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Mix-Ansicht- Lobbyismus in USA, mal fast schon öffentlich ausgetragen... - Buddy George, 15.02.2003, 19:51
Lobbyismus in USA, mal fast schon öffentlich ausgetragen...
-->...oder wie man Macht konzentriert.
Heute in der Washington Post:
Congressman Urges Republican Lobbyist
Oxley Staff Pressuring Mutual Funds advertisement
By Kathleen Day and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 15, 2003; Page A03
Rep. Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio) and members of his staff are pressuring mutual fund companies to hire a prominent Republican to represent them in Washington, according to congressional and industry sources.
The push is part of a broader campaign by Republicans to place party loyalists in top jobs at corporate lobbying offices and trade associations, Republican lobbyists involved in the effort said.
Oxley, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, wants the Investment Company Institute (ICI), a consortium of mutual fund companies, to push aside Democrat Julie Domenick as its top lobbyist, officials at fund companies said after participating in the trade group's internal discussions on the matter.
Oxley wants the institute either to replace Domenick with a prominent Republican or to hire a big-name GOP lobbyist to work with her, the sources said.
The pressure comes as Oxley and Rep. Richard H. Baker (R-La.), who also serves on the committee, are ramping up an investigation of mutual fund companies. They are examining whether funds overcharge customers and provide enough information to investors, among other issues.
Six sources, both Republicans and Democrats who all declined to be identified, said certain members of Oxley's staff have suggested the congressional probe might ease up if the mutual fund trade group complies with their wishes.
Oxley's spokeswoman on the Financial Services Committee, Peggy A. Peterson, declined to comment on the reports of a quid pro quo. Attempts to reach Oxley directly were unsuccessful.
"Chairman Oxley and the Financial Services Committee will attend to the real issues that mutual fund investors care about, information disclosure and their returns following fees, expenses and taxes," Peterson said.
Oxley's dispute with the institute has been the talk of financial lobbyists for weeks. Although none agreed to be identified for fear of angering the committee chairman, several lobbyists of both political parties said Oxley and his associates have sent them an unmistakable message that Domenick must go and that if she does, the mutual fund group will have greater congressional access and the industry might receive less scrutiny.
The lobbyists said the message has been delivered most strongly by at least two people: Robert U. Foster III, Oxley's chief of staff on the Financial Services Committee, and Sam Geduldig, a former committee staffer. Geduldig was on Oxley's payroll until early January, when he joined the office of House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).
Domenick did not return repeated telephone calls. ICI spokeswoman Elizabeth Powell declined to comment.
One incident that sparked the lobbyists' concern occurred on Dec. 10, at a Christmas party at a downtown restaurant. According to industry sources, Foster and Geduldig attended the party, and Geduldig told a group of lobbyists there that Oxley's probe of the mutual fund industry was linked to Domenick's employment at the mutual fund trade group.
Peterson declined to comment on the assertion, except to say,"I don't know what Sam said or didn't say. He's a young staffer who was not included in the meetings that led to the decision to review the mutual fund industry."
Peterson also said that Foster was at the party but did not hear that comment. She declined to comment on claims that Foster has repeated it in various forms to lobbyists since then.
Foster and Geduldig did not return several calls.
Lobbyists who heard Geduldig's comment at the Christmas party called Domenick the next day to tell her about it, sources said. And they telephoned their bosses, many of whom are members of the mutual fund trade group. The ICI board discussed the problem of having such poor relations with a key member of Congress at a regularly scheduled board meeting in January, sources said.
"Some of the people at the ICI interpreted that [Christmas party] conversation to mean they would be better off if the ICI fired her and hired a Republican," said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the committee's ranking Democrat.
Frank said he made several calls to people in the industry earlier this week after he learned about the incident. He said he then called Oxley to say that linking the committee's work to a lobbyist's party affiliation would pose problems, including possible violations of the First Amendment.
"I said to Oxley this would be a bad idea, and he agreed," Frank said. He said he did not ask Oxley whether a threat was made, nor did Oxley confirm or deny it.
If such a threat were made, it would appear to be a violation of House and government ethics rules, which prohibit congressmen and staff"from bestowing benefits on the basis of the recipient's status as a supporter or contributor, or partisan affiliation," or from using their"position or title or any authority associated with... public office in a manner that is intended to coerce or induce another person... to provide any benefit, financial or otherwise."
The House Ethics Committee in 1998 admonished then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) for pressuring the Electronics Industry Association not to hire former representative Dave McCurdy (D-Okla.) to run the group.
In response to the pressure from Oxley, the mutual fund group is looking for a new lobbyist and privately promised the position would be filled by a Republican, according to several financial industry executives whose companies belong to the trade group. The mutual fund group's board decided not to fire Domenick; rather, it hired executive search firm Korn/Ferry International to find someone who could work with Domenick and report to her and to her boss, Matthew P. Fink.
A senior GOP House member, who requested anonymity, said the Securities Industry Association (SIA) is under pressure to hire more Republicans, too. The member said the securities industry group is less a problem for party leaders than the mutual fund group because the SIA already employs respected GOP lobbyists, such as Richard Hunt. Still,"they don't have enough senior Republicans, and [Oxley] would like to see them get them some," said a Republican close to Oxley.
An SIA spokesman declined to comment.
Republicans want ICI and SIA to follow the lead of industry giant Citigroup Inc., which hired Nicholas Calio, President Bush's recently departed liaison to Congress, as part of a housecleaning at its Washington office. In the past, Republicans considered Citigroup a"Democratic company" that needed to make changes if it wanted to be a player in this town, a top Republican official said. Calio is likely to bring other Republicans on board in the months ahead.
This pressure is part of a broader strategy by Republicans, hatched in the mid-1990s, to encourage and sometimes pressure companies and trade associations to give their highest-paying and most influential Washington jobs to loyal Republicans. It's called the"K Street Project" and involves top officials from the Republican National Committee, Capitol Hill and the lobbying community, according to Republican lobbyists involved in the effort.
The campaign has a new sense of purpose and urgency with Republicans in control of the White House and both branches of Congress, the lobbyists said. Jack Oliver, deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee and a close ally of White House strategist Karl Rove, is a driving force behind the campaign, according to people involved.
The group circulates a"jobs listing" that details openings, salaries and qualifications. In many cases, a Republican is assigned the task of monitoring the hiring process for the highest-profile jobs to make sure prominent Republicans are in the running and win them.
The ICI opening will be posted in the next listing, a GOP lobbyist said.
Members of the mutual fund trade group are some of the best-known firms on Wall Street, including the Charles Schwab Corp., Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley, Vanguard Investments and T. Rowe Price. Some members have long thought Domenick and others at the trade group were ineffective as lobbyists and would be happy to see Domenick leave the organization, sources said.
Sources said Domenick failed to make courtesy calls to Oxley when he took over the chairmanship of the Financial Services Committee two years ago, even though she continued to visit with Democrats. One visit to a Democrat that particularly irked Oxley was Domenick's decision to pay a courtesy call to Frank last year, when it became clear he would be the ranking Democrat on the committee in January, sources said.
Oxley's staff knew some large, influential members of the trade group were unhappy with the job ICI was doing, and that helped embolden the congressional staff to be so aggressive in trying to push her out, sources said.
Lobbyists said two people whose names have circulated as having expressed interest in her job are Terry L. Haines, who announced last November his decision to step down in January as Oxley's committee chief of staff, and Peter Rich, the husband of Oxley staffer Linda Dallas Rich.
Haines declined to comment for this story."The bottom line is I'm not interested in the job," Rich said.
The campaign against Domenick has been unusually aggressive, although sources said Oxley would like other financial firms to beef up their Republican representation on K Street. The particular beef with Domenick stems in part, sources said, from a long-standing and acrimonious rivalry Oxley has with the top lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Chairman W. J."Billy" Tauzin (R-La.) and the ranking Democrat, Rep. John D. Dingell (Mich.).
Domenick is close to Dingell and members of his staff. Dingell's victory party was held at her house last fall, for example. And Dingell and Tauzin get along well, despite their differences in party affiliation.
These relationships have rankled Oxley and other GOP lawmakers, government and industry sources said.
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