Ed Kilgore raised a good point yesterday about the importance of considering Tom DeLay’s indictment in a broader context.
“Tempting as it is to dwell on the possibility that this self-appointed moral arbiter of the nation could soon be strolling the halls not of Congress but of a Texas correctional facility, we urge Democrats to keep focused on a much bigger issue: the systemic pattern of corruption, cronyism, influence-peddling, and partisan intimidation in Washington.”
Kilgore concluded that “DeLay doesn’t really matter,” at least not as much as “the system which he has served.” I think that’s largely true — I believe DeLay does matter in a political context for Dems, because he can and should be an albatross around the necks of so many House Republicans — but the larger point about the corrupt system is quite right.
With this in mind, I think it’s worthwhile to revisit how Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), DeLay’s replacement, fits into this system — and realize how little will change with regards to the congressional agenda.
The Washington Post noted today that Blunt has “created a formal alliance with K Street lobbyists, empowering corporate representatives and trade association executives to assist the House leadership in counting votes and negotiating amendments to bring holdouts into the fold.”
The Post is understating the case. I’ve written about the infamous “K Street Project” on a few occasions, but in case you’re just joining us, it’s a scheme that was launched after the GOP takeover of Congress in 1995. Gingrich and Co. looked at DC’s infamous K Street, home to the city’s powerful lobbying industry, and noticed a problem: some of the lobbyists weren’t Republicans and weren’t doing enough to advance the GOP agenda. The K Street Project was born; Republicans essentially seized control of Washington’s lobbying apparatus.
This is particularly significant now because Blunt has his very own efficient and lucrative K Street operation. Examining how the setup works tells us a lot about the kind of values and ethics we can expect from the new Majority Leader.
House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the man one step behind Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in the Republican leadership, has built a political machine of his own that extends from Missouri deep into Washington’s K Street lobbying community.
Blunt, who entered politics as a protege of former senator John D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.), has assembled an organization of whips and lobbyist vote counters that has delivered more than 50 consecutive victories for the GOP leadership on tough fights over issues including tax and trade bills, District of Columbia school choice and tort reform — without a single defeat.
Working outside the glare of public attention, Blunt has maximized the organization’s influence by delegating authority to Washington business and trade association lobbyists to help negotiate deals with individual House members to produce majorities on important issues.
Blunt’s machine works, not by forging a cooperative relationship between corporate lobbyists and the Republican establishment, but by merging the two to the point where there is no practical distinction. As the WaPo described it, in “Blunt Inc.,” lobbyists are as integral to the Republican whip operation as “the network of lawmakers who serve as assistant whips.”
What does that mean? Well, before a major vote, lawmakers can expect to hear from House leaders, uring them to toe the party line. But under Blunt’s operation, that’s not all they can expect. Blunt oversees a de facto “executive committee,” a hard-core base of about 25 lobbyists, who lean on lawmakers to get desired results. Lawmakers who don’t fall into line run the risk of losing the campaign contributions that the lobbyists help orchestrate. It’s not just about party loyalty, at that point, it’s also about loyalty to a corporate cause.
And Blunt keeps the lobbyists themselves on board with his game plan by a generous reward system. The WaPo noted the example of a 2004 bill eliminating business export tax breaks ruled in violation of international agreements by the World Trade Organization.
The solution to breaking the logjam: Every major lobbying interest got something, and the Republican opposition in the House collapsed. The manufacturing companies got a three-percentage-point corporate tax cut. Industrial state Republicans from Minnesota to Pennsylvania voted for the bill 52 to 5. Another group of multinational, U.S.-based companies, including General Electric, Coca-Cola, General Motors and Time Warner, won a major tax reduction on overseas revenue. On the final vote, Republicans favored the bill, 203 to 23, while Democrats opposed it 154 to 48.
The task of rounding up the votes was delegated by Blunt’s whip operation to a coalition of lobbyists, all of whom had clients with huge stakes in the outcome.
Kenneth J. Kies, representing an array of Fortune 500 companies with facilities in virtually every congressional district — General Electric, Caterpillar, General Motors, Edison, Microsoft, U.S. Steel — helped win a host of breaks for his clients and collected fees of $8.69 million. Karl Gallant, a former DeLay aide, represented the Coalition for U.S.-Based Employment, made up of Boeing, Caterpillar, Honeywell, Microsoft and United Technologies, and other companies seeking favorable tax treatment. His firm, the Alexander Strategy Group, received $1.32 million in tax-related fees.
As new tax breaks were added to the bill, the vote count “just got better and better,” said [Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), then Blunt’s deputy whip], who worked closely with Blunt on the mobilization of lobbyists. “It was incredible.”
This is what we can expect from our new House Majority Leader. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss….