Lobbyists

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele wrote the AARP on Friday, challenging the nation's largest group of retirees to endorse the principles of the RNC's "Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights" released earlier this week.

AARP Executive Vice President John Rother said earlier this week the bill didn't contain concerns raised by the GOP's document, which would aim to "prohibit efforts to ration healthcare based on age" and "prevent government from interfering with end-of-life care decisions," among other things.

"AARP agrees with Chairman Michael Steele's goals for reforming our health care system, and we are pleased nothing in the bills that have been proposed would bring about the scenarios the RNC is concerned about," Rother wrote.

"I'm sure we would both agree that any attempt to reform our health care system should first do no harm, particularly to senior citizens," Steele responded Friday "That is why I was heartened to see that you agreed with the premise of the RNC's Seniors' Health Care Bill Of Rights, but I was disappointed by your claim that '...nothing in the [Democrats'] bills would bring about the type of scenarios the RNC is concerned about.'"

Steele defended the five planks of the RNC bill of rights, and pointed to the hit the AARP has taken as a result of its position on the healthcare reform bills before Congress.

"News reports indicated the AARP lost more than 60,000 members last month alone because your organization did not take a strong stand against the Democrats' government-run health care experiment and the consequences it would have on seniors," Steele wrote. "Given the facts I have detailed above, I invite AARP to endorse the RNC's recently released 'Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights,' which I have attached to this letter, and join us in urging President Obama and the Democrat-led Congressional leadership to slow down and get health care reform right."

Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman and Bush administration adviser Ed Gillespie will launch a new consulting group after announcing last week he wouldn't return to his former namesake firm.

The longtime Republican official announced Monday that he's founded Ed Gillespie Strategies, which will focus on strategic planning, message development and communications strategy, hearing and interview preparation, crisis and reputation management, and coalition organization and oversight.

Gillespie had founded Quinn Gillespie and Associates (QGA) after having left the RNC, but divested and left the group after having taken a position in the Bush administration. During its heyday, QGA enjoyed a bustling practice, which has taken a hit since Democrats have taken over Congress and the White House.

The website for Ed Gillespie Strategies is now available online.

The lobbying group PMA's having allegedly exchanged campaign contributions for lawmakers for securing earmarks for clients goes much deeper than the Jack Abramoff scandals, the House's most tenacious Republican proponent of an ethics investigation charged Wednesday.

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has pushed six times for a House Ethics Committee investigation into PMA, said that the group's involvement with lawmakers could be more extensive than the Abramoff scandal, which brought down several Republican lawmakers and staffers through conviction, resignation, retirement, and lost reelections.

"That was a big scandal, but I can tell you, it doesn't touch the PMA scandal," Flake said Wednesday on Fox News before attempting to introduce his 7th resolution seeking to open an Ethics Committee investigation. "This is much bigger, much more sophisticated, it goes much deeper into Congress."

"What you have here on Capitol Hill is the ability of members to get no-bid contracts for their contributors, and that's just not right," he added.

A number of lawmakers have voted down the opening of an inquiry, which may involve investigation into House stalwarts like Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.).

"I have a feeling, that a few more tries and we'll get there," Flake explained. "I can offer these -- the Democratic leadership of the Republican leadership can't stop me from doing it. And so I plan to just keep offering it until we get the Ethics Committee to investigate."

Watch a video of Flake's interview below:

Former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt has joined the board of the Ford Motor Company amidst a period of struggle for the automobile production industry.

Gephardt, a longtime Missouri congressman and two-time presidential candidate, joined Ford's board on Wednesday, effective immediately, the company announced in a statement.

Also chairman of his own consulting group, Gephardt is joining up with the only of the Big 3 to have not yet requested assistance from the federal government -- unlike competitors General Motors and Chrysler. Though should Ford seek assistance, they would have a powerful voice in Gephardt to reach out to former colleagues to support a Ford bailout.

The National Football League (NFL) has hired a former Senate Judiciary Committee antitrust lawyer as a lobbyist based in Washington.

The NFL hired Jeff Miller, a former aide to Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), to represent its interests in Congress, the AP reported. Miller is the NFL's first in-house lobbyist, whereas before, it had hired outside representation.

"The emphasis is to have a full-time person spending every waking moment thinking about how what Congress or the administration is doing is going to affect the NFL's business model," Miller said. "I had had opportunities in the past to leave the Hill and do other things, such as work at a law firm and lobby firm. But when the NFL calls, you can't turn that down."

Miller's work coincides with the launch of the NFL's new "Gridiron PAC," which has its first quarter fundraising numbers due soon.

"I agreed with those who told me that during these changing times in Washington, the league should have full-time representation there like so many other business and entertainment organizations that have issues on the Hill," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told the AP.

Though they will face a steep climb against 2-seed Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament Thursday night, SUNY Binghamton has won something: They spent more on lobbying than any other school vying for the Final Four.

According to records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, Binghamton spent $1.82 million lobbying Congress in 2008. That's more than the $1.16 million the University of Texas spent on their lobbying efforts that same year.

All told, 11 schools who will take to the hardwood over the next two days spent more than $500,000 lobbying members of Congress last year, while nine schools didn't shell out any money in the search for Congressional favors.

Joining the Binghamton Bearcats and the Texas Longhorns in the big-spenders club, the University of Southern California and the University of California-Los Angeles each spent more than $800,000 on Washington representation.

But while Xavier is favored over Portland State, West Virginia has a leg up on Dayton and Wake Forest is expected to trounce Cleveland State, don't expect the winning schools to be well-represented on Capitol Hill. All three schools didn't spend a penny on lobbying last year.

That may be an ominous sign: In the early goings, Butler, which also didn't spend money on representation, fell to Louisiana State, whose $80,000 at least got them a voice on Capitol Hill.

But with the Bearcats taking CRP's lobbying version of March Madness, at least the school's alumni -- most notably Mr. Tony -- will have something to write about.

-Reid Wilson

If there's anything that shows how much actor Ron Silver was a part of Washington, it's this headline over at U.S. News and World Report: "AIG Bonuses Make Obama, Geithner, and Blogosphere Angry, Plus Remembering Ron Silver."

But he wasn't just another activist actor. The co-founder of the Creative Coalition was a longtime Democrat until 9/11 transformed Silver into a political animal not uncommon in Hollywood: the libertarianesqe independent who is liberal on social issues and hawkish on defense and national security. He spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention and said he lost some work as a result of his political shift.

In the name of bipartisanship, though, it's a testament to Silver that two of the many remembrances written after his death have been by Hollywood liberal Alec Baldwin and Hollywood conservative Roger L. Simon (Oscar-nominated writer who penned the Silver vehicle "Enemies: A Love Story").

Cassidy & Associates lobbyist Todd Boulanger, a former aide to ex-Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) who went on to work with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, abruptly left his firm Friday.

Another former Congressional aide, Trevor Blackann, 34, pleaded guilty Thursday to filing a false tax return that omitted at least $4,100 in illegal gifts from lobbyists. Blackann, a onetime aide to Missouri GOP Sen. Kit Bond and Rep. Roy Blunt, admitted to taking accepting gifts, including a trip to New York to see a World Series baseball game and "admission to and entertainment at" a strip club, according to court documents.

Blackann