How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

bookworm in Iowa — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:27:07 GMT

This is scarrier than heck. Lobbyists are preditory creeps who do the bidding of special interests to try and take our money. I wish someone would tell me why we allow this at all.

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

Dredd — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:47:32 GMT

Let he and Franny celebrate a day or two longer for heaven sake. He can worry about snake bite next week.

http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/06/al-franken-becomes-senator.html

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

sms29s66 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:03:04 GMT

Somehow I think Franken's life experiences may give him the armor he needs to "wage war" in Washington.

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

DCattorney — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:03:44 GMT

The WH policy on meeting with lobbyists is misstated. It is only in very limited cirsumstances that WH personnel will not meet with lobbyists--generally it is permissible.

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

MartyinLA — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:18:20 GMT

Franken is smart - he'll do fine as long as he doesn't make trips to Argentina!

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

jasonlbuchanan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:22:16 GMT

I'm almost glad there is a process where Lobbyists "break in" new senators... There is no possible way Mr. Franken (and staff) can know everything about every issue. And we'd be fooling ourselves to think his peers in the Senate will "help" him catch up where necessary.

Though we may hate to admit it, some of these rites of initiation that must occur are undertaken by Lobbyists...who else will do this for him?

http://www.sixperspectives.com

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

Ron - Portland — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:22:49 GMT

Is this really newsworthy? Sorry about the criticism, but you could do this story about 10 times every election cycle, even if you ignored newly-seated Representatives.

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

shlif — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:33:36 GMT

Al Franken is good enough, smart enough, and doggonit, enough people like him that he will do just fine repelling all the big bad lobbyists lying in wait for him as he enters Washington.

The authors quote a lobbyist with a vested interest ("grassroots" lobbying firm??) and no knowledge of the specifics of Al Franken's situation -- Franken actually won by 312 votes and captured 42% of MN's votes, since there was a third party candidate (Barkley) who siphoned off votes from both Franken AND Coleman, who each had 42% of the votes.

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

Pittfreak — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:35:19 GMT

This is jounalism? No named sources....Al Franken? This is not worth the space it occupies.

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

Pittfreak — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:42:18 GMT

actually, did you even have to get out of bed, out of your pajamas to write this?

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

ChevyChaseChap — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:45:17 GMT

Hilaroius that as I rad this I am bombarded with adds from the oil companies - Energyfortomorrow.org - on your own website. Talk about double standards. Not much here really. Can we have some journalism?

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

Beppe — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:05:36 GMT

Lobbyists, what an interesting profession. Maybe, I'm not the first one to notice the similarity but aren't they little more than extremely well educated pimps who line up their [K] street walkers who corner politicians in cloak rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms and alleys to offer them favors and money. Now, wait a minute, this is reverse prostitution, the hookers are paying the johns inside the beltway. What a disgusting bunch of perverts on both sides of the aisle.

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

StarTrekAdmiral — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:20:31 GMT

If I gave a public official money to do something for me it would be called a bribe.

Bribe: –noun

1. money or any other valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person, esp. in that person's performance as an athlete, public official, etc.: The motorist offered the arresting officer a bribe to let him go.

2. anything given or serving to persuade or induce: The children were given candy as a bribe to be good.

If I gave money to a public official to do something for me and i was a member of a specific group it would be lobbying.

Lobbying: –noun

3. a group of persons who work or conduct a campaign to influence members of a legislature to vote according to the group's special interest.

–verb (used without object)

4. to solicit or try to influence the votes of members of a legislative body.

–verb (used with object)

5. to try to influence the actions of (public officials, esp. legislators).

6. to urge or procure the passage of (a bill), by lobbying.

Could someone please explain to me how lobbying is legal if a bribe is not.

No wonder our politicians are corrupt.

Corrupt: –adjective

1. guilty of dishonest practices, as bribery; lacking integrity; crooked: a corrupt judge.

2. debased in character; depraved; perverted; wicked; evil: a corrupt society.

3. made inferior by errors or alterations, as a text.

4. infected; tainted.

5. decayed; putrid.

All definitions are taken from Dictionary.com

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

Carolina Jack — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:26:12 GMT

I hate the IDEA of lobbying, but there is another reality. Each lobbyist is a specialist in something that the government (as in "we, the people") needs. We need weapons systems, electronics for keeping our borders somewhat secure, advanced communication ideas that need funding. Lord knows, everyone in Washington needs accurate information about health care- who has that information? The Commerce Department? The Justice Department? We need, like it or not, the health care lobbyists from the AMA and the Insurance companies. We need the guys from Lockheed and ITT. The alternative is a zillion new committees formed to find out all this info so as to avoid the lobbyists. In reality, the committees would still get the info from the lobbyists, but at a bigger cost.

What we want to stop, and this is the point, is lobbyists buying influence, especially from key members. And, we don't want government people leaving to take a cushy job as lobbyists, like so many ex-senators and ex-congressmen have done.

People who know stuff are not bad. People who bribe are bad.

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

John Dough — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:28:51 GMT

There guys are already greasing his buns for their assault but Franken is a moron so you know he will never break ranks with Obama and the boys. Gotta love them dem counties who cast more votes then they had voters and the lucky find of 400 plus ballots "inadvertently" placed and forgotten in a car trunk. too guarantee his win what a lucky guy. Valid ID to vote and TERM LIMITS.

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

Appanage — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:07:53 GMT

Cliched argument - move on.

re: How Lobbyists Will Break In Franken

RumBun — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:40:41 GMT

What people seem to have difficulty recognizing is that Al Franken is not an idiot. He will act according to his principles, in my opinion. If a lobbyist presents something that is helpful to the american people and to minnesotans and does not violate the law or Rep. Franken's principles, he may consider it. Why do people think that everyone is stupid? Bush and the neocons were stupid, some people however do posses good judgement and good character. Al Franken is one of them.

Really, there is no need to over complicate things the Repubs are dumb as their own statements indicate. Franken is not dumb as his own statements indicate, I think we can expect great things from Rep Franken