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Not surprised, but definitely concerned:
Bu2
Posts: 1,693
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2504
Quote, with bold emphasis my own: The subject of accepting lobbyists’ fundraising help has driven a wedge between those Democratic front-runners who accept their help and those who don’t. A recent Gallup poll found that fully three-quarters of adults of voting age consider contributions from lobbyists to be “unacceptable.”
“It is stunning with so many serial fundraisers holding back that the number of 2008 lobbyists is already approaching 2004 levels,” said Laura MacCleery, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. “It’s just another sign that the unhealthy, symbiotic relationship that binds politicians and lobbyists continues in force.”
Republican John McCain and Democrat Hillary Clinton each have enlisted more than twice as many lobbyist-fundraisers as any candidate in their respective parties, according to information available. Clinton’s showing was not a surprise given that her two top competitors, Barack Obama and John Edwards, have policies of not accepting federal lobbyists’ help, although a handful of their bundlers registered as lobbyists in years past.
Getting details about efforts made by the lobbyist-fundraisers for Republican candidates is more difficult than obtaining the same data from Democratic candidates. Unlike Clinton and Obama, who provide some information about how much their fundraisers have raked in, Republican front-runners have thus far offered next to no such information.
Public Citizen’s study found that 10 of the bundler-lobbyists are former members of Congress, including Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, a McCain supporter; Rep. Bob Livingston of Louisiana, a Fred Thompson supporter; and Rep. and Gov. James J. Blanchard (D-Mich.), a Clinton supporter.
Quote, with bold emphasis my own: The subject of accepting lobbyists’ fundraising help has driven a wedge between those Democratic front-runners who accept their help and those who don’t. A recent Gallup poll found that fully three-quarters of adults of voting age consider contributions from lobbyists to be “unacceptable.”
“It is stunning with so many serial fundraisers holding back that the number of 2008 lobbyists is already approaching 2004 levels,” said Laura MacCleery, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. “It’s just another sign that the unhealthy, symbiotic relationship that binds politicians and lobbyists continues in force.”
Republican John McCain and Democrat Hillary Clinton each have enlisted more than twice as many lobbyist-fundraisers as any candidate in their respective parties, according to information available. Clinton’s showing was not a surprise given that her two top competitors, Barack Obama and John Edwards, have policies of not accepting federal lobbyists’ help, although a handful of their bundlers registered as lobbyists in years past.
Getting details about efforts made by the lobbyist-fundraisers for Republican candidates is more difficult than obtaining the same data from Democratic candidates. Unlike Clinton and Obama, who provide some information about how much their fundraisers have raked in, Republican front-runners have thus far offered next to no such information.
Public Citizen’s study found that 10 of the bundler-lobbyists are former members of Congress, including Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, a McCain supporter; Rep. Bob Livingston of Louisiana, a Fred Thompson supporter; and Rep. and Gov. James J. Blanchard (D-Mich.), a Clinton supporter.
Feels Good Inc.
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