Among the right-leaning Blue Dogs of the U.S. House of Representatives is Jim Costa, who sits on the Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Foreign Affairs committees. In his work on these committees, as well as with his general status as a member of Congress, Costa has a great deal of power to make decisions that can contribute to or negatively impact the profits of American corporations.

It is worth noting, therefore, that in a few weeks, Costa will be collecting money at a reception organized by a lobbying firm representing many clients that have significant financial interests in the business of Costa’s congressional committees. The firm is Williams & Jensen, which likes to describe itself as “one of the nation’s leading independently owned government affairs law firms” That’s a gentle euphemism, but the public record is more blunt. Williams & Jensen is on the list of federally registered lobbying firms.

Consider the relationship between Williams & Jensen and Costa’s work on the House Agriculture Committee. Costa sits on Agriculture’s General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee, where, as Costa himself boasts, he “reviews programs and markets related to cotton and wheat”. Williams & Jensen just so happens to do lobbying work on behalf of Supima, an organization that represents growers and marketers of certain sorts of cotton. Among other clients is the agricultural giant Imperial Sugar.

We see the same sort of confluence of interest between Costa and Williams & Jensen clients in the sphere of the House Natural Resources Committee, where Costa is the Chairman of the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee. “Congressman Costa’s appointment gives his constituents a voice over water issues, such as water resources planning, research and development and irrigation programs, as well as mining, oil, and gas,” says Costa’s official online biography. Last year, the lobbyists at Williams & Jensen represented 5 different companies or associations from the oil industry.

As a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, Representative Costa helped to delay health care reform legislation from moving forward until the 2009 summer recess, so that the organizations linked to the health care status quo would have time to organize against the reforms. Wouldn’t you know it – Williams & Jensen represented a huge number of health care industry businesses and organizations last year, earning nearly one and a half million dollars lobbying for their work for pharmaceuticals corporations alone.

So, at 5:00 PM on March 3rd, the Williams and Jensen Townhouse at 324 Independence Avenue SE, Washington D.C. will open its doors for a special reception just for Congressman Jim Costa. Through those doors will walk in Costa’s constituents – no, not constituents from California, 3,000 miles away, but Costa’s industry constituents.

The invitation for the Williams & Jensen lobbying fundraiser for Costa advises that the minimum price of admission will be a $1,000 gift for Costa, to be his “friend”. The invitation also makes specific suggestions for amounts of money to be given by political action committees. To be a “PAC Host”, $2,500 is asked. Special attention from Costa’s staff for a “PAC Chair” will cost $5,000.

How many people, carrying how many checks, will come from Imperial Sugar, Supima, or the other Williams & Jensen clients in Big Oil or the health care industry, will take part in this reception? If you stand on the sidewalk outside the lobbyist townhouse on that evening in early March, maybe you’ll get a glimpse of who the people paying to be in the same room as Jim Costa… before the door slams shut again.