Scott Brown Takes Oil Money At Lobbyist Party
Senator Scott Brown says that he wants to return Washington D.C. to the American people. “I pledged to do my best to change the tone in Washington, and I am committed to fulfilling that pledge. Washington is broken and must be fixed. Congress needs to focus on doing its job — legislating — and getting things done for the American people,” he says.
After today, residents of Massachusetts may be wondering what taking payments of cash from representatives of corporations in a lobbyist’s office has to do with getting things done for the American people. That’s exactly what Scott Brown did today, at a breakfast lobbyist meeting at 101 Constitution Ave, NW, Suite 600 West.
That address is the address of a registered lobbyist, Michael W. Adcock. Michael Adcock works for Van Scoyoc Associates, which proudly describes itself as “the largest independent lobbying firm in Washington, D.C.”
In order to further the interests of its corporate clients, Van Scoyoc Associates operates a political action committee: the Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc. PAC. That political action committee was listed as a host of this morning’s lobbyist breakfast meeting with Senator Scott Brown, along with the Spectra Energy PAC, a political action committee for the Spectra Energy Corporation, a company that drills for fossil fuels.
Spectra Energy is located down in Texas. So, what is a fossil fuels drilling company from Texas doing hosting a lobbyist breakfast for a senator from Massachusetts, and what does the Spectra Energy PAC have in common with Van Scoyoc Associates?
Spectra Energy is a client of the Van Scoyoc Associates lobbyists, of course. Van Scoyoc likes to portray itself as a representative of quaint local governments, but the fact is that the firm is hip deep in oil money, representing fossil fuels interests ranging from the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association to Shell Oil. Michael Adcock, whose office hosted the lobbyist get-together with Scott Brown this morning, is a lobbying representative of the International Association of Drilling Contractors.
For the meeting organized by Adcock, Van Scoyoc and Spectra Energy, Laura Rizzo from the Brown re-election campaign openly asked that political action committees come with at least one thousand dollars each for the senator. In what looks like not very much of a coincidence, the positions Senator Brown is offering on energy issues are just what Van Scoyoc’s oil industry clients want: Expansion of offshore drilling and no action on climate change.
In the wake of this dollars-for-drilling breakfast lobbying party Senator Brown attended this morning, I’m looking for a description of the concrete plan that the senator has for returning Washington D.C. to the American people. I’m searching as hard as I can, but I just can’t find one. It looks to me that Brown is much more interested in delivering Washington D.C. into the hands of whichever corporations can hand him the most money.
[...] planet? Perhaps the $1,907,988 that dirty energy companies and their corporate front groups have poured into his campaign has something to do with it? Senator Brown has demonstrated that he is beholden to the fossil fuel [...]
Sr. Scott Brown,
I have watched you closely over the last couple of years and admire the work you have done and would very much like to vote for you in 2012. However, when I see that you are also working with the big oil companies I go back to my democratic roots and have many, many reservations. You know as well as I that these corporations do not give a d… about the suffering in this country or its people as Mary Landreau recently noted “America is all about profits” that is not my value, we, as a country are about so much more. Not being naiive I know you have to raise money to stay in the race but Oil Companies?? c’mon Sr. Scott. It is certainly my wish to bring to MA elected officials from the Republican party, and I for one am trying to do just that but you are increasingly making it difficult for me to consider you – please reconsider your relationship with the big oil companies. thank you for your time and I would appreciate hearing from you.
[...] November 2010 That’s My Congress reported on a breakfast fundraiser for Senator Scott Brown held at the offices of the Van Scoyoc lobbying agency, 101 Constitution [...]