Cassidy & Assoc. – Buying YOUR Politicians

Jump to Comments

      It’s not news to anyone that lobbiyists play a large role in Washington. But what’s rarely discussed is WHO is hiring these lobbying firms and WHY.   Sure there’s the occasional “scandal” that breaks through the headlines, surfaces for a few days giving a small peek and complicated terminology, and then seemingly disappears into the land of “ongoing investigations” and legal technicalities.   There are literaly thousands of lobbyists, lawyers, PR firms, and “political consultants” in Washington D.C., who are getting paid oodles of “funding” ( i.e. – $$$$$ ) to push the agendas of foreign governments, trying to influence our federal laws and budgetory choices.  So, let’s have a look at one of the most powerful lobbying firms in Washington D.C. – Cassidy & Associates.

    Just having a look at Cassidy’s website is troubling enough. (http://www.cassidy.com/home.asp )  Sneeking behind the backs of American citizens and public interest on behalf of their “clients” is not something they try to hide. Here’s just a few things they say they have the ability to do:

“ Our capabilities are broad and include:

• Working with Congress and the Executive Branch to guide national security legislation and defense policy;
• Working with our clients to market their products to the federal government;
• Working with Congress and the Executive Branch to ensure the availability of funding; and,
• Serving as a liaison and advocate for foreign entities with defense and business interests with the U.S. government.
• Craft government relations strategies on behalf of foreign governments to secure the financing and acquisition of major defense and aerospace technologies.
• Worked with foreign corporations to alter the shape of tariff legislation and to gain access to U.S.-regulated markets;
• Helped foreign governments to design and implement comprehensive campaigns to ensure successful relations with the U.S. government;
• Facilitated negotiations with the Department of Defense for equipment financing and acquisition; and,
• Assisted foreign state-owned enterprises in their efforts to identify and gain access to U.S.-owned entities for joint venture opportunities.”

     Wow! How is it that a Lobbying firm has the power to “guide” foreign poilcy legislation, “craft foreign relations”, and “alter tarriff legislation”? Isn’t that what we elect our politicians to do?  At what point can we consider any given candidates stance on a position a true belief, or merely the result of “crafted” negotiations by commisioned, overpaid, used-car salesmen in Washington?

    Here’s a list of all the areas Cassidy & Assoc. claims to have experience:

• Agribusiness
• Appropriations
• Corporate Affairs
• Education Appropriations
• Energy, Natural Resources & Climate Change
• Federal Marketing
• Health Care Appropriations
• Higher Education Policy
• International Affairs & Trade
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Museums & Foundations
• National Security & Defense
• Public Policy
• State & Local Government
• Strategic Communications
• Tax & Finance Policy
• Telecommunications & Media
• Transportation & Infrastructure

That pretty much covers all areas of our government. So what have they acheived? According to them here’s just a few things:

“On behalf of our clients, we have helped:

• To address stringent FDA labeling requirements;
• To prevent four major television networks from being forced to divest stations by working with the FCC to arrive at a compromise agreement with regard to media ownership caps;
• To devise and implement an integrated government affairs, public affairs and grassroots effort to demonstrate the viability and necessity of an intratheater airlifter manufactured by our client and singled out for review by the Department of Defense. Our efforts resulted in continued federal funding for the airlifter;
• To create and direct a coalition of major multinational corporations interested in doing business in Vietnam, resulting in the end of a 15-year ban on investment in Vietnam and enabling the coalition members to be some of the first companies allowed to do business there;
• To pass an extension of Internet-related legislation critical to a wireless communications company’s interests;
• To successfully assist a major paint company navigate and address lead paint abatement issues in Washington. “

So who exactly is Cassidy representing, and which of your politicians are working behind closed doors with Cassidy’s team of consipirators? Here’s a short list of Cassidy’s “clients” this year alone. The complete list is available at http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/firmsum.php?lname=Cassidy+%26+Assoc&year=2008.

• Freddie Mac – so far in the 2008 cycle alone, Freddie Mac has already spent $202,997 inside OUR congress swaying OUR politicians. The top 6 recipients of this money -  Republican Senator Lamar Alexander ( $9,000 ), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ( $7,500 ), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( $7,500 ), House Minority Leader John Boehner ( $7,500 ), House Cheif Deputy Minority Whip Eric Cantor ( $7,000 ), Rep. Melissa Bean ( $6,999 ).  ( source: http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/361/?gclid=CPmMlraUoJUCFQEpIgod7Fr0ag )
• Bombardier Inc. -  So far in 2008, this client of Cassidy & Assoc. was represented nine times to OUR Senate - twice on Defense issues and twice on Homeland Security issues.
• Rambus - most notably known for their creation of RAM technology. But in 2002, the Federal Trade Commission charged Rambus, Inc., based in Los Altos, California, with violating federal antitrust laws by deliberately engaging in a pattern of anticompetitive acts and practices that served to deceive an industry-wide standard-setting organization, resulting in adverse effects on competition and consumers. ( http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/06/rambus.shtm ). 
• RAO UES -  a Russian Power Co. ( http://www.rao-ees.ru/en/info/about/show.cgi?mission.htm )

And Cassidy & Assoc. are not the only ones spending cold hard cash to persduede OUR politicians. Take a look here http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=f to see the top lobbying contract this year alone.

For a list of Top Spenders – http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=s

And by the way, here’s a few of McCain’s contributors ( bet you can’t guess who they work for!!! ) http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fec/specials/mccain/by-employer/1552/ .  Although they declined to list their occupations when filing their reports, you will find both Terry Paul and Daniel McNamara’s biographies on the Cassidy website. Gabor J. Rozsa now works for BKSH and Assoc, another major lobbying firm ( http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/rev_summary.php?id=10783 ).

And trust me, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

2 Comments

Filed under Politics

Tags: Cassidy Assoc, Lobbyists, McCain, politicians