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New Senior Adviser for Obama Campaign Lobbied for Keystone Pipeline, Comcast Merger
President Obama’s 2012 campaign has a new senior adviser — a former lobbyist for the company pushing the Keystone XL pipeline, who also lobbied for Comcast throughout the period that the media conglomerate was seeking approval for its merger with NBC-Universal.
The Obama campaign hired Broderick Johnson of the lobbying firm Bryan Cave LLP this week. According to U.S. House of Representatives records, Johnson lobbied to “support submission of a presidential permit for Keystone XL pipeline” in the final quarter of 2010. The campaign hired Broderick Johnson of the lobbying firm Bryan Cave LLP this week. According to U.S. House of Representatives records, Johnson lobbied to “support submission of a presidential permit for Keystone XL pipeline” in the final quarter of 2010.
Environmentalists are upset with the pipeline and with Pres. Barack Obama’s unwillingness to reconsider the project.
According to Friends of the Earth campaigner Kim Huynh:
“President Obama ran for office in 2008 promising that the days of lobbyists setting the agenda in Washington were over, yet now he’s hired a top oil pipeline lobbyist into his campaign,” Huynh said. “This is a deeply troubling development. A lobbyist who has taken corporate cash to shill for this dirty and dangerous pipeline now has even more opportunity to whisper into the President’s ear.”
On October 6, Friends of the Earth and the Center for International Environmental Law and Corporate Ethics International amended (pdf) a Freedom of Information Act request so that it now includes a request for all State Department documents that pertain to interactions with Johnson and several other pipeline lobbyists.
Bryan Cave earned more than $1 million from 2009-2011 from its lobbying activities on behalf of TransCanada.
Johnson was also a lobbyist in Comcast’s massive effort to influence the Federal Communications Commission to approve a merger with NBC-Universal, which made it one of the biggest media conglomerates in American history, as the Minnesota Independent reported. Sen. Al Franken was a prominent critic of the merger, which consumer advocates said would reduce options and increase costs for customers.
Brian Cave LLP received at least $440,000 in lobbying income from Comcast from 2009-2011, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Johnson is listed on the House disclosure forms throughout the period, some of the forms disclose his role as “advocacy work regarding Comcast/NBC-U transaction.”
The Comcast merger was approved in early 2011. Later this year, Comcast snapped up FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker, who supported the merger, as the new Comcast vice president for government affairs, what’s known in Capitol circles as the “revolving door.”
Johnson himself has held a number of official and lobbying positions, including deputy assistant to the President for legislative affairs in the Clinton White House. Johnson was also an informal advisor for Obama’s 2008 election, according to his bio on another firm’s website.
Ed Brayton contributed to this report.
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22 Comments so far
Show AllI wonder if it shows yet what side of this issue Obama will favor...
It shows that becoming the first politician to ever amass a corporate funded billion dollar campaign war chest is Obama's singular focus and Obama will destroy whoever and whatever it takes to achieve that goal.
Surely, you're joking. O is nothing if not loyal to his corporate owners.
“President Obama ran for office in 2008 promising that the days of lobbyists setting the agenda in Washington were over..." ---------- And blah blah blah.--------------- How can you tell when O-blah-ma's lying? ------------------- An old (very old) saying comes to mind. It was originally applied to William Jennings Bryan, but applies to the current dissembling occupant of the white house. Obama is like the Platte River -- a mile wide at the mouth and an inch deep.
Very true. Oblahblah is very shallow and so many fools still hold out hope that he will do the correct thing but he's busy doing the "right" thing (no pun intended).
It's always nice to be introduced to the corporate sycophants with whom Oilbomber surrounds himself.
It's not rocket surgery, by the way: Oilbomber is a corporate mercenary, a contractor that the corporations have enabled into the White House. Once you figure that out, there are no more mysteries in Washington De-Ceit.
Spot on! And he was selected to do all this damage and to shut us up. TPTB would nervous that we were getting upset about the attacks on our liberties, and the increasing warmongering the US was doing for it's masters. Or Massta in this case.
So, they ran a Black man who conned a zillion people in believing he was their savior.
Worked fine for over 2 years. Shut them up. He got to play chess, while continuing the US role in invading the world.
Now that he is back in campaign mode, people actually believe that he is finally fighting those nasty thugs.
They don't see that the Dems were on the same side.
They never tried to block a bill from Bush, and somehow didn't have the power to push bill from Obama.
The funny thing is, most of those with OWS, will vote for the POS LIAR again!
Stupid.
Or the other stupid people will vote for the thugs who wrecked the country.
Obama renigged on every promise he made. Surrounded himself with the same people who wrecked the economy. Told those who elected him to shut up.
And they are going to vote for him again.
Goes to show, you can't fix stupid!
Aaaannnnd...they're coming into the far turn. Bernaysian Bum has hit his stride and hasn't even begun to break a sweat; Neck and neck with Shell Game and the lead still held firm by The Firm. Yes ladies and gentlemen, impending storms mean nothing to this field on the track today.
Wait, Waitaminit coming from behind and Three Legged Hoi Poloi is not about to eat her dust, no, no, its its a challenge coming into the home stretch...Waitaminit is pressing The Firm, Bernaysian Bum and Shell Game onto the rail...My God! Three Legged HoiPoloi has taken the lead, slowing down, slowing down... Ladies and gentlemen this is unprecedented! Three Legged Hoi Poloi has stopped - full stop and turned around. They're bailing, jumping off the track over the rail... into the outfield... Three Legged Hoi Poloi, watching, no, no, walking off the track and the entire rest of the field is bucking in play, not a jockey left up!
Wow, old goat, I completely got and appreciated your commentary. Its cleverness was very enjoyable.
It is disturbing how the "lefty" media is still shilling for Obama. How is MSNBC any different than FOX? The old lesser of two evils thing is like the energizer bunny. I'd like to see OWS run a write-in campaign in '12. Social networking has come of age. Time is now to change the world. What would it hurt? Obama/Romney are the same. '16 will be the (R)s turn again regardless.
"Welease Bwodewick!!"
On Obama's choice of appointees and advisors:
"The new administration is off to a good start."
-- Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell.
"Superb ... the best of the Washington insiders ... this will be a valedictocracy -- rule by those who graduate first in their high school classes."
-- David Brooks, conservative New York Times columnist
"Virtually perfect ... "
-- Senator Joe Lieberman, former Democrat and John McCain's top surrogate in the 2008 campaign.
"Reassuring."
-- Karl Rove, "Bush's brain."
"I am gobsmacked by these appointments, most of which could just as easily have come from a President McCain ... this all but puts an end to the 16-month timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, the unconditional summits with dictators, and other foolishness that once emanated from the Obama campaign ... [Hillary] Clinton and [James] Steinberg at State should be powerful voices for 'neo-liberalism' which is not so different in many respects from 'neo-conservativism.'"
-- Max Boot, neoconservative activist, former McCain staffer.
"I see them as being sort of center-right of the Democratic party."
-- James Baker, former Secretary of State and the man who led the theft of the 2000 election.
"Surprising continuity on foreign policy between President Bush's second term and the incoming administration ... certainly nothing that represents a drastic change in how Washington does business. The expectation is that Obama is set to continue the course set by Bush ... "
-- Michael Goldfarb of the neoconservative Weekly Standard.
"I certainly applaud many of the appointments ... "
-- Senator John McCain
"So far, so good."
-- Senator Lamar Alexander, senior Republican Congressional leader.
Hillary Clinton will be "outstanding" as Secretary of State.
-- Henry Kissinger, war criminal
Rahm Emanuel is "a wise choice" in the role of Chief of Staff.
-- Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, John McCain's best friend.
Obama's team shows "Our foreign policy is non-partisan."
-- Ed Rollins, top Republican strategist and Mike Huckabee's 2008 campaign manager.
"The country will be in good hands."
-- Condoleezza Rice, George W. Bush's Secretary of State
- by Jeremy Scahill at AlterNet on November 30, 2008.
"President Obama’s 2012 campaign has a new senior adviser -- The campaign hired Broderick Johnson of the lobbying firm Bryan Cave LLP this week."
This merely makes it official
Cave has obviously been advising Obama from day one
And they have taught him very well indeed.Obama has become an expert at caving.
BTW I wonder what Bill McKibben thinks of this: whether he is still willing to give Obama the benefit of 1000 doubts.
Now we know why Hillary has been in favor of the Sandy-Oil deal..
So this guy is the husband of NPR morning edition host Michele Norris ......
Notice how the Hillary haters include her name in this mess, as if she's been in the forefront of approving it. Hillary's name was not even mentioined in Collins' piece, It's obvious, that if Obama is hiring the "enemy," he doesn't give a shit what Hillary has to say on the matter, though it's obvious that she can't oppose any deal that the Wall St. owned administration approves of. She's either in or out. The Hillary haters would be a laughingstock if they weren't as malicious
as they are. Hillary isn't a newcomer. She's been one of the most hyper-examined and investigated political figures in this country. And what is the outcome? Recent public polls show her to be the most honored and admired political figure, in public office in this country. The Hillaryhaters keep throwing shit at her, and it boomerangs back on their faces. However you try to twist the results, Hillary's opponents are a small minorty; and their numbers will diminish.
It's hard to believe, that we're still hearing that media are not as conservative as they've always been. The proof that they're a Leftist media: that they're supporting Obama! Holy shit, the rightwing say Obama's a socialist, media are supporting Obama, therefore it must be a "lefty" media. The logic is absolutely airtight.
If the majority of American voters are that stupid, how can we see any hope in this mess? The very opposite is true. Media are just as, or more, convervative than they've always been. The proof that they're a Rightist media: that they're supporting Obama. Therefore it must be a "rightist" media. The logic is airtight. We live in a country that actually believes, that because people like John Stewart, Bill Maher or Rachel Maddow, etc., are supporting Obama, that means Obama's a leftitst. That's because, like Obama, Stewart, Maher and Maddow, are actually Centrists, at best, or moderate republicans. But unlike Obama, Stewart, Maher and Maddow, don't know that they're centrists or moderate republicans.
You will not see this reported on MSNBC except by Dylan Ratigan and that is hat is wrong with liberals like Rachel Maddow and company. They refuse to accept the truth that both parties are corrupt and that Obama has been a particulary corrupt president. They cheer for Obama's wars and even his killing of American citizens and make no mention of his pro-wall street and pro-banking solutions to problems facing the country. The United States desperately needs a third party but there are still too many people willing to accept a corrupt democratic party no matter how bad they are.
No wonder the republican party has not a single serious contender in the 2012 race, they are satisfied with the status quo.
NOBama in 2012
Nope you can believe in.
Why doesn't this guy Obama just simply resign and then go and work for WallStreet and the banksters. He certainly would make a lot more money.