Politics

Sunrise (2/2/11)

By Paul Blumenthal

CALIFORNIA TREASURER SEEKS LOBBYING MONEY BACK FROM BANKS

--DJW: "California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer Tuesday moved to recoup taxpayer money used to fund state and national groups that lobby for Wall Street banks and other market participants, and which also finance political campaigns. ... In a letter dated Tuesday, Lockyer advised the 86 firms in the state's underwriter pool that he wants them to give taxpayers their money back. He said he has ordered an end to the practice of using bond proceeds to cover the costs of fees underwriters pay to the advocacy groups to fund their activities. ... Preliminary estimates by Lockyer's staff indicate the state, from 2005-2010, may have paid more than $380,000 for underwriters' CalPSA fees in the sales of general obligation bond fees alone, Lockyer's office said. ... "If the state paid three times that amount for the SIFMA fees in GO sales -three cents versus one cent - the preliminary estimates indicate the SIFMA total could be more than $1.14 million," it continued in a press release."

REVOLVING DOOR: SENATE BANKING STAFFER GOES TO LAW FIRM

--Deal Book: "Mark Oesterle, the chief counsel to Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee, has joined Reed Smith?s financial regulatory group in the law firm?s Washington office. ... Mr. Oesterle will be ?of counsel? to the firm, which has some 220 lawyers representing banks and other financial institutions across the world. ... After playing an important role in crafting the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law, Mr. Oesterle will now influence the law?s implementation as an outsider."

LOBBYISTS GEAR UP FOR SOUTH KOREA FTA FIGHT

--Roll Call: "With President Barack Obama signaling that passing a free-trade agreement with South Korea will be a top priority, lobbyists for and against the deal are scrambling to line up support among freshman Republicans, whose votes will be crucial in determining the fate of the agreement. ... Michael Ostrolenk, national director of StopUSKoreaNAFTA.org, said his center-right libertarian group favors free trade but opposes the South Korea deal because it would cost U.S. jobs and sovereignty. ... ?We?re outreaching to a lot of the groups, like the tea party groups, and also we?ve been starting to do some Hill visits,? Ostrolenk said. ... ?A lot of these Members said things on the campaign trail or didn?t say things on the campaign trail. From our perspective, they?re all kind of a blank slate,? said Christopher Wenk, a top trade lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. ?The chamber and business community have been aggressively reaching out to all of them and setting up meetings with individual Members.? ... Last week, the chamber, the National Association of Manufacturers and others helped organize a trade briefing for about 75 staffers through the Republican Study Committee."

FROM YESTERDAY:

--Day in Transparency (2/1/11)

--Day in Sunlight (2/1/11)

Full post as published by Sunlight Foundation on February 02, 2011 (boomark / email).