Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick of the 8th Congressional District of Pennsylvania introduced a new bill at the beginning of 2012. If passed, H.R. 3738 would take the current 1-year waiting period before former House members can join lobbying firms and extend it to 2 years. In the House of Representatives, fellow legislators indicate their support for [...]

2012: Republican Representative Spencer Bachus declines to support H.R. 336, a bill to cap credit card interest rates. 2011: Rep. Spencer Bachus votes to knock away the requirement that federal contracts pay Americans workers at least the prevailing wage for their work, supporting pay cuts for federal contract workers instead. 2011: Rep. Spencer Bachus votes [...]

The Federal Election Commission has concluded that Vern Buchanan “more likely than not” broke the law. A FEC report presents evidence substantiating the complaint against Buchanan, contradicting Buchanan’s claims that he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Wisconsin Republican Mark Neumann is campaigning to replace Herb Kohl in the United States Senate in next year’s election. Neumann criticizes other politicians easily, saying that they’re “threatening it all by pandering”. Yet, even before he’s gained his own party’s nomination, Neumann is pandering himself – to corporate lobbyists. The day after tomorrow, Neumann will [...]

The latest incarnation of this game will be played at Verizon Center on Tuesday, November 29. No, I’m not talking about the match between the Washington Capitals and the St. Louis Blues. I’m talking about the matchmaking that will be going on in a luxury box where Cliff Stearns will be meeting with lobbyists who are paying money to his re-election campaign in exchange for access to the Congressman.

This year, Timmons has personally lobbied Congress on behalf of the Air Transport Association of America, ASTAR Air Cargo, and US Airways. Timmons was once a Deputy Secretary in the Department of Transportation, but spent most of the 1990s as the head lobbyist for America West Airlines. John Timmons has also written two checks for Paul Gosar’s re-election campaign.

There are only 75 individual contributions to the 2012 re-election campaign of U.S. Representative Rob Woodall. Six of those 75 contributions have come from Pull-A-Part executives. The chances of this happening randomly are absurdly small.

It just so happens that, on the very same day that Mark Valente gave money to Michael Conaway’s re-election campaign, the Director of Administration for Valente and Associates also gave exactly the same amount of money to Conaway.

Lobbyist Henry Ryan isn’t one of Farenthold’s constituents. He lives in Washington D.C., not Texas. So why is Ryan giving money to Blake Farenthold?

Roy Blunt was in South Carolina meeting with members of the 1 percent, the upper crust financial elites who treat members of Congress as portions of their great estates. The 99 percent of Missouri were in Saint Louis today, marching from Kiener Plaza from to the Justice Center.