Lobbyist
Read Google Joins Apple in Pushing for Tax Holiday
-after each black headline(7 in all) summarize the section into one meaningful sentence that captures the key point of the section. Do this on a piece of loose leaf to be collected
Go to www.opensecrets.org
click on lobbying on the left hand side of the page.Read
click on ranked sectors. Read and look at all the different sectors. Click around.
click on top spenders. read and look around.
post a one paragraph comment on the blog explaining one specific interest group and their influence/ interest
The US Tobacco group lobbies to help benefit the tobacco business. They currently spend $80,000, about half of what they spent last year. They want tobacco to remain legal and for government officials to not pass bills that say smokers cannot do certain things, such as healthcare, smoke in public places, etc.
ReplyDeleteNorthrop Grumman is a miscellaneous defense company. They are particularly interested in supporting proper management of the development of defense systems. The miscellaneous defense category contributed $16,496,679, there are 149 clients and a total of 343 lobbyists. Supports most Department of Defense bills.
ReplyDeleteThe Defense Aerospace lobby group helps to benefit government defense agencies like Boeing to get contracts. A majority of this money goes to Republicans. They want contracts to go to defense companies that make military weapons. in the past few years they have spent about $60 million to help get contract.
ReplyDeleteExxon Mobil has spent 6,820,000 dollars lobbying in 2011. Starting in 1998 the costs started to increase slowly until 2008, and then it started to decrease until today. The most the spent on lobbying was in 2008 when almost 30,000,000 was spent. Exxon Mobil lobbies to improve the oil industry.
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ReplyDeleteI find it odd that the the tobacco advocates are not spending as much money as people think they are. These advocates are only spending a little under 9 million dollars for their product and that is a lot less than I expected. This seems low just because many other groups are spending 70 million dollars or more. You would think that the tobacco advocates would be spending more money due to the laws being passed everywhere saying that you cannot smoke in certain places.
ReplyDeleteSteve Ferzetti
Exxon Mobil spent a total of $6,820,000 so far this year. Last year they spent about $12,450,000. From 2010 to 2011, the expenses of this company have gone down a significant amount because gas prices are always going up and down. Exxon Mobil lobbies make profits to benefit oil and gas comapnies.
ReplyDeleteThe Business Association group helps out small business, pro-business, and international trade. They have given 80 percent of there money to the Republicans since 1990. They fight for lower taxes, push for more affordable health insurance, and opposed measures to give workers more options to unionize. They have spent $50 million so far in the year of 2011
ReplyDeleteGeneral Motors hires lobbyists to benefit the auto industry, and to promote better safety through regulations. GM has spent over 5,000,000 this year on lobbying, and have hired 78 lobbyists. They have been mentioned in 34 bills. GM wants better legislation to make personal bankruptcy laws tougher, since they went bankrupt in 2009. They donate most of their money to republicans.
ReplyDeleteBoeings total lobby expenditures is 8,460,000. The issues they are currently facing are nation defense, Aerospace Technology, Taxes, Homeland Security, Commercial aviation and Science and Technology. They voted for Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011 and Military Construction Act of 2012.
ReplyDeleteUs Chamber of Commerce spent $31,830,000 on lobbyists this year. The highest they spent in the last 10 years was in 2009 when they spent $144,496,000. They spend most of their money on Business Associations lobby, and the rest on computers/internet and misc issues lobbys.
ReplyDeletekelly gamble
The abortion policy/pro-choice lobby has increased 163.2% since the 2nd quarter of 2010. These lobbyists want people to have their own choice. This is starting to increase again after the drop after the 2008 peak. People want women to have their own choice to have a baby or not. These lobbyists want people to have a choice of what they do with their body. Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America are considered the most active lobbyists on the pro-choice side of the issue. Although the lobbyists on pro-choice do not want to perform the abortions, they do offer many contraceptives to prevent it in the first place, like birth control and other forms.
ReplyDeletembarbs is Mike Barbacano
ReplyDeleteExxon Mobil has spent around 7,000,000 dollars lobbying in 2011. It has spent more each year since 1998, but hit a high peak in 2008. In 2008 they spent almost 30,000,000. The amount spent dropped slightly in 2009 but had a big drop to around 15,000,000 in 2010 and dropped even more in 2011.
ReplyDeleteBlue Cross/Blue Shield currently spends 11 million dollars in 2011. There are a total of 119 lobbyists supporting this company. The specific issues they cover are health issues, insurance, medicare, taxes, the Fed. budget, and pharmacy.
ReplyDeleteVerizon Communications lobby's have spent about $9,060,000 so far. The money seems to have gone into various different places, from contracts, to services that range from the internet to telephone and electric. It also has money invested into insurance and places that Verizon would like to have or has their services for use. they spend the most in telephone utillities and the next highest is in their telecom services and equipment.
ReplyDeleteI chose to research General Electric. I chose this because it is a company that basically everybody uses because everyone needs electricity. The company received $250,000 on tv/movies/music lobbying. I think they do this to get more advertisements out because those lobbyists may be able to control what advertisements are on TV. Also, energy companies contribute a total of $1,075, 509 to general electric, I wonder if they contribute because they are connected to each other because you would think they would be in competition.
ReplyDeleteEd Walsh
In this year, we spent less than half as much money as we did the 2 years before. People will be more agitated as we spend less to help others.
ReplyDeleteGeneral Motors spends about $5M on lobbying, especially since 2007. They support groups like the Nickels Group, which seems to glean money from various other organizations such as the American Dental Association and the American Hospital Association. The Nickels Group received $120k from General Motors last year and has been receiving anywhere from $300k to $100k every year since 2005 when it was founded. The Nickels Group is a company that provides legal consultation and advice to various senators on issues of public policy and business.
ReplyDeleteThe group was founded by Don Nickels, a retired Oklahoma senator who served for 27 years.
My name is Brad Llewellyn.
The Boeing CO spent $8,460,00 dollars in 2011 alone. Boeing has a total of 85 lobbyists. Most of the money Boeing gets goes into defense, trade, and homeland security.
ReplyDeleteIn recent years, the Tobacco industry has used a lot of money towards lobbying; yet, 2004-2005 cost of lobbying had gone down dramatically, I think the recent "Anti-smoking" trend has really put a stop to the uncontrollable power the Tobacco companies once had. Ironically enough, the American based companies have stopped lobbying yet the overseas companies have on decreased their lobbying by minute amounts.
ReplyDeletePharmaceuticals/Health Products spends $120,022,785 in the year 2011. There are a number of 1,388 lobbyists. Also, the total number of clients reported are 380.
ReplyDelete-Amy Trinh
AT&T lobby groups spend large amounts of money, especially in the past several years. There are one of the largest lobby groups around, rostering 93 lobbyists last year. AT&T wants to buy T-Mobile. They say this merger will make them the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. They also say they will expand so they can reach more customers in the rural areas.
ReplyDeleteJulia Malseed
I find it very interesting that the Human Rights Campaign spent a whopping $3,502,460 dollars, but only in one year, 2004. They spent that much money, but in all the other years they barely made it to 2 million.-Kaitlin Ersek
ReplyDeleteGeneral Motors (GM) has lobbyists who attempt to change and make the auto industry better for themselves and others through safety reguations. They have been active in 28 bills and have had numerous reports in each of the bills. GM Lobbyists generally target republicans and give them funding. They have 12 Lobbyists working under them. They have a total lobbying income of $5,520,000.
ReplyDeletePfizer Inc. is among the top five most influential pharmaceutical companies in the world. They have fought efforts to attach a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, and continue to expand their business by buying other pharmaceutical companies. Pfizer has spent $7,440,000 through their 72 lobbyists in the year 2011.
ReplyDeleteThe American Hospital Assosciation represents 37000 members at 5000 hospitals. The lobbyists are against any redctions in Medicare payments. They are also trying to get Congress to make jobs to train nurses. The lobbyists for American Hospital Assosciation spends $9,281,947 a year.
ReplyDelete- Alexa Bolton
This year, Exxon Mobil has already spent a total of $6,820,000. $12,450,000 was spent in 2010. In the previous year to this year, the expenses of Exxon Mobil has greatly decreased because people are trying to buy less gas and find an alternative.
ReplyDeleteThe finance, insurance and real estate sector contributed about $237 million just this year so far. In 2010, this sector put in almost $500 billion. There is about 2242 lobbyists in the whole Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate sector. Out of this 2242, 140 of them are accountants. In 2005, the accountants contributed around $20 million which is a lot higher than most of the totals, especially the $7.5 million total up to this day.
ReplyDeleteI found that Boeing has spent more than 15 million dollars in the past 3 years on lobbying expenses. The most popular bill in the house was Securing American Jobs Through Exports Act of 2011 for Boeing. They also have to deal with taxes and such
ReplyDeleteThe Anheuser-Busch lobby group did not start spending a lot of money until around 2004. From 2004 to 2008 their spendings grew but now they are starting to spend a lot less again.
ReplyDeleteI found that the National Beer Wholesalers Assn spent 3.8 million dollars on lobbyist. The spending did not break even, putting the PAC in debt. Each year the PAC spends millions of dollars on lobbying and, interestingly enough, only gain profits in the 1990, 2004, and (oddly enough) 2012 cycles. They could possibly be lobbying strongly in Pennsylvania for their fairly strict beer laws.
ReplyDeleteJoe Yorke
The National Rifle Association spends an average of over 1.5 million dollars over its years of existence, but it recently reached its all time high of $2,650,000 just last year, 2010. A majority of their spending goes into its own firm, the National Rifle Association firm. They lobbied many bills during its existence, with few pertaining to the law enforcement and crime issues. -Kevin Ng
ReplyDeleteThe Pharmaceutical Rsrch & Mfrs of America have spent a total of $204,433,920 from the years 1998-2011. The top three bills the Pharmaceutical Rsrch & Mfrs of America has lobbied for are the Health Care Reform Bill, Patent Reform Act of 2011, and America Invents Act. The highest amount of money this "Top Spender" has spent was in 2009, spending over $25 million. The lowest it has spent was around $3 million in 1998 and as of 2011 the spending has decreased to about $9 million. The Pharmaceutical Rsrch & Mfrs of America might want to pass certain bills so they can have medications made legal in the United States that are only legal in other countries.
ReplyDeleteFord Motor Company has spent $3,380,000 on lobbying. They contribute money to both Republicans and Democrats in support of bills to further research for alternate energy research as well as transportation and infrastructure funding. Ford's sales are currently on recovery from the recession that claimed most of the American automotive industry. Their lobbying funds are currently on the rise due to the increased profits.
ReplyDeleteThe AT$T company has gained billions of billions to there company by merging with many different companies. AT$T has bought out companies and sold parts of AT&T and gained even more money. Even in 1980 when they broke up they came back even harder. They were bought by SBC for 16 billion dollars, then cingular bought AT&T for 14 billion and many other companies has done busines with AT&T.
ReplyDeleteMike Coffey
Boeing Co has spent 8,460,000 in 2011 on lobbying. They are one of the top spenders out of any lobbying groups. Boeing has 85 lobbyist in 2011. Boeing lobbied on the bill securing American jobs through export act of 2011.
ReplyDeleteThe blue cross/ blue shield spent about 11 million dollars in 2011 but in 2009 they spent close to 25 million dollars. Their biggest issue is health care. With 60 issues. There are a total of 119 lobbyist in the Blue Cross/ Blue Shield. An agency that deals with Blue Cross is the US senate.
ReplyDeleteAnna Gianforcaro
The Pharmaceutical Lobbyists spent about 70 million dollars in 1998. They have been constantly spending more up until 2009, approximately 270 million dollars. This could had been used to influence the health care plan Obama wanted to pass. Now that they know that the health care plans will be in their favor, there spending in 2011 is close to that in 1998. The group is against government-run health care, like most people, because they could lost the ability to set the cost for medicine. They also want quicker approval processes for medicine from both domestic and international sources.
ReplyDeleteThe television, movie and music industry keeps increasing its lobbying lately. Spending more than $107 million in 2009 to influence federal lawmakers and policies. THe last few years it has been very large. COmsact COrps. spent about $2.9 million and $2.7 million respectively during the 2008 election cycle.
ReplyDeleteamber armstrong
General Motors (GM) has spent various amounts of money through lobbyists from years 1998 to 2011. In 2011 they spent the least amount of money lobbing and in 2007 they spent the most amount of money lobbing. They should come up with a solid number and go with that number like 7.5 million dollars and that should be there limit in how much money they spend each year instead of various amount of money every years.
ReplyDeleteCommercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM Act). This is when commercials are louder on the radio and the television. They want to get there point across, so people will buy what they are selling. It is illegal to have the commercials over power everything else. These reports have 1,249 issues in the issue area.
ReplyDeleteMatt Bayes
Hospitals and Nursing Homes have spent $48,211,657 since 2011. They have about 962 lobbyists and 525 clients. It has increased from 2001 til 2010, now it is starting to decrease because people are now trying to find alternatives.
ReplyDeleteThe finance/insurance and real estates spend about 90,671,266 in a year. Their largest source of campaign contributers to the federal candidates which provide the bulk of the money and conference banks contribute to certain campaigns
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ReplyDeleteThe Business Association group helps out small sized businesses and international trade. They fight to make taxes lower, try and get cheaper, more affordable health insurance, and oppose to give workers more ways to unionize.They have given 80 percent of there money to the Republican party since 1990. These lobbyist have spent already 50 million dollars in 2011. - Austin Dwyer
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