Prince, co-Author of Prop 187.
Democrat Seeks Upset in Calif. 50th Vote
by David Freddoso
Posted Apr 11, 2006
Conservative former Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian (R) has fallen off the map in today's special election in California's 50th U.S. House District.. Whether it has been his recent gaffes, or loss of support to State Sen. Bill Morrow (R) or frontrunner Eric Roach (R), Kaloogian has tailed off significantly since the last poll showed him in the midst of a very tight three-way race for the nomination.
What was a three-way race now looks like a two-way race between Roach and former Rep. Brian Bilbray (R), a moderate. Both have surged in recent polls -- Roach with a huge infusion of cash into his campaign and ads featuring President Ronald Reagan. Bilbray clearly understands that Roach is the man to beat, and his new negative mailers are aimed at the frontrunner. Leaning Roach.
There is an off chance that Francine Busby (D), the only serious Democratic candidate in the race, will run away with a majority and win without a June 6 runoff. We expect, however, that she will finish first, but below 45%. Her future is much less certain in a runoff, which would have higher turnout, falling as it does on the date of the statewide primary election. The district is two-to-one Republican in registration. A Busby win would be a huge Democratic victory, and a wakeup call for Republicans that could foretell disaster in November.
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=13938
You should be proud to see another conservative go down in flames, if true... in fact, why not crow about it at a conservative forum?
we'll see who eats crow in the end. just a moderate piece'll do.
"Howard is his own worst enemy".....
For folks like you, being conservative is a kiss of death as well when it comes to a candidate..
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