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GOP 'Pledge To America' Director Lobbied For AIG, Exxon, Pfizer, Chamber
The Republican Party's 21-page blueprint, "Pledge to America," was put together with oversight by a House staffer who, up till April 2010, served as a lobbyist for some of the nation's most powerful oil, pharmaceutical, and insurance companies.
This is a snapshot of the document properties of "The Pledge" listing Wild as the author.
In a draft version of The Pledge that was being passed around to reporters before the official release, the document properties list "Wild, Brian" as the "Author." A GOP source said that Wild -- who is on House Minority Leader John Boehner's payroll -- did help author the governing platform that the party is unveiling on Thursday. Another aide said that as the executive director of the Republican leadership group American Speaking Out, Wild's tasks were more on the administrative side of the operations.
Until early this year, Wild was a fairly active lobbyist on behalf of the firm the Nickles Group, the lobbying shop set up by the former Republican Senator from Oklahoma, Don Nickles. During his five years at the firm, Wild, among others, was paid $740,000 in lobbying contracts from AIG, the former insurance company at the heart of the financial collapse; $800,000 from energy giant Andarko Petroleum; more than $1.1 million from Comcast, more than $1.3 million from Exxon Mobil; and $625,000 from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc.
Not all of his work has been done in the world of influence peddling. From 2001 through 2004, Wild was the legislative director for then Representative Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) the current Republican Senate candidate in Pennsylvania. From 2004 through 2005 he was a Deputy Assistant For Legislative Affairs to Vice President Dick Cheney. There also was a tenure on the staff of former Colorado Republican Senator Hank Brown.
But the career door has been revolving. And in between his time in Johnson and Toomey's office, Wild served as a lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce where he helped steer more than $34 million worth of lobbying activity for the business interest group.
Past associations with entities like the Chamber are hardly character disqualifiers, certainly on the Republican side of the aisle where fidelity to the business lobby is a virtue. But having been paid to lobby on behalf of major companies with legislative business before Congress does create an obvious optics problem for Republican leaders hoping to promote their agenda as clean of big-moneyed influence.
Asked about the perception of conflicting interests, Brendan Buck, a spokesperson for the House GOP Legislative Initiatives stressed that there was none. Wild, he said, played a role in steering "The Pledge" project. But he was not involved in actually authoring its specific provisions -- a task saved for the actual members.
"Brian's job as much as anything has been to keep the trains running between all the leadership offices and members who contributed," said Buck. "The contents of our agenda, however, were written by our members, based on the priorities they heard from the American people. Staffers don't write things like this - they carry out the orders of the members they work for."
With additional reporting by Amanda Terkel
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Show All"GOP 'Pledge To America' Director Lobbied For AIG, Exxon, Pfizer, Chamber" - Surprise! Surprise!
In '08, Obama energized the left. "We" believed his message of change and again had hope. "We" were getting our votes counted and taking our country back. "We" ended up with Bush in blackface and no change. The troops did not come home, no universal health care and no attempt was made to make main street whole again.
"We" are simple folk and get fooled every four years. "We" are like children waiting year after year for that pony to come out of the beautifully wrapped shoe box under the Christmas tree. Each time "We" cannot believe it is once again another pair of Buster Browns. Children cannot comprehend sarcasm and lying from figures of authority. "We" are like children and believe the lies election cycle after election cycle.
The right will be just as shocked in '12 when they do not get their country back. Difference is, the right is armed and just FOX challenged enough to be dangerous. PO'd home-schooled zealots praying for the end days are not likely to spend the next four years blogging about how they go screwed. The Frankenstein monster is alive!
Ever wonder why tea partiers never mention cutting war spending, the biggest government spending program of all ?
Tea Baggers are not told to object to defense spending on FOX.
$0.53 cents of every tax dollar goes to defense. Most of that $0.53 cents goes to red states. Same with oil - red state Texas, LA, AK and OK. Mc Cain has personally stopped the Boeing refueling tanker contract for the past ten years. His goal is purely political and un-American. To stop union workers in blue state WA from getting the contract. Mc Cain would rather send 85% of the contract dollars to France and get only 15% for red state Alabama assembly workers. Mc Cain wants Boeing to open a plant in red state SC.
Look at where the active military bases are with the majority of active duty troops. Mostly southern red states. Aircraft carriers are built in red states. The good ol' southern boys are the first to sign up. It is the family business.
There are some exceptions. Lieberman is a hawk. General Dynamics Electric Boat is in Connecticut - nuclear subs. Every one wants a piece of the defense pie. Defense contracts are 'cost plus' a guaranteed profit. "We" have become the Soviet Union. There is no capitalism in the defense business. There is no risk of loss in defense contracting.
Tea-Partiers are also childern; who want the socialist government to keep hands odd their Social Security, and Medicare Checks!
If a few (Dangerous) (America Hating) brown-people gotta die to keep America free, and safe. Then thats just gotta be. (and Osama Bia Laudi is lurking outthere somewhere)
We just need to give-up Unions, minimum-wage, and the socialist safety-net. Let American business alone to do whats right! (For themselvs) and all will again be right with the world like it was under Reagan (When he borrowed $ Four Trillion in defence soending to make it so) (And tought those godless air traffic controllers a lesson) (Don't ask for a raise(EVER))
>^^<
These GOP jack asses like their "Democratic" counter parts have such conflicts of interests and such "fun plans" for the USA 's people. Hey, keep your damn schemes, as we don't damn need them. Also do take elementary plain English as subject to be tutored in!
AD
The whole document is a mix of untruths, distorted truths and a smattering of misinterpreted truths wrapped in the typical strident arrogant overdone idignancy-of-the privleged that characterizes conservstism in the US.
Some of the untruths reach a level of high hilarity. The loss of jobs has nothing to do with excessive government intrusiveness, but simply the quest for profit.
Correction:
Pledge not to America, but Amerikkka.
The GOP Pledge to America is such a pile of horse sh*t. Unfortunately the average Republican will buy it.
so will some dims.
vote and support the green party instead of the two corprate asshole parties.
matt
galveston tx
Stein sez: " ... having been paid to lobby on behalf of major companies with legislative business before Congress does create an obvious optics problem for Republican leaders hoping to promote their agenda as clean of big-moneyed influence."
***
Optics problem?
Voters who have ignored this for 30 years are now suddenly going to sit up and take notice? They don't even remember Newt's Contract On American upon which this turd "platform" is modeled.
These are the very same a-holes that drove America into the ditch.
It's a lot like an abuser that says, "Trust me I will never hit you again, just give me another chance baby".
Run away fast and keep going!
What we need are laws against elected politicians taking any payment in any from from anyone(aside from their paycheck we approve), and to put them in jail for collusion and conflicts of interest if they are caught taking extra monies.
Until we make laws against politicians doing this, we have the foxes running the hen house.
Agreed, but they make the laws.
Oh brother, here we go again! Isn't it amazing, it is against the law for us to lie to these assholes, yet they are allowed to lie to us! What is wrong with this picture?
Those bad ol Rs. I am so glad that the Ds have majorities in both houses and the White House. We have seen such a marked and positive shift in legislation and foreign policy.
I feel a lot better now.
By 2012 we will either have a NEW PARTY with NEW PARTY candidates running for every office or we will have lost our country forever.
Losing our country forever to corporate fascists is not an option for this American.
It's that plain and simple.
And it ain't gonna be The "Green" (Losers) Party that will do the job.
Mark my words. This NEW PARTY is coming....
Guar. On. Teed.
Americans of both Republican and Democratic stripes are hungry for the birth of this NEW PARTY that will throw both the Democrats and Republicans into the dustbin of history....right where they belong:
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2010/09/poll-after-poll-shows-that-both.html
Ther alredy was a New Party from 1992 to 1998.
Their strategy was to run lots of local candidates, plus left-credentialed candidates running on fusion tickets with the Democrats. A court ruled against the legality of fusion candidates, and this took so much wind out of their sails that they disbanded.
They continue to this day as the the tiny Working Families Party in New York, and Progressive Dane in Dane County, Wisconsin.
But a new-New Party seems like a fine idea.
hey i would be fine with the new party if they would want to work with the green party and i would support their candidates.
green party losers? bull crap. the greens carry the progressive message more than the dick dems.
matt
Who tells ..."the truth, the whole truth and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH" in this country? Who has shed the infantile, "Whast's in it fer me???"
"Staffers don't write things like this - they carry out the orders of the members they work for."...who in turn, carry out the orders of the corporations who bought and paid for them.
How many of these assholes swore to defend and uphold the Constitution?
Our Pledge to America: We, the wealthy elite, will continue to rob the American public, while spouting empty patriotic-sounding platitudes. We further pledge to continue doing everything in our power to keep wages low in other countries where we've exported your jobs, and continue ignoring any harm we are doing to you little people and the global environment. We finally pledge to continue lying to you through our fully owned media outlets.
They also do everything in their power to push wages lower here too. Hence the rabid opposition to the EFCA, based on the the most absurd fabricalted arguments imaginable.
Funny how they conveniently omitted the #1 pledge from their very own "people's" request website. LEGALIZE POT! It's not so much as even mentioned or whispered amongst the vipers (on both sides).
Oh, Rachel Maddow did mention it last night. The voices of the people are totally ignored for being politically correct. Pathetic political scum - screw them all to hell.
//edit
Oh yeah, and screw the Huffington Post for censoring Jesse Ventura when he wrote about the events of 9/11, questioning the "official" story.
Just as a historical reference, look up "Operation Northwood".
Nothing will ever be solved until complete and utter disclosure comes from that 1 single day. Nothing but cover ups, lies and deceit. If the Government has nothing to hide then why not release the various video cam footage that were confiscated around the Pentagon? Why issue gag orders on the First Responders? Why attack people that asked why the steel was so quickly removed without so much as a single independent investigator analyzing the rubble? It was suppose to be a crime scene but was treated as an accident. Clean it up, blame some shifty character, start a few wars, dismantle the Constitution and move along people.
As long as this remains in doubt, nothing will change, not one dam thing. People who actually believe some person living in a tent pulled off a full on military operation on the twin towers, not to mention the most guarded building on the planet - the Pentagon - are in complete denial.
The Pentagon has surface to air missile batteries that are radar controlled surrounding it. Someone had to have put a stand down order at the very least on these protective missile systems. WOW, and people still buy into it, but whatever.
Vote for the Democrats or Republicans, it won't matter. They will both do the same BS.
‘Boeing 767-200ER For Sale !’ is this AA 11 that ‘crashed’ in 9-11? SAME Serial Number: 22332
http://tvnewslies.org/tvnl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16022&Itemid=12
And did you notice, the aircraft is NO longer for sale, LOL. Looks like someone got a little bit too far into the frying pan and backed off.
Only thing everyone need do is follow the money. Everything else will fall into place.
'ohcomeon' - I like that.
"Follow the Money" Amen.
How do they get by with this?
‘Antinomianism’
"How do they get by with this?"
One word - compartmentalization - when the left hand doesn't notice (or know) what the right hand is doing.
And, just like the SS of WWII, fear keeps the ranks in-line. Have you ever had the chance to meet a person from any branch of the special forces? Many of those folks are very nationalistic (and idealistic) - often bordering on psychopathy. The ends justify the means.
And its ironic how many (not all) military people despise any form of socialism, while they themselves depend entirely on the income of government funded endeavors - war, military contractors (Black Water = privatized army that can hire anyone from any country), secret black op projects, etc. All the while thinking they are serving their country. The only thing they're serving are behind the scenes corporate interests, funded by the banks and dispensed by the Government. As mentioned, just follow the money tree and it goes right to the source of it all.
Probably goes something like this: Bottom to top - consumers (most of us), religion (moral compass for the masses), Government (laws and regulations), corporations (producers of much of the goods consumers purchase and creators of the laws for the general public to keep them focused on what to buy), International NGOs (World trade Organization, NAFTA, Trilateral Commission, etc), Banks (mostly controlled by a few families such as the Rothschild dynasty) and last but certainly not least, the Monarchs.
Hypocrisy knows no bounds and the U.S. is neck deep in Fascism. The "right" is still clinging to the word "socialism" but most people don't even know what the word means.
For those that don't know what fascism is: It's technical meaning is - the merger of corporate interests (think lobbyists) and the government, enforcing corporate interests through harsh laws (civilian criminalization). The U.S. has now become a nation of law breakers. Its much easier to control the public when everyone is breaking one law or another.
When most people get pulled over by the police, what is their reaction? It certainly isn't "oh, am I glad he/she has pulled me over for my safety". LOL. It's more like, "oh crap, what now?" "To protect and Serve", now that has truly become a joke. As in this video, a Texas patrol man tazes a 73 year old woman! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm90tH5VES0 - GET ON THE GROUND! NOW! Yes, the "officer" says this to her over a minor traffic stop.
I just don't know anymore. It's madness really.